Military officer; born in
Valladolid, Spain, in 1460; was sent by Queen Isabella to supplant
Bobadilla as governor of
Santo Domingo in 1501, charged by the
Queen not to allow the enslavement of the natives, but to protect them as subjects of
Spain, and to carefully instruct them in the
Christian faith.
Ovando sailed for the
West Indies, Feb. 13, 1502, with thirty-two ships, bearing 2,500 persons to become settlers in that country.
By command of the
Queen, the Spaniards and natives were to pay tithes; none but natives of
Castile were to live in the Indies; none to go on discoveries without royal permission; no Jews,
Moors, nor new converts were to be tolerated there; and all the property that had been taken from
Columbus and his brother was to be restored to them.
In
Ovando's fleet were ten Franciscan friars, the first of that order who came to settle in the Indies.
Ovando, like
Bobadilla, treated
Columbus with injustice.
He was recalled in 1508, and was succeeded in office by
Diego Columbus, son of the great admiral.
Ovando died in
Madrid, Spain, in 1518.
