Was the discoverer of America an evil and cruel tyrant?

A report from the 15th century: Columbus imposed horrific punishments on his men

Christopher Columbus was a greedy and vengeful tyrant who inflicted some of the most brutal punishments on his people. This is according to a document recently revealed by Spanish historians.

According to the document, as governor and viceroy of the Indies, Columbus imposed iron discipline on the first Spanish colony in America, in what is now the Dominican Republic. Punishments included cutting off ears and noses, walking naked women through the streets and selling them into slavery.

"The reign of Columbus was characterized by a form of tyranny," says Consuelo Varela, a Spanish historian, one of the two historians who studied the document. Among the cases detailed in the report: one man caught stealing corn was punished by having his nose and ears cut off, then handcuffed and sold into slavery at auction. A woman who dared to say that Columbus was born into a family of no pedigree and of low status, was punished by his brother Bartholomew who also sailed to the Caribbean. She was stripped and forced to ride naked on the back of a mule around the colony. "Bartholoma ordered her tongue to be cut out," Varla says.

This evidence was found in a report that until now was considered lost. At that time, it was brought to the attention of the Spanish kings Ferdinand and Isabella, who were worried because of the growing rumors of Columbus's cruelty and avarice. The document was written by a member of a religious order of knights, the Order of Calatrava, who was asked by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand to investigate the allegations against Columbus.

The report, written by Francisco de Bubadier, was gathering dust in a state archive in the Spanish city of Valladolid, unexamined, until last year. At the time of the writing of the report, Beauvais had already been appointed as the governor of the Indies in place of Columbus. The document, which spans 48 pages, collected testimonies from opponents and supporters of Columbus who ruled the place for seven years.

Beauvais collected testimonies of 23 people who saw or heard about the treatment shown by Columbus and his brothers to the inhabitants of the colony. "Even those who loved him had to admit that atrocities were committed," said Varela. Columbus and his brothers had to return to Spain. Columbus was returned in handcuffs, but although he never got his titles back, he was released and allowed to sail back to the Caribbean. "Columbus and his brothers are portrayed in the text as tyrants," Varela said. "Now we can understand why he was fired, and we can see that there were good reasons for that. He created problems."