Juan de la Cosa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Between 1450 and 1460 |
| Died | (1510-02-28)28 February 1510[1] |
| Other names | Juan theBiscayne |
| Occupations | Navigator andcartographer |
| Notable work | Map of Juan de la Cosa |
Juan de la Cosa (c. 1450 – 28 February 1510) was aCastilean-Basquenavigator andcartographer, known for designing theearliest European world map which incorporated the territories of the Americas discovered in the 15th century.
De la Cosa was the owner andmaster of theSanta María, and thus played an important role in thefirst and second voyage ofChristopher Columbus to theWest Indies.
In 1499, he served as the chief pilot in the expedition ofAlonso de Ojeda to the coasts of South America. Upon his return toAndalusia, he drew his famousmappa mundi ("world map") and soon returned to the Indies, this time withRodrigo de Bastidas. In the following years, De la Cosa alternated trips to America under its own command with special duties from theCrown, including an assignment as a spy inLisbon and participation in the board of pilots held inBurgos in 1508. In 1509, he began what would be his last expedition, again with Ojeda, to take possession of the coasts of modern Colombia.
De la Cosa died in an armed confrontation with indigenous people before he could get possession ofUrabá.[2]
No one knows exactly where Juan de la Cosa was born.Canovas del Castillo (1892) states that he was fromSantoña, Cantabria,[3] because there are documents showing that he was a resident there and his wife and daughter lived in that city.[4] Some 16th-century chroniclers called him "the Biscayne", leading to confusion with another sailor called "Juan Vizcaino". However, today they are known to be different people.[5]
His date of birth is also unknown, but it is estimated between 1450 and 1460, nor is any information available from his childhood or adolescence. It is assumed that the young man took part in sailing voyages around theBay of Biscay and then towards theCanary Islands and West Africa.[6]
The first solid references come from 1488, when Juan de la Cosa was inPortugal. At that time, navigatorBartolomeu Dias had just arrived inLisbon, after having reached theCape of Good Hope. TheCatholic Monarchs may have sent de la Cosa to that city as aspy to obtain information and details of the discovery. He managed to return toCastile before Portuguese officers captured him.[7]
Early in the 1490s, Juan de la Cosa was living inEl Puerto de Santa María and owned a ship calledMarigalante orGalician. It is believed that it was there that he established a business relationship with thePinzón brothers.[6]
Juan de la Cosa sailed withChristopher Columbus on his first three voyages to the New World. He owned and wasmaster of theSanta María (second-in-command to Columbus),[8] flagship ofColumbus's first voyage in 1492. The vessel shipwrecked that year on the night of 24–25 December off the present-day site ofCap-Haïtien, Haiti. De la Cosa, in a notable act of cowardice (or treason, in Columbus's documented opinion), fled the sinking Santa Maria (his partial ownership of the vessel notwithstanding) in the flagship's boat, rather than endeavor to assist Columbus in kedging the stricken vessel from off the coral reef on which it had run aground. He and a handful of loyals made forLa Nina, waiting a few hundred yards astern of the flagship, but they were turned back byLa Nina's captain Vicente Yanez.
OnColumbus's second voyage, in 1493, de la Cosa was mariner and cartographer on the shipColina. On Columbus' third voyage, in 1498, de la Cosa was on the shipLa Niña. Some historians believe de la Cosa did not participate in this voyage.
In 1494 de la Cosa received compensation from the Spanish monarchs for the sinking of his ship on his first voyage. He was awarded the right to transportdocientos cahíces de trigo ("two hundred cahices of flour")[9] fromAndalucia toBiscay, and was exempted from certain duties.
On his fourth voyage, in 1499, de la Cosa was the first pilot for the expedition ofAlonso de Ojeda andAmerigo Vespucci, and with them was among the first to set foot on the South American mainland on theGulf of Paria. At the same time they explored the coast fromEssequibo River toCape Vela.
In spite of not receiving much remuneration, De la Cosa had benefited considerably, having mapped in detail the coast of the region he explored, information he would use to create his famous map.
On the fifth voyage, in 1500, de la Cosa,Rodrigo de Bastidas, andVasco Núñez de Balboa explored the lands of present-day Colombia and Panama. He explored further along the South American coast to theisthmus of Panama, and returned to Haiti in 1502. When the Spanish court found soon afterwards that the Portuguese had made several incursions into the newly discovered country, QueenIsabella sent Juan de la Cosa at the head of a delegation to Portugal to protest this incursion. De la Cosa was arrested and incarcerated, liberated only with the help of Queen Isabella.
De la Cosa was nominated analguazil, and in 1504–1505(?) (or 1506) was commander of an expedition to thePearl Islands and theGulf of Urabá to found settlements there. At the same time, he visited Jamaica and Haiti.
In 1509 Juan de la Cosa set out for the seventh and last time for the New World. He carried two hundred colonists on three ships, and on reaching Haiti placed himself under the command of Alonso de Ojeda, who added another ship with one hundred settlers to the expedition. After having settled an old border dispute between Alonso de Ojeda andDiego de Nicuesa, they went withFrancisco Pizarro into de Ojeda's territory and landed at the future site ofCartagena. This was against the warnings of de la Cosa, who proposed they disembark on the more peaceful coast of the Gulf of Urabá. When the Spanish came ashore, they got in a fight with the natives on theBay of Calamar, and drove them off. Emboldened by the Spanish victory, de Ojeda decided to go further into the forest, to the native village at the future site ofTurbaco. When they arrived at the town, they were attacked by the natives, and de la Cosa was shot with poison arrows and killed. De Ojeda escaped and fled to the coast. Another Spanish expedition passed by, and de Ojeda told them of the murderous natives. The men of the other expedition joined de Ojeda for a punitive attack on that village, killing all of its inhabitants to avenge de la Cosa's death. De la Cosa's widow received 45,000maravedís and all the natives he had in his possession as indemnity for services rendered.
Juan de la Cosa made severalmaps of which the only survivor is his famousworld map from 1500. It is the oldest known European map that shows the New World. Of special interest is the outline ofCuba, which Christopher Columbus never believed to be an island. Walkenaer andAlexander von Humboldt were the first to point out the great importance of this chart. It is now in the Museo Naval inMadrid. Reproductions of it were first given by Humboldt in hisAtlas géographique et physique.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Otto Hartig (1913). "Juan de la Cosa". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
