Diego Columbus

Diego Columbus, born in Porto Santo, Portugal around 1479 or 1480, was a navigator and explorer who served the kings of Castile and Aragón. He held the titles of second admiral of the Indies, second viceroy of the Indies, and fourth governor of the Indies. He was the only child of Christopher Columbus and his wife, Filipa Moniz Perestrelo.

Much of his life was spent trying to recover the titles and privileges his father had earned through exploration, which were revoked in 1500. His marriage to María de Toledo y Rojas—a niece of the second Duke of Alba and a cousin of King Ferdinand—greatly helped his cause.

In 1492, the year his father set out on his first voyage, Diego became a page at the Spanish court. He had a younger half-brother, Fernando, from his father’s relationship with Beatriz Enríquez de Arana. Diego was initially taught by Beatriz, then moved to the Franciscan monastery of La Rábida at the urging of Father Juan Perez and friar Horacio Crassocius, both prominent Franciscans who occasionally served as priests to his father. Diego and Fernando both served as pages to Prince Don Juan, and later to Queen Isabella in 1497.

In August 1508, Diego was named Governor of the Indies, the same post his father had held. He arrived in Santo Domingo in July 1509 and established his home, the Alcázar de Colón, which still stands in the Dominican Republic. As Viceroy of the Indies in 1511, he commissioned Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar to lead an expedition from Santo Domingo to Cuba. Diego arrived with a large entourage, including his wife, his half-brother Fernando, his uncles Diego and Bartolomé, and various relatives and retainers. That same year, a royal council placed Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba under Diego’s authority by right of his father, though Urabá and Veragua were excluded. The council confirmed his titles of viceroy and admiral as hereditary but largely honorific, and granted him one-tenth of the net royal income. However, conflicts arose between Diego’s supporters and King Ferdinand’s officials, leading Ferdinand to recall Diego in 1514. Diego spent the next five years in Spain pressing his claims without success, until his powers were restored by Charles in 1520.