by Andrew Rowen | Dec 1, 2023 | New York City
In March 1495, Columbus had relocated Fray Ramón Pané from Fort Magdalena to Fort Concepción to instruct Chief Guarionex in Christianity, hoping Guarionex’s conversion would serve as an example to “Indians” throughout “Española.” Guarionex was renowned for his...
by Andrew Rowen | Nov 12, 2023 | New York City
After his capture in March 1495 (post of March 17), Chief Caonabó was shackled in a partitioned portion of Columbus’s residence at Isabela. The first three photos show the preserved ruins of the residence (the thatched roof is modern), the residence’s main floor...
by Andrew Rowen | Oct 7, 2023 | New York City
Columbus took ten Taínos to Europe at the end of his first voyage. For upcoming Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I reconstruct what the ten “discovered” during their first days after arrival, in and around Lisbon, Portugal, from March 4–10, 1493, a parallel to Columbus’s...
by Andrew Rowen | Sep 2, 2023 | New York City
Chief Manicoatex burned down the original wooden Fort Concepción at the time of the battle of Santo Cerro (March 1495). The precise site of this original fort is unknown, but it was erected adjacent to Chief Guarionex’s hometown of Guaricano near the base of Santo...
by Andrew Rowen | Aug 5, 2023 | New York City
By the summer of 1495, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand had grown sufficiently concerned with Fray Buil’s, Pedro Margarite’s, and others’ criticisms of Columbus’s governance and the failure of gold shipments home to appoint an investigator to review his conduct and...
by Andrew Rowen | Jul 4, 2023 | New York City
Following the hurricane (see prior post), Columbus ordered Isabela’s shipwrights to construct two new caravels, the first ships so designed made in the Americas. He’d survived violent storms—during the return ocean crossing of the first voyage and the Cuban...
