On April 3, 1502, Christopher Columbus began his fourth voyage to the American continent. After exploring the Atlantic coast of Central America and returning to the island of Hispaniola, they were surprised by a storm that forced them to divert to Jamaica. In June 1503 Columbus landed on the beach of Santa Gloria. They saved their lives, but the hulls of their two caravels were seriously damaged and it was impossible to put to sea again. The admiral ordered the remains of the ships to be used to build a fort. Once finished, expeditions were sent to the interior of the island to contact the natives and be able to obtain food by bartering with the usual trinkets. They stayed that way for months in the hope that a Spanish ship would sail through the area and be able to rescue them, since they did not have the necessary tools to build a boat to get out of there. Things got tense at the fort when the natives refused to provide more food if they didn't offer something of more value... Columbus's astronomical knowledge will save them. Thanks to the book Almanach Perpetuum (1478), by the Sephardic astronomer Abraham Zacuto , the admiral knew that on February 29, 1504 there would be a total lunar eclipse. That same day, he met with the local caciques and threatened them:
If you don't supply us with more food, my God will hide the moon tonight.
I suppose it would not be the first eclipse they would see in those parts, but the arrival of an individual who could do it at will, that distressed the coolest. The natives apologized and sent them supplies again without asking for anything in return. In addition, they obtained a rowing canoe with which Diego Méndez and seven men ventured to reach Hispaniola. In June 1504 they managed to be rescued by a ship sent by Diego Méndez. In 1508, Diego Columbus , son of the admiral and already as governor of Hispaniola, ordered the colonization of Jamaica. The following year the first settlement was founded in the same place where his father had built the fort. They called it Sevilla la Nueva . Despite efforts to consolidate the new foundation, the surrounding mangroves and nearby swampy area made it necessary to abandon it and try further south. There they established Villa de la Vega (for English Spanish Town ), which would be the capital of Jamaica until the 19th century.
Initially, the coexistence with the natives was peaceful —I suppose they still kept the memory of the magic of Columbus—, but when the excesses of the Spanish began, problems with the natives became commonplace. All this aggravated by the constant visits, not courtesy, of the French, Dutch and, above all, the English. The English corsairs, at the service of your pocket and that of her graceful majesty, Queen Elizabeth I of England , attacked any ship or settlement with a Spanish flag... and Spanish Town received several visits of this type . Although the most famous corsair of the time was Francis Drake —he became a vice-admiral of the British Royal Navy—, had an apprentice who surpassed his master:Christopher Newport . In 1592, this corsair captured the Portuguese ship Madre de Deus and got the biggest loot of the century:a load of five hundred tons of spices, silks, precious stones and other treasures. Logically, he won the favor of the Queen of England and her successor, King James I , which in 1606 put him at the head of the expedition in charge of establishing an English colony in Virginia. But three years before, in Spanish Town, he knew defeat against an army... of cattle .
Christopher Newport
With an entire fleet under the command of the Christopher Newport, the English appeared off the coast of Jamaica. Due to the insufficient defenses of the Villa de la Vega and the small number of defenders, the captain did not think it appropriate to proceed with the corresponding bombardment from the sea, so he decided to land most of his troops. This bravado, disguised as manifest superiority, was taken advantage of by the Spanish who defended the settlement. They gathered all the cattle in the area and when they had the English in front of them, they goaded the cornupeta with torches. Frightened, they stampeded, destroying the first lines of the attackers and causing chaos in the bulk of the landed army. As soon as they arrived, they returned to their boats and left.