The Untaught History of Columbus

Christopher Columbus is believed by some scholars to have had Sephardic Jewish ancestry, though this remains debated. Like many individuals in late-15th-century Spain, he identified publicly as a Christian during a period when conversion and concealment of ancestry were common due to religious and social pressures.

• 1492: Columbus sailed west under the Spanish Crown and reached Caribbean islands, believing he had arrived in the Indies.
• 1493–1496: Columbus led a second voyage to the Caribbean, during which permanent Spanish settlements were established. The Spanish colonial presence expanded, and systems of labor and tribute were imposed on Indigenous populations, leading to widespread complaints and unrest.
• 1496–1499: During subsequent voyages and administrations, reports from friars and royal officials raised concerns about governance, treatment of Indigenous peoples, and conflicts between colonists and colonial authorities. These reports were sent to the Spanish Crown and contributed to growing scrutiny of Columbus’s rule.
• 1500: King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella appointed Francisco de Bobadilla as royal commissioner with authority to investigate complaints regarding Columbus’s administration in the Indies.
• Francisco de Bobadilla arrested Columbus and his brothers, Bartolomé and Diego, placed them in chains, and sent them back to Spain.
• Columbus arrived in Spain in chains and under detention, which caused concern at court.
• By royal order, the chains were removed, and Columbus was released from physical custody while his conduct was subjected to royal review and investigation, during which his actions and movements were constrained by court protocol.
• During the investigation, Columbus was removed from his position as governor and barred from holding administrative authority in the Indies.
• Columbus’s personal liberty was restored, though he remained under royal judgment.
• He was not reinstated as governor of the Indies.
• Columbus lost his administrative authority in the New World.
• He retained his title as Admiral of the Ocean Sea.
• He continued to petition the Crown for the rights, offices, and revenues promised to him.
• These legal disputes continued after his death and were pursued by his heirs in the Pleitos Colombinos.

Lineage Columbus to the Esparza Sisters

G1 — Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus) (1451–1506)
Admiral of the Ocean Sea; Discoverer of the New World. Was later was arrested and sent back to Spain in chains in 1500. Was accused for his failure as governor of Hispaniola and inability to control his armys treatment, brutality, mismanagement, and abuse of power over the Indigenous people which Queen Isabella consider citizens of her kingdom and therefore children of God who had unalienable equal rights.
Married Doña Filipa Moniz de Perestrelo, Portuguese noblewoman.
└── G2 — Diego Colón, 1st Duke of Veragua (1480–1526)
2nd Admiral of the Indies; Viceroy of the Indies for 15 years.
Married Doña María de Toledo y Rojas (1508), niece of the 2nd Duke of Alba.
└── G3 — Cristóbol Colón y Toledo (1523–1571)
Died off the coast of Peru.
Married Magdalena de Anaya y Guzmán (daughter of Francisco Girón Villasandino, Chief Constable of Hispaniola).
└── G4 — María Colón y Anaya (d. Bef. 1604)
Married Judge Luis de Ávila.
└── G5 — Magdalena de Ávila y Colón (b. 20 Jul 1591, Santo Domingo)
Married [Unknown Spanish colonial official or settler]
└── G6 — Juana de Ávila Colón (b. c.1615–1620, New Spain)
Likely moved to mainland New Spain during colonial expansion.
Married [Unknown] possibly from merchant or minor noble family.
└── G7 — Francisca de Montoya Ávila (b. c.1640–1645)
Generation active during expansion into northern Mexico due to disease, famine, and drought in the interior.
Married [Unknown], likely connected to mining, ranching, missionary families in the regional migration.
└── G8 — Juana López de León (b. c.1665–1670)
Generation settling in Coahuila/Nuevo León region.
Married [Unknown] Pérez, possibly connected to presidio families.
└── G9 — Catalina Pérez y López (b. c.1690–1695)
Married [Unknown] de León, family establishing in Monterrey/Saltillo region.
└── G10 — Matías de León Pérez (b. c.1715–1720)
Married [Unknown] Galán, connecting to the Galán family line of Coahuila.
└── G11 — Joaquín Cayetano Galán (1727–1808)
Married [Unknown] Sánchez.
└── G12 — María Encarnación Galán Sánchez (1755–1821)
Married Villarreal of the prominent Villarreal family of Nuevo León.
└── G13 — María Felicidad Galán Villarreal (1794–1858)
Married Pedro José Guajardo Esparza (1792–1879)
m: 06 Feb 1809. Descendants of San Pedro de Carricitos Land Grant. Founders of La Encantada Ranch named for the Sabina Groves on Rio Grande.
└── G14 — Carlos Villarreal Esparza (1828–1885)
Married Francisca Benavides García (1834–1914)
m: 30 Jan 1850. Descendants of San Pedro de Carricitos Land Grant.
└── G15 — Antonio García Esparza (1865–1935)
Married María Hilaria Cavazos Reyes (1870–1945)
m: 24 Apr 1887. Descendants of San Juan de Carricitos Land Grant, Espíritu Santo Land Grant, San Pedro de Carricitos Land Grant,
└── G16 — Samuel Reyes Esparza (1911–1980)
Married Ignacia Cortez Rodríguez (1916–1996). Founders of El Ranchito.
└── G17 — The Esparza Sisters

A Well-Made Educational Video by History Teacher Will Brown on Columbus