Columbus’ companion who discovered Bermuda in the 16th century after an inexplicable storm

Even if these and other explorers had done nothing else, their travels through the New World alone were enough to bring them fame. “Nowhere else had one heard of so many journeys through such wild lands,” warned Charles Fletcher Lummis “The Spanish Pioneers”, originally published in 1893 and now republished by Rialp-Verlag. This American historian and activist highlighted the “markets of thousands of miles undertaken by small groups or individual heroes.”

“The only precedent comparable to the Spanish conquest of the New World was the story during the gold rush of the California Argonauts, who crossed the great plains in the most remarkable population movement in history. But even that pales in size, hardship, danger and endurance compared to the journeys of the pioneers,” added Fletcher Lummis.

However, at the same time, other great Spanish explorers also carried out similar exploits that have only relatively recently been adequately studied in the academic field, such as the fall of Juan Bermudez. This inveterate traveler was born in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva) in the last third of the 15th century. The year that was never fully explained within the small aura of mystery that long surrounded the character.

A childhood at sea

However, we know that even as a child he dreamed of traveling beyond the seas and discovering areas never explored by Europeans. Bermúdez belonged to a family with a great seafaring tradition, which led him to become an expert on the sea at a young age, even before he reached puberty. In fact, his first trip to America was the discovery with Columbus. Between the years 1498 and 1519 he documented up to 22 voyages between Spain and the New World, most of them as a captain or skipper.

This mark was not surpassed by any other person in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially considering that these crossings could only be made at certain times of the year to take advantage of wind direction and that it took months to cross the Atlantic. . “To understand these journeys of thousands of kilometers by small groups or individual heroes, one must know the country they crossed and something about the time in which these heroic deeds were performed,” the historian warned as early as 1893.

On this first voyage to America in 1492, Bermúdez was aboard the caravel La Pinta, captained by the sailor and explorer Martín Alonso Pinzón. In the second, in which Columbus also wanted to count on him, he held more responsible positions and expanded his knowledge so much that in the following years he was captain of his own caravel: La Garza. From there, this boat was used to transport people, animals, goods and tools to the settlements that were founded on the new continent.

Bermuda

Of all these expeditions, there was one much more important, the one with which he wrote his golden chapter in the history of the discovery and conquest of America. A journey that started in July 1505 from Seville, the headquarters of the Carrera de Indias, and of which he was the supreme leader. The journey took us to Hispaniola in the Caribbean. The outward journey went without any setbacks, so he was able to unload his goods without the slightest problems. However, everything got complicated on the way back.

A strange storm, as described in some ship’s logs, surprised La Garza and diverted him from his course northward, instead of the usual direction of the Azores. The voyage became uncontrolled and took him parallel to the coasts of the Florida Peninsula, driven by the current coming from the Gulf of Mexico. After sailing aimlessly for several days with barely any control of the ship, Bermúdez reached a small archipelago that he named the Garza Islands in recognition of his caravel.

The archipelago lay north of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the present-day islands that years later were named the Juan Bermúdez Islands in his honor and eventually simply Bermuda, as they are known today. There are more than 150 and Bermúdez claimed them as part of the Spanish Empire. However, due to the risk of running aground, the expedition did not have to disembark. They were later colonized by the English.

year of discovery

The year in which he discovered them is imprecise, although it is known that it was before 1511, as he included an island called La Bermuda in the Indian chronicler Pedro Mártir de Anglería’s work, “Legatio Babylonica,” published in the same year between those who made up this area in the Atlantic Ocean. However, the real discoverer is not mentioned in the book. Although there is no clear date, in 2005 the inhabitants of the archipelago celebrated the fifth anniversary of its sighting, which is why they believe that Bermúdez discovered the archipelago in 1505.

Historians have come to this conclusion after research in the last years of the 20th century. It is known that in 1512 he bought two caravels in Portugal, the Santa Cruz and the Santa María de la Antigua, and the following year, together with Juan Rodríguez Mafra, he piloted the second caravel and sailed to Cuba and Hispaniola. to where they transported goods and passengers. On this journey they are accompanied by Juan Martín Pinzón, son of Martin Alonso Pinzon.

Bermúdez returned to the islands in 1515, according to his companion Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés in the Summary of the Natural History of India published in 1526. However, due to bad weather, they made no attempt to dock on the island. The final details of his life are unknown, however it is believed that he died in his hometown of Palos de la Frontera, although it is not known how or when.