Beatriz De Bobadilla
Although La Gomera's most famous association is with Christopher Columbus, its most infamous is with the aristocratic Beatriz de Bobadilla, by reputation a vicious medieval nymphomaniac, and by all accounts - including a portrait in the Parador Nacional - a great beauty. Beatriz first came to the attention of Isabella of Castille, the queen of Spain, as one her husband Ferdinand's mistresses. Fearful of how this beautiful woman might manipulate her husband, Isabella took a fairly instant dislike to Beatriz and contrived to have her banished to La Gomera, the outermost island of the Spanish empire, by having her married off to Spanish aristocrat Hernan Peraza the Younger, who was equally out of favour being suspected of murdering another noble. Isabella's judgement of the pair seems to have been borne out by their ruthless treatment of the native population, leading to uprisings and Peraza's death in 1488. The episode began as the result of a love tryst between Peraza and a Guanche princess, Yballa, in a cave in the hills, during which the princess's Gomeran suitor surprised the couple and ran Peraza through with a lance. An island-wide rebellion followed in the wake of this event, forcing Beatriz to hole up in the Tore del Conde in San Sebastian and send for the governor of Gran Canaria, Pedro de Vera, who came to brutally crush the rebellion. Hundreds of Gomerans were coaxed from the mountains by promises of complete amnesty, to be summarily put to death or sold as slaves. De Vera even went to the extraordinarily cruel extent of massacring his own resident Gomeran population, around three hundred people, on Gran Canaria. The only slight justice for Gomerans came once Isabella learned of the situation, landing Beatriz with a huge fine, and stripping Pedro de Vera of his post as governor. Four years later, still ruler of La Gomera, but now single, Beatriz played host to Christopher Columbus. In her company, he delayed his first journey to the New World in 1492 for over a month, giving rise to much speculation about the pair. The fact that San Sebastian was not even the best-equipped Canarian port (Columbus sent one ship to Gran Canaria for repairs) suggests that the lady's companionship was a large part of Columbus's motivation. Rumours of a liaison grew and on subsequent trips Columbus would add to the circumstantial evidence, interrupting both his 1493 and 1498 journeys on the island. In 1498 he was disappointed to find that Beatriz had married Alonso Fernandez de Lugo, the conqueror of Tenerife, so that on his final 1502 voyage Columbus didn't even bother to weigh anchor in San Sebastian. Meanwhile, ruling La Gomera from Tenerife, Beatriz, became increasingly paranoid about her position there. In response to rumours of a plot to oust her from power, she had the governor and a townsman, who was alleged to have talked of her loose ways, put to death. These and other irregularities were now the last straw for Isabella, who sent for Beatriz to attend the royal court to explain herself. Within days of taking up residence at court Beatriz was found poisoned in bed. Few efforts were made to carry out an inquiry into the death
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