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When we think of the conquest of America, the names of men such as García Hurtado de Mendoza, Francisco de Bobadilla, Juan Ponce de León, Hernán Cortés or Francisco de Orellana quickly come to mind. Of course, also those of Christopher Columbus and the Catholic kings. However, we forget other people who were also key during those years of colonization: women.

Although they remained more in the shadows, there were many who accompanied their husbands and even had to exercise power during their absence. Women who pulled the strings from home and had a great influence on the governors’ decisions. In this context, it stands out the Bobadilla lineagean aristocratic family that rubbed shoulders with high places and held important positions in the conquered territories.

Beatriz Fernández de Bobadilla

One of the most prominent of the family was Beatriz Fernández de Bobadilla (1440-1511). She was Marchioness of Moya and advisor to Queen Isabel I of Castile. She was an enlightened woman, with a political background and one of the supports of Christopher Columbus’ company. As Carmen García explains in her book Pioneers. Women in the conquest of America (Sekotia), Beatriz Fernández de Bobadilla was considered the second most important woman in the kingdom, after Isabel I. “The popular wisdom of the time said that ‘after the queen of Castile, Bobadilla,'” writes the author.

So much so that when the queen dictated the reduction of official positions in her will, she did not touch the Marquisate of Moya or the benefits granted to its holders, Andrés Cabrera and Beatriz Fernández de Bobadilla because it was “a fair remuneration for the very extraordinary services that they lent”.

Beatriz de Bobadilla and Ulloa

Known as ‘the hunter’ Because she was the daughter of Juan de Bobadilla, senior hunter of the Catholic kings, Beatriz de Bobadilla y Ulloa (1440-1511) was the niece of Beatriz Fernández de Bobadilla. Carmen García, who has a doctorate in History from the University of Alcalá, relates in her book that ‘the huntress’ entered to serve at the Court on the recommendation of her aunt. She was a woman of great beauty and it was said that she had an affair with Ferdinand the Catholic, as well as with Christopher Columbus himself. Moved by her jealousy and to remove her from the Court, Isabel I organized a marriage between Beatriz de Bobadilla and Ulloa and Fernán Peraza, governor of La Gomera.

On that island of the Canary Islands, the couple was involved in some bloody episodes against the natives who rebelled against them. To such an extent that, in addition to ‘the hunter’, Beatriz de Bobadilla also began to be called ‘the bloody lady’since he did not hesitate to annihilate anyone who opposed his government.

After the death of Fernán Peraza in 1488, Beatriz took control of the mayorazgo of the Canary Islands. Furthermore, he had to defend it so that his son Guillén Peraza de Ayala could inherit it, since his mother-in-law wanted to recover it for the benefit of another son.

Isabel de Bobadilla y Peñalosa

Also niece of Beatriz Fernández de Bobadilla and daughter of the Spanish conquistador, Francisco de Bobadilla, Isabel de Bobadilla y Peñalosa married the military man Pedro Arias Dávila, with whom he had nine children. Better known as Pedrarias, he was governor and captain general of Castilla de Oro, a territory that encompassed the southeast of Central America, Panama and the extreme northwest of South America. He later also served as governor of the province of Nicaragua.

Isabel de Bobadilla crossed the Atlantic with him and, according to Carmen García in her book, she was key in Pedrarias’s decision-making, since “she liked to build bridges and alliances” while her husband “was somewhat irrational and vehement in their decisions.” An example of his eagerness to forge alliances was the marriages of two of his daughters. The first was María, whom he married to the conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa, with whom Pedrarias had a strong enmity. Of course, María and Núñez de Balboa never met, since the wedding was carried out by proxy.

After Balboa’s death, María married the Segovian nobleman, Rodrigo de Contreras, who was appointed governor of Nicaragua after Pedrarias’ death.

Isabel de Bobadilla

The other great marriage promoted by Isabel de Bobadilla y Peñalosa was that of her daughter Isabel, whom she married Hernando del Soto. He had already explored Yucatan and Peru and was considered a renowned conquistador. He was appointed governor of Cuba and, when he was sent to conquer Florida, he temporarily left Isabel in power. Thus, she became the first woman to govern Cuba.

The figure of Isabel de Bobadilla is still remembered in Havana. And Hernando del Soto died in the Mississippi in 1542, but tradition says that She waited for him for years leaning out of the tower of the Royal Force Castle, which was the governor’s residence. Currently, a small sculpture still remains, known as the Giraldilla, topping the castle’s watchtower. This statue was commissioned by the governor of Havana in commemoration of Isabel de Bobadilla.

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