getting arrested

During my stint as governor and viceroy, I had been accused of governing tyrannically. I was physically and mentally exhausted; my body was wracked by arthritis and my eyes by ophthalmia. In October 1499, I sent two ships to Spain, asking the Court of Spain to appoint a royal commissioner to help me govern.

The Court appointed Francisco de Bobadilla, a member of the Order of Calatrava; however, his authority stretched far beyond what Columbus had requested. Bobadilla was given total control as governor from 1500 until his death in 1502. Arriving in Santo Domingo while I was away, Bobadilla was immediately peppered with complaints about all three Columbus brothers: Christopher(me), Bartolomé, and Diego. Consuelo Varela, a Spanish historian, states: "Even those who loved him [Columbus] had to admit the atrocities that had taken place."

As a result of these testimonies and without being allowed a word in his own defense, I upon my return, had manacles placed on my arms and chains on my feet and was cast into prison to await return to Spain. I was 53 years old.

On October 1, 1500, me and my two brothers, likewise in chains, were sent back to Spain. Once in Cádiz, a grieveng me wrote to a friend at court:

It is now seventeen years since I came to serve these princes with the Enterprise of the Indies. They made me pass eight of them in discussion, and at the end rejected it as a thing of jest. Nevertheless I persisted therein... Over there I have placed under their sovereignty more land than there is in Africa and Europe, and more than 1,700 islands... In seven years I, by the divine will, made that conquest. At a time when I was entitled to expect rewards and retirement, I was incontinently arrested and sent home loaded with chains... The accusation was brought out of malice on the basis of charges made by civilians who had revolted and wished to take possession on the land.... I beg your graces, with the zeal of faithful Christians in whom their Highnesses have confidence, to read all my papers, and to consider how I, who came from so far to serve these princes... now at the end of my days have been despoiled of my honor and my property without cause, wherein is neither justice nor mercy.

According to testimony of 23 witnesses during his trial, I regularly used barbaric acts of torture to govern Hispaniola.

Me and my brothers lingered in jail for six weeks before the busy King Ferdinand ordered our release. Not long thereafter, the king and queen summoned the Columbus brothers to their presence at the Alhambra palace in Granada. There the royal couple heard the brothers' pleas; restored their freedom and their wealth; and, after much persuasion, agreed to fund my fourth voyage. But the door was firmly shut on my role as governor. From that point forward, Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres was to be the new governor of the West Indies.