Nicolás de Ovando
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Nicolás de Ovando (Castile, 1460 – Madrid, May 29, 1518) was a Spanish soldier from a noble family and a knight of the Order of Alcántara. He was governor of Hispaniola from 1502 until 1509.
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[edit] Early life
Nicolas de Ovando was born in 1460 Castile. Born into a noble and pious family, he entered the Military Order of Alcantara, where he became a maitre or a commander. This brotherhood, founded in 1156, could be compared with the Order of Templars.
[edit] Selection as governor
As Commander as Lares, he was a very appreciated man of the Spanish Catholic Kings and in particular of Queen Isabella. So, on September 3, 1501, The Spanish Crown decided to replace Francisco de Bobadilla and make Ovando governor from complaints from Christopher Columbus.
[edit] Expedition to the Americas
This, on February 13, 1502, he sailed from Spain with a fleet of thirty ships. It was the largest fleet that had ever sailed to the New World.
The thirty ships carried 2,500 colonists. Unlike Columbus's earlier settlements, this group of colonists was deliberately selected to represent an organized cross-section of Spanish society. Ovando's plan was to develop the West Indies economically and thereby expand Spanish political, religious, and administrative influence in the region. On one of the ships was Bartolome de las Casas later known as the 'Protector of the Indians'.
[edit] Administration
When Ovando arrived in Hispaniola in 1502, he found the natives in a state of revolt. He ruthlessly suppressed this rebellion through a series of bloody campaigns. The administration of Ovando in Hispaniola was one of great cruelty toward the Indians. When the Spaniards arrived in 1492, the native population was estimated to be about 500,000. According to a census taken in 1507, the native population had been reduced to 60,000.
Ovando founded several cities on Hispaniola and also developed the mining industry, introduced the cultivation of sugar cane with plants that he imported from the Canary Islands, and commissioned expeditions of discovery. The Spanish Crown was not only interested in using the natives to help provide food but also wanted to exploit native labor to extract the gold from the nearby mines.
Ovando ordered the first importation of Spanish-speaking slaves of African descent (Ladinos) into the Americas in 1501. Many of the Spanish elite ordered small numbers of slaves to work as servants in their homes. Most of the slaves were sent to work in the sugar cane fields.
Ovando was recalled to Spain in 1509 by King Ferdinand, who was keeping a promise that he had made to Queen Isabella on her death-bed. He was succeeded by Diego Columbus, but was permitted to retain possession of all his property.
He died on May 29, 1518 in Madrid, Spain and was buried in the church of San Benito d'Alcantara.
[edit] Note
Ovando made Hernán Cortés a notary and gave him a grant of land. This provided Cortés with the start of his career as a conquistador.
[edit] Source
This article incorporates text from the public domain Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography.
