Beatriz Enríquez de Arana

Beatriz Enríquez de Arana
Beatriz Enríquez de Arana
Born	1465; Santa María de Trassierra, Córdoba, Crown of Castile
Died	1521 (aged 55–56); Santa María de Trassierra, Córdoba, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Partner(s)	Christopher Columbus (as mistress (disputed); 1487 – his death 1506)
Children	Ferdinand Columbus

Beatriz Enríquez de Arana (1465–1521?) was the mother of Ferdinand Columbus, Christopher Columbus's younger son.^[1] The nature of her relationship to Christopher Columbus has been a subject of dispute amongst historians. Some evidence suggests that she was the second wife to Columbus.^[2] Other evidence suggests that Beatriz was the mistress of Columbus. It is important to note that Columbus himself referred to Beatriz as his wife^[3] and that social conventions at the time would likely have prevented Ferdinand Columbus from receiving his royal appointment to the court of Spain, if he were illegitimate. The Columbus family tree lists Ferdinand and Diego Columbus, Columbus's son from his first marriage, on the same branch, whereas illegitimate children are found to be separated in other parts of the tree.^[4]

Biography

Beatriz Enríquez de Arana was born around 1465 in the village of Santa María de Trasierra. She was the daughter of Pedro de Torquemada and Ana Núñez de Arana, prosperous farmers and owners of orchards, houses and vineyards. She had one brother, Pedro de Arana. When her father died, she moved with her mother and brother to the nearby city of Córdoba. When her mother died in 1471, Beatriz and Pedro were placed under the guardianship of her grandmother, Eleanor Nunez, and her maternal aunt, Mayor Enriquez de Arana. Beatriz received a good education and learned how to read and write, an exceptional accomplishment in an era when most women could not sign their names. After the death of their grandmother and aunt in 1478, the children were raised by their closest surviving relative, Rodrigo Enriquez de Arana.^[5]^[6]

Christopher Columbus met Beatriz Enríquez de Arana sometime in 1487 while seeking support from the Catholic monarchs for his discovery project. On August 15, 1488, Beatriz gave birth to Ferdinand Columbus.^[5]^[6] That same year, Columbus sent his older son, Diego Columbus, to Córdoba to be raised by Beatriz and her family. Columbus was busy advocating for his proposed voyage and spent little time with his family. In 1494 both boys were sent to the royal court in Valladolid to serve as pages. Thereafter, Arana had little contact with the Columbus family, although Christopher provided her with a modest annuity after his first successful voyage in 1492.^[7]

Some stipulate that Christopher Columbus may have never married Beatriz Enríquez de Arana, possibly because of the strict social barriers that existed at the time between a nobleman and a common peasant.^[5]^[6] Other historians claim that Beatriz hailed from a noble family of small share-holders, removing any barrier she may have had preventing her from marrying Columbus, if otherwise she had been a commoner.^[8]^[9]^[10] When Columbus died he left some provision for her in his will, directing his son Diego to hold her in respect and continue an annual allowance.^[11]^[12] Diego appears to have been remiss with payments; Beatriz' last recorded act in 1521 was hiring an attorney to collect some money, and Diego's will written in 1532 contained a directive that any unpaid monies from the last three or four years were to be paid out to Beatriz' heirs.^[12]

Neither her cause of death, or the exact date have been recorded, but it is assumed to have taken place shortly after 1521.^[12]

Other members of the Arana family were also associated with Columbus. On his first voyage in 1492, Diego de Arana, a cousin to Beatriz, served Columbus as chief marshal of the fleet, responsible for maintaining order among the sailors. Pedro de Arana, brother to Beatriz, was captain of one of the ships during Columbus's third voyage.^[13]^[14]

Notes

^ Phillips, William D.; Phillips, Carla Rahn (1992). The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. Cambridge University Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-521-44652-5.
^ Herrera, General History of the Voyages and Conquests of Castilians, etc., 1st dec., b. I. c. 7. After the death of his first wife, he espoused a second, named Beatrix Enriquez, of the city of Cordova, by whom he had Fernando.
^ Markham, Life of Christopher Columbus p. 61, When Columbus wrote, in 1500, "I left my wife and sons for this service, whom I never (jamas) saw," he could not have referred to his Portuguese wife, because she only bore him one child. He must have referred to Beatriz Enriques as his wife, and to his sons Diego and Fernando...He uses the word jamas... Columbus, as a foreigner, may well have used the word in the sense hardly ever.
^ Barry, p.33 The genealogical tree of the family of the Admiral bears the name of Fernando, immediately after that of Diego, and on the same line... The genealogical trees of the Columbus'... distinguish carefully the quality of persons
^ ^a ^b ^c Taviani 1992.
^ ^a ^b ^c Arranz Marquez.
^ McDonald 2005, pp. 35.
^ Navvarrete, Dissertation sobre la historia de la Nauticca, parte tercera. 19, fol. 152. Dona Beatriz Enriquez doncella noble y principal de aquilla cindad.
^ The World Book Encyclopedia, Vol 4, pp. 858-859
^ Fiske, p. 401 He had formed a connection with a lady of noble family, Beatriz Enríquez de Arana, who gave birth to his son Ferdinand on 15 August 1488.
^ Brinkbäumer, p. 292
^ ^a ^b ^c Beding, Silvio A. (2016). The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Springer. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-349-12573-9.
^ Lemos 1992a.
^ Lemos 1992b.

References

Arranz Marquez, Luis. "Beatriz Enriquez de Arana". Real Academia de la Historia (in Spanish).
Brinkbäumer, Klaus, The voyage of the Vizcaína: the mystery of Christopher Columbus's last ship, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006, ISBN 0-15-101186-9
Davidson, Miles H. (1997). Columbus Then and Now : A Life Reexamined. Norman, Okla.: Univ. of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-2934-1.
Fernández-Armesto, Felipe (1991). Columbus. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-215898-7.
Lemos, William (1992a). "Arana, Diego de". In Bedini, Silvio A. (ed.). The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Simon and Schuster.
Lemos, William (1992b). "Arana, Pedro de". In Bedini, Silvio A. (ed.). The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Simon and Schuster.
McDonald, Mark P. (2005). Ferdinand Columbus: Renaissance collector. London: British museum press. ISBN 978-0-7141-2644-9.
Patrick, James, Renaissance and Reformation, Marshall Cavendish, 2001, ISBN 0-7614-7651-2
Phillips, William D.; Phillips, Carla Rahn (1992). The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Taviani, Paolo Emilio (1985). Christopher Columbus: The Grand Design. London: Orbis Publishing Limited.
Taviani, Paolo Emilio (1992). "Arana, Beatriz de". In Bedini, Silvio A. (ed.). The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Simon and Schuster.
The World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc., 2007, ISBN 0-7166-0107-9; ISBN 978-0-7166-0107-4
Thomas, Hugh (2004). Rivers of Gold: the rise of the Spanish Empire; from Columbus to Magellan. New York, NY: Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50204-0.
Wilford, John Noble (1992). The Mysterious History of Columbus: An Exploration of the Man, the Myth, the Legacy. New York: A. A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-679-40476-7.

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Biography

Notes

References

Further reading