Lady of La Gomera, known for her relationship with Christopher Columbus and her authoritarian rule over the island. A romantic legend of the Canary Islands.
Beatriz de Bobadilla y Ulloa was born around 1462 in Medina del Campo. A lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella I, her beauty and character attracted the attention of King Ferdinand, which the jealous queen resolved by sending her as wife to Hernán Peraza the Younger, lord of La Gomera. Beatriz arrived on the island in 1482 and, after her husband's murder in a Gomeran rebellion (1488), ruled the island with an iron fist for years.
Her government was fierce: she crushed the Gomeran rebellion with merciless vengeance, hanging and enslaving hundreds of islanders. History and legend present her as a governor of vehement temperament, capable of taking harsh decisions without hesitation. It was during these years that Christopher Columbus stopped at La Gomera on his first voyage (1492). Legend insists on a romantic relationship between the two, although the historical documents only record the provisioning of the fleet.
In 1498 she married Alonso Fernández de Lugo, conqueror of Tenerife and La Palma, thus uniting the two most important lordships of the archipelago. She died in 1501. Her figure oscillates between admiration for her strength and condemnation for her cruelty. She is, without doubt, one of the most powerful and controversial women in the history of the Canary Islands.