After baptism of the six Taínos, Columbus and five Taínos departed Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand’s court in Barcelona for Seville, where Columbus would organize the second voyage. The captive baptized Juan—as Prince Juan—was adopted by the prince and required to remain to live as a “gentleman” at court, where he would soon die of European diseases.
Columbus and his entourage rode overland to Seville, likely passing through Spain’s mountainous territory of Extremadura so he could fulfill one of the vows of the Niña’s crew pledged during the February storms (see blog of February 12) by worshipping at the renowned Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe (photos below). As before, villagers crowded to see him and the Taínos, and word spread through Extremadura’s rustic hamlets that better opportunities might exist in the newly “discovered” lands. Those eventually smitten would include a young swineherd in Trujillo, Francisco Pizarro; a minor nobleman’s third son in Jerez de los Caballeros, Vasco Núñez de Balboa; and, in Medellín, a then seven-year-old Hernán Cortés.
In Guadalupe, many say the Taínos bathed in the fountain before the monastery.
