Soldier, Governor, Tyrant
1440 – 1531
One of the worst of the worst was a governor appointed by Ferdinand to come settle problems that didn’t exist in Santa Maria la Antigua del Darién. Darién was the first successful settlement on the mainland. If you remember, Balboa was instrumental in the founding of Darién and the soldiers and colonists chose Balboa as their leader. The failed Captain Martin Fernandez Enciso who wanted to be governor of Darién, returned to Spain bitter and jealous. Enciso’s false reports caused Ferdinand to appoint Pedro Arias de Ávila as the new governor.
He was mostly known as Pedrarias Dávila.
From the moment Governor Dávila arrived with his wife in Darien, he seemed to plot the destruction of Balboa. The people loved and trusted Balboa. Dávila’s wife very much respected and appreciated Balboa but Dávila’s jealousy and greed drove him to persecute Balboa. Because Dávila was the rightful governor, Balboa served him with a loyalty that drove Balboa’s associates crazy. They all saw Davala’s conspiracy, but Balboa refused to be disloyal. Under Dávila’s administration, Darien was reduced to poverty and ruin. Though Balboa gave his own home to the new governor and his wife while Balboa built a nice palace for the governor, Balboa’s interests were in the southern ocean.
Balboa had since established a new settlement on the opposite side of the isthmus. Balboa even established a successful shipyard building the very ships that Pizarro used in his explorations. Balboa’s new settlement became Panama.
A little side note about Dávila’s wife, she was the daughter of Franciso de Bobadilla who was appointed to succeed Christopher Columbus as the second governor of the Indies in 1499.
It seemed that everyone was related to everyone in some way or another. But as bad as her father Francisco Bobadilla was, and I talk about him in another episode, Dávila’s wife Maria de Penylosa y Bobadilla, recognized the goodness and influence of Balboa and wanted him and her husband to preserve an amicable working relationship. She knew her husband’s cruel and unscrupulous nature and saw in Balboa the ability to conquer, lead, and administer in these harsh lands. She arranged for Balboa to marry their daughter in hopes of bringing Dávila and Balboa together. Their daughter never came to the new world, so it was a long-distance marriage. Remember that Balboa married the Carretta princess in the early months of settling Darién. So Balboa had a wife already. They were in love and happy. But since marriage to a native was not considered a legitimate marriage, nothing was thought of discarding the native for a Spanish girl. To keep the peace, Balboa agreed. I consider that to be one of Baboa’s biggest blunders. All hearts were broken and Dávila’s enmity never wavered.
Eventually Dávila, in concert with Francisco Pizarro, betrayed Balboa’s trust, tried him on false charges, and executed him immediately before any appeal could be made to the king. Dávila basically destroyed Darién, so he ran from his failure to govern and systematically destroyed the new settlement Balboa was building in what became Panama. Dávila soon left Panama before it was completely destroyed and served as governor in Nicaragua. From all my research, Dávila was never a good person. Vengeance is certainly not mine but the evil one man can inflict on another could certainly ignite the flame of vigilante in me.
