At the age of fourteen, Fernando Columbus—the son of Christopher Columbus and Beatriz Enríquez—had accompanied his father on his fourth voyage across the Atlantic. When “tall, most amiable and very fat” Fernando obtained his maturity, he acquired a fortune in property and slaves that made him one of the richest men in Spain. In 1526 he built a house in Seville on the banks of the Guadalquivir. He planted the garden with American trees, and filled a large room with more than 15,000 books.
