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92-421: "Quisqueya" (from Quizqueia), meaning "great thing" or "big land", is one of the former names of the island of Hispaniola ; the island of Hispaniola comprises Haiti and the Dominican Republic . The non-profit privately funded institution of higher learning and research is free of political and religious affiliations. Its Latin motto "Hominis beneficio cognoscere et agere" can be translated "Knowledge and action at

184-399: A 2020 genetic analysis, to upwards of 750,000. A Taíno home consisted of a circular building with woven straw and palm leaves as covering. Most individuals slept in fashioned hammocks, but grass beds were also used. The cacique lived in a different structure with larger rectangular walls and a porch. The Taíno village also had a flat court used for ball games and festivals. Religiously,

276-527: A French fleet sailing towards Haiti forced General Christophe to withdraw from the east, leaving it in French hands. In 1808, a second revolution against France broke out on the island. Following Napoleon's invasion of Spain, the criollos of Santo Domingo revolted against French rule and, with the aid of the United Kingdom, returned Santo Domingo to Spanish control. France would never regain control of

368-477: A charter was passed in 1501, allowing the import of African slaves by Ferdinand and Isabel. The Spanish believed Africans would be more capable of performing physical labor. From 1519 to 1533, the indigenous uprising known as Enriquillo 's Revolt, after the Taíno cacique who led them, ensued, resulting from escaped African slaves on the island ( maroons ) possibly working with the Taíno people. Precious metals played

460-529: A comprehensive survey and map prepared by Andrés de Morales in 1508, Martyr reported that the island as a whole was called Quizquella (or Quisqueya ) and Ayiti referred to a rugged mountainous region on the western end of the island. Diego Álvarez Chanca , a physician on Columbus's second voyage, also noted that “Ayiti” or Haïti was the easternmost province of the island, an area in the Dominican Republic called " Los Haitises " national park. On

552-590: A high payment for compensation to slaveholders who lost their property, and Haiti was saddled with unmanageable debt for decades. By this point, both states were united under Haitian control. However, suppression of the Dominican culture would lead to the Dominican War of Independence and the establishment of the Dominican Republic in 1844. (This is one of the reasons for the tensions between

644-633: A large role in the history of the island after Columbus's arrival. One of the first inhabitants Columbus came across on this island was "a girl wearing only a gold nose plug". Soon the Taínos were trading pieces of gold for hawk's bells with their cacique declaring the gold came from Cibao . Traveling further east from Navidad, Columbus came across the Yaque del Norte River , which he named Río de Oro (River of Gold) because its "sands abound in gold dust". On Columbus's return during his second voyage, he learned it

736-576: A new colonial elite. The first major slave revolt in the Americas occurred in Santo Domingo during 1521, when enslaved Muslims of the Wolof nation led an uprising in the sugar plantation of admiral Don Diego Colon , son of Christopher Columbus . Many of these insurgents managed to escape where they formed independent maroon communities in the south of the island. Beginning in the 1520s,

828-408: A permanent settlement. They found the encampment at Navidad had been destroyed and all the crewmen left behind killed by the natives. Columbus decided to sail east in search of a better site to found a new settlement. In January 1494 they established La Isabela in present-day Dominican Republic . In 1496, the town of Nueva Isabela was founded. After being destroyed by a hurricane, it was rebuilt on

920-422: A primary food source. The indigenous people of Hispaniola raised crops in a conuco, which is a large mound packed with leaves and fixed crops to prevent erosion. Some common agricultural goods were cassava , maize, squash, beans, peppers, peanuts, cotton, and tobacco, which was used as an aspect of social life and religious ceremonies. The Taíno people traveled often and used hollowed canoes with paddles when on

1012-529: A record 3,500, served by a teaching staff of around 360. Since 1993, the university has been governed by the Educat-uniQ Foundation which ensures its funding and evolving aspirations. The institution has succeeded in overcoming all the political and natural disasters with which it has been confronted, gaining a reputation as Haiti's leading private university. On 17 November 2015, the university's rector, Jacky Lumarque, spoke of achievements over

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1104-422: A small bay he named San Nicolas, now called Môle-Saint-Nicolas on the north coast of present-day Haiti. He was welcomed in a friendly fashion by the indigenous people known as the Taíno. Trading with the natives yielded more gold than they had come across previously on the other Caribbean islands and Columbus was led to believe that much more gold would be found inland. Before he could explore further, his flagship,

1196-528: A stark decrease from the country's 60% forest cover in 1925. The country has been significantly deforested over the last 50 years, resulting in the desertification of many portions of Haitian territory. Haiti's poor citizens use cooking fires often, and this is a major culprit behind the nation's loss of trees. Haitians use trees as fuel either by burning the wood directly, or by first turning it into charcoal in ovens. Seventy-one percent of all fuel consumed in Haiti

1288-635: A state that existed from November 1821 until its annexation by Haiti in February 1822. The Archaic Age people arrived from mainland Central America or northern South America about 6,000 years ago, and are thought to have practised a largely hunter-gatherer lifestyle. During the 1st millennium BC , the Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taino people began to migrate into the Caribbean. Unlike

1380-598: A supplement giving an account of events from 1501 to 1511. Jointly with this Decades , he published a narrative of his experiences in Egypt with a description of the inhabitants, their country, and history. By 1516 he had finished two other Decades : In 1530 the eight Decades were published together for the first time at Alcalá. Later editions of single or of all the Decades appeared at Basel (1533), Cologne (1574), Paris (1587), and Madrid (1892). A German translation

1472-497: A time when European demand for sugar was high. Slavery kept costs low and profit was maximized. It was an important port in the Americas for goods and products flowing to and from France and Europe. European colonists often died young due to tropical fevers, as well as from violent slave resistance in the late eighteenth century. In 1791, during the French Revolution , a major slave revolt broke out on Saint-Domingue. When

1564-672: Is a Hispanophone nation of approximately 11.3 million people. Spanish is spoken by essentially all Dominicans as a primary language. Roman Catholicism is the official and dominant religion and some Evangelicalism and Protestant churches and The Church of Jesus Christ and minority religions such as African religions, Afro-American religions, African diaspora religions , Haitian Vodou , Dominican Vodou , Dominican Santeria , Congos Del Espiritu Santo , Dominican Protestants , Pentecostals , Judaism , Islam and Baháʼí Faith , Hinduism , Buddhism , Unitarian Universalism , Jehovah's Witnesses , Pentecostalism and others also exist. Haiti

1656-421: Is a Creole-speaking nation of roughly 11.7 million people. Although French is spoken as a primary language by the educated and wealthy minority, virtually the entire population speaks Haitian Creole , one of several French-derived creole languages. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion , practiced by more than half the population, although in some cases in combination with Haitian Vodou faith. Another 25% of

1748-679: Is an island between Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean . Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies , and the second-largest by land area , after Cuba . The 76,192-square-kilometre (29,418 sq mi) island is divided into two separate sovereign countries: the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic (48,445 km (18,705 sq mi) to

1840-485: Is considered the peak of the Taíno, there were five different kingdoms on the island, the Xaragua, Higuey (Caizcimu), Magua (Huhabo), Ciguayos (Cayabo or Maguana), and Marien (Bainoa). Many distinct Taíno languages also existed in this time period. There is still heated debate over the population of Taíno people on the island of Hispaniola in 1492, but estimates range from no more than a few tens of thousands, according to

1932-403: Is generally little rainfall outside hurricane season from August to October, and droughts are by no means uncommon when hurricanes do not come. On the northern coast, in contrast, rainfall may peak between December and February, though some rain falls in all months of the year. Annual amounts typically range from 1,700 to 2,000 millimetres (67 to 79 in) on the northern coastal lowlands; there

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2024-518: Is much greater, around 3,100 millimetres (120 in) per year, but with a similar pattern to that observed in the central lowlands. The variations of temperature depend on altitude and are much less marked than rainfall variations in the island. Lowland Hispaniola is generally more hot and humid, with temperatures averaging 28 °C (82 °F). with high humidity during the daytime, and around 20 °C (68 °F) at night. At higher altitudes, temperatures fall steadily, so that frosts occur during

2116-481: Is no compelling evidence for an outbreak. The natives had no acquired immunity to European diseases, including smallpox . By May 1519, as many as one-third of the remaining Taínos had died. In the century following the Spanish arrival on Hispaniola, the Taíno population fell by up to 95% of the population, out of a pre-contact population estimated from tens of thousands to 8,000,000. Many authors have described

2208-489: Is probably much more in the Cordillera Septentrional , though no data exist. The interior of Hispaniola, along with the southeastern coast centered around Santo Domingo, typically receives around 1,400 millimetres (55 in) per year, with a distinct season from May to October. Usually, this wet season has two peaks: one around May, the other around the hurricane season. In the interior highlands, rainfall

2300-696: Is under the sovereignty of the Dominican Republic occupying the eastern portion and 27,750 square kilometers (10,710 sq mi) under the sovereignty of Haiti occupying the western portion. The island of Cuba lies 80 kilometers (50 mi) to the west across the Windward Passage; to the southwest lie Jamaica , separated by the Jamaica Channel , the Cayman Islands and Navassa Island ; 190 km (120 mi) . Puerto Rico lies 130 km (81 mi) east of Hispaniola across

2392-427: Is wood or charcoal. Haiti's government began establishing protected areas across the country in 1968. These 26 areas today represent nearly 7 per cent of the country's land and 1.5 per cent of its waters. In the Dominican Republic, the forest cover has increased. In 2003, the Dominican Republic's forest cover had been reduced to 32% of its land area, but by 2011, forest cover had increased to nearly 40%. The success of

2484-524: The Santa Maria , ran aground and sank in the bay on December 24. With only two smaller ships remaining for the voyage home, Columbus built a fortified encampment, La Navidad , on the shore and left behind 21 crewman to await his return the following year. Colonization began in earnest the following year when Columbus brought 1,300 men to Hispaniola in November 1493 with the intention of establishing

2576-541: The Caribbean Sea was raided by increasingly numerous French pirates. In 1541, Spain authorized the construction of Santo Domingo's fortified wall, and in 1560 decided to restrict sea travel to enormous, well-armed convoys. In another move, which would destroy Hispaniola's sugar industry, in 1561 Havana , more strategically located in relation to the Gulf Stream , was selected as the designated stopping point for

2668-477: The French Republic abolished slavery in the colonies on February 4, 1794, it was a European first. The ex-slave army joined forces with France in its war against its European neighbors. In the second 1795 Treaty of Basel (July 22), Spain ceded the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, later to become the Dominican Republic. French settlers had begun to colonize some areas in the Spanish side of

2760-514: The Mona Passage . The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands lie to the north. Its westernmost point is known as Cap Carcasse. Cuba, Cayman Islands, Navassa Island, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico are collectively known as the Greater Antilles . Hispaniola is also a part of the Antilles and the West Indies . The island has five major ranges of mountains: The Central Range, known in

2852-522: The rain shadow of the mountains in the southern and western portion of the island, and in the Cibao valley in the center-north of the island. The Hispaniolan pine forests occupy the mountainous 15% of the island, above 850 metres (2,790 ft) elevation. The flooded grasslands and savannas ecoregion in the south central region of the island surrounds a chain of lakes and lagoons, the most notable of which are Etang Saumatre and Trou Caïman in Haiti and

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2944-458: The Americas . The colony was a meeting point of European explorers, soldiers, and settlers who brought with them the culture, architecture, laws, and traditions of the Old World . Spaniards imposed a harsh regime of forced labor and enslavement of the Taínos, as well as redirection of their food production and labor to Spaniards. This had a devastating impact on both mortality and fertility of

3036-536: The Archaic peoples, they practiced the intensive production of pottery and agriculture. The earliest evidence of the ancestors of the Taino people on Hispaniola is the Ostionoid culture, which dates to around 600 AD. The Taino represented the dominant group on the island during the period of European contact. Each society on the island was a small independent kingdom with a lead known as a cacique . In 1492, which

3128-653: The Dominican Republic as the Cordillera Central , spans the central part of the island, extending from the south coast of the Dominican Republic into northwestern Haiti, where it is known as the Massif du Nord. This mountain range boasts the highest peak in the Antilles, Pico Duarte at 3,101 meters (10,174 ft) above sea level . The Cordillera Septentrional runs parallel to the Central Range across

3220-399: The Dominican Republic. The island has four distinct ecoregions . The Hispaniolan moist forests ecoregion covers approximately 50% of the island, especially the northern and eastern portions, predominantly in the lowlands but extending up to 2,100 meters (6,900 ft) elevation. The Hispaniolan dry forests ecoregion occupies approximately 20% of the island, lying in the rain shadow of

3312-530: The Dominican forest growth is due to several Dominican government policies and private organizations for the purpose of reforesting, and a strong educational campaign that has resulted in increased awareness by the Dominican people of the importance of forests for their welfare and other forms of life on the island. Hispaniola is the most populous Caribbean island with a combined population of 23 million inhabitants as of July 2023 . The Dominican Republic

3404-622: The Fort of Santo Tomás, present day Jánico , leaving Captain Pedro Margarit in command of 56 men. On 24 March 1495, Columbus with his ally Guacanagarix , embarked on a war of revenge against Caonabo, capturing him and his family while "killing many Indians and capturing others." Afterwards, "every person of fourteen years of age or upward was to pay a large hawk's bell of gold dust", every three months, as "the Spaniards were sure there

3496-466: The Royal services to suppress their former buccaneer allies. In the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick , Spain formally ceded the western third of the island to France. Saint-Domingue quickly came to overshadow the east in both wealth and population. Nicknamed the "Pearl of the Antilles", it became the most prosperous colony in the West Indies , with a system of human slavery used to grow and harvest sugar cane during

3588-520: The Spanish re-captured Tortuga for the last time . In 1655 the island of Tortuga was reoccupied by the English and French. In 1660 the English appointed a Frenchman as Governor who proclaimed the King of France, set up French colours, and defeated several English attempts to reclaim the island. In 1665, French colonization of the island was officially recognized by King Louis XIV . The French colony

3680-510: The Taíno people were polytheists, and their gods were called Zemí. Religious worship and dancing were common, and medicine men or priests also consulted the Zemí for advice in public ceremonies. For food, the Taíno relied on meat and fish as a primary source for protein. On the island they hunted small mammals, but also snakes, worms, and birds. In lakes and in the sea they were able to catch ducks and turtles. The Taíno also relied on agriculture as

3772-431: The Taíno population over the first quarter century. Colonial administrators and Dominican and Hieronymite friars observed that the search for gold and agrarian enslavement through the encomienda system were deciminating the indigenous population. Demographic data from two provinces in 1514 shows a low birth rate, consistent with a 3.5% annual population decline. In 1503, Spaniards began to bring enslaved Africans after

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3864-647: The count of Arona. He went to Rome at the age of twenty and met important men in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church . After meeting the Spanish ambassador in Rome, Martyr accompanied him to Zaragoza in August 1487. Martyr soon became a notable figure among the humanists of Spain. In 1488 he lectured in Salamanca on the invitation of the university . The new learning was supported by highly placed patrons in

3956-626: The dry season on the highest peaks, where maxima are no higher than 18 °C (64 °F). There are many bird species in Hispaniola , and the island's amphibian species are also diverse. There are many species endemic to the island including insects and other invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, fishs, birds and mammals (originally animals, native animals) and also (imported animals, introduced animals, not native animals or invasive species) just like farm animals, transport animals, house animals, pets and more. The two endemic terrestrial mammals on

4048-550: The east and the French and Haitian Creole –speaking Haiti (27,750 km (10,710 sq mi) to the west. The only other divided island in the Caribbean is Saint Martin , which is shared between France ( Saint Martin ) and the Netherlands ( Sint Maarten ). Hispaniola is the site of one of the first European forts in the Americas, La Navidad (1492–1493), as well as the first settlement La Isabela (1493–1500), and

4140-541: The first contacts of Europeans and Native American civilizations in the Caribbean, North America and Mesoamerica, and includes the first European reference to India rubber . The work was first translated into English in 1555, and in a fuller version in 1912. Martyr was born on 2 February 1457 at Lake Maggiore in Arona in Piedmont and later named for the nearby city of Angera . He studied under Giovanni Borromeo, then

4232-532: The first historical account of the Spanish discoveries. The Decades consisted of ten reports, two of which Martyr had previously sent as letters describing the voyages of Columbus, to Cardinal Ascanius Sforza in 1493 and 1494. In 1501 Martyr, as requested by the Cardinal Luigi d'Aragona , added eight chapters on the voyage of Columbus and the exploits of Martin Alonzo Pinzón . In 1511 he added

4324-423: The first permanent settlement, the current capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo (est. 1498). These settlements were founded successively during each of Christopher Columbus 's first three voyages . The Spanish Empire controlled the entire island of Hispaniola from the 1490s until the 17th century, when French pirates began establishing bases on the western side of the island. The official name

4416-479: The flora in this naturally protected area consists of 621 species of vascular plants, of which 153 are highly endemic to La Hispaniola. The most prominent endemic species of flora that abound in the area are Ebano Verde (green ebony), Magnolia pallescens, a highly endangered hardwood. Recent in-depth studies of satellite imagery and environmental analysis regarding forest classification conclude that Haiti actually has approximately 30% tree cover; this is, nevertheless,

4508-470: The gold mines of Miguel Díaz and Francisco de Garay in 1504, as pit mines became royal mines for Ferdinand II of Aragon , who reserved the best mines for himself, though placers were open to private prospectors. King Ferdinand kept 967 natives in the San Cristóbal mining area, supervised by salaried miners. Under the royal governor Nicolás de Ovando , the indigenous people were forced to work in

4600-492: The gold mines. By 1503, the Spanish Crown legalized the allocation of private grants of indigenous labor to particular Spaniards for mining through the encomienda system. Once the indigenous were forced into mining far from their home villages, they suffered hunger and other difficult conditions. By 1508, the Taíno population of about 400,000 was reduced to 60,000, and by 1514, only 26,334 remained. About half resided in

4692-426: The government of Philip III ordered all inhabitants of Hispaniola to move close to Santo Domingo, to fight against piracy. Rather than secure the island, his action meant that French, English, and Dutch pirates established their own bases on the less populated north and west coasts of the island. In 1625, French and English pirates arrived on the island of Tortuga , just off the northwest coast of Hispaniola, which

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4784-526: The highest point in Haiti, at 2,680 meters (8,790 ft) above sea level. A depression runs parallel to the southern range, between the southern range and the Chaîne des Matheux-Sierra de Neiba. It is known as the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac in Haiti, and Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince lies at its western end. The depression is home to a chain of salt lakes , including Lake Azuei in Haiti and Lake Enriquillo in

4876-466: The island are the Hispaniolan hutia ( Plagiodontia aedium ) and the Hispaniolan solenodon ( Solenodon paradoxus ). There are also many avian species on the island, with six endemic genera ( Calyptophilus , Dulus , Nesoctites , Phaenicophilus , Xenoligea and Microligea ). More than half of the original distribution of its ecoregions has been lost due to habitat destruction impacting

4968-671: The island, and after some 12 years of Spanish dominion, the leaders in Santo Domingo revolted again, and eastern Hispaniola was declared independent as the Republic of Spanish Haiti in 1821. Fearing the influence of a society of slaves that had successfully revolted against their owners, the United States and European powers refused to recognize Haiti, the second republic in the Western Hemisphere . France demanded

5060-510: The island, historically the whole island was often referred to as Haïti , Hayti , Santo Domingo , or Saint-Domingue . Martyr's literary work was translated into English and French soon after being written, the name Hispaniola became the most frequently used term in English-speaking countries for the island in scientific and cartographic works. In 1918, the United States occupation government, led by Harry Shepard Knapp , obliged

5152-505: The largest gulf of the Antilles. The southern range begins in the southwesternmost Dominican Republic as the Sierra de Bahoruco , and extends west into Haiti as the Massif de la Selle and the Massif de la Hotte , which form the mountainous spine of Haiti's southern peninsula. Pic de la Selle is the highest peak in the southern range, the third highest peak in the Antilles and consequently

5244-443: The local fauna and some of the original animals either threat, threatened with extinction or totally extinct, because of climate change or because they have been hunted by humans or their habitats have been felled or changed for some reasons or have become some of the animals have been threatened by (introduced animals, not native animals or invasive species) or there are fighting for space to survive and perhaps some animals that feed on

5336-467: The merchant flotas , which had a royal monopoly on commerce with the Americas. In 1564, the island's main inland cities Santiago de los Caballeros and Concepción de la Vega were destroyed by an earthquake. In the 1560s, English privateers joined the French in regularly raiding Spanish shipping in the Americas. By the early 17th century, Hispaniola and its nearby islands (notably Tortuga ) became regular stopping points for Caribbean pirates . In 1606,

5428-495: The mining towns of Concepción, Santiago, Santo Domingo, and Buenaventura. The repartimiento of 1514 accelerated emigration of the Spanish colonists, coupled with the exhaustion of the mines. The first documented outbreak of smallpox , previously an Eastern hemisphere disease, occurred on Hispaniola in December 1518 among enslaved African miners. Some scholars speculate that European diseases arrived before this date, but there

5520-456: The mountains in the southern and western portion of the island and in the Cibao valley in the center-north of the island. The Hispaniolan pine forests occupy the mountainous 15% of the island, above 850 metres (2,790 ft) elevation. The flooded grasslands and savannas ecoregion in the south central region of the island surrounds a chain of lakes and lagoons in which the most notable include that of Lake Azuei and Trou Caïman in Haiti and

5612-613: The nearby Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic, which is not only the lowest point of the island, but also the lowest point for an island country. Hispaniola's climate shows considerable variation due to its diverse mountainous topography, and is the most varied island of all the Antilles . Except in the Northern Hemisphere summer season, the predominant winds over Hispaniola are the northeast trade winds . As in Jamaica and Cuba, these winds deposit their moisture on

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5704-494: The nearby Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic. In Haiti , deforestation has long been cited by scientists as a source of ecological crisis; the timber industry dates back to French colonial rule. Haiti has seen a dramatic reduction of forests due to the excessive and increasing use of charcoal as fuel for cooking. Various media outlets have suggested that the country has just 2% forest cover , but this has not been substantiated by research. Also extremely important are

5796-805: The northern end of the Dominican Republic, extending into the Atlantic Ocean as the Samaná Peninsula . The Cordillera Central and Cordillera Septentrional are separated by the lowlands of the Cibao Valley and the Atlantic coastal plains, which extend westward into Haiti as the Plaine du Nord (Northern Plain). The lowest of the ranges is the Cordillera Oriental, in the eastern part of the country. The Sierra de Neiba rises in

5888-403: The northern mountains, and create a distinct rain shadow on the southern coast, where some areas receive as little as 400 millimetres (16 in) of rainfall, and have semi-arid climates . Annual rainfall under 600 millimetres (24 in) also occurs on the southern coast of Haiti's northwest peninsula and in the central Azúa region of the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac. In these regions, moreover, there

5980-588: The opposite side of the Ozama River and called Santo Domingo . It is the oldest permanent European settlement in the Americas. The island had an important role in the establishment of Latin American colonies for decades to come. Due to its strategic location, it was the military stronghold of conquistadors of the Spanish Empire , serving as a headquarters for the further colonial expansion into

6072-526: The other hand, Oviedo and Las Casas both recorded that the entire island was called Ayiti by the Taíno. When Columbus took possession of the island in 1492, he named it Insula Hispana in Latin and La Isla Española in Spanish, both meaning "the Spanish island". Las Casas shortened the name to Española , and when Peter Martyr detailed his account of the island in Latin, he rendered its name as Hispaniola . Due to Taíno, Spanish and French influences on

6164-632: The past 25 years, mentioning that the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) had created 200 enterprises, and had trained over 600 business consultants and entrepreneurs. Founded in 2011, CEI had initially been supported by the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. 18°31′34″N 72°19′18″W  /  18.5262°N 72.3218°W  / 18.5262; -72.3218 Hispaniola Hispaniola ( / ˌ h ɪ s p ə n ˈ j oʊ l ə / , also UK : /- p æ n ˈ -/ )

6256-623: The populace belong to Protestant churches. The ethnic composition of the Dominican population is 73% mixed ethnicity, 16% white and 11% black. Descendants of early Spanish settlers and of black slaves from West Africa constitute the two main racial strains. Peter Martyr d%27Anghiera Peter Martyr d'Anghiera ( Latin : Petrus Martyr Anglerius or ab Angleria ; Italian : Pietro Martire d'Anghiera ; Spanish : Pedro Mártir de Anglería ; 2 February 1457 – October 1526), formerly known in English as Peter Martyr of Angleria ,

6348-400: The rarely mentioned species of Pinguicula casabitoana (a carnivorous plant), Gonocalyx tetraptera, Gesneria sylvicola, Lyonia alaini and Myrcia saliana, as well as palo de viento (Didymopanax tremulus), jaiqui (Bumelia salicifolia), pino criciolio) (pino criciol), sangre de pollo (Mecranium amigdalinum) and palo santo (Alpinia speciosa). According to reports in the Dominican Republic and Haiti,

6440-408: The same plants or animals or just something like that. The island has four distinct ecoregions . The Hispaniolan moist forests ecoregion covers approximately 50% of the island, especially the northern and eastern portions, predominantly in the lowlands but extending up to 2,100 meters (6,900 ft) elevation. The Hispaniolan dry forests ecoregion occupies approximately 20% of the island, lying in

6532-465: The service of mankind". The university comprises six major areas of study: Agriculture and Environment, Management and Economics, Engineering and Architecture, Law and Political Science, Education, and Health Sciences, offering bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees. In particular, it promotes entrepreneurship and economic development. Despite the effects of the earthquake in 2010 when the number of students dropped to 721, by 2015 enrollment had grown to

6624-872: The society. Martyr would become chaplain to the court of Ferdinand and Isabella . After 1492, Martyr's chief task was the education of young nobles at the Spanish court. In 1501 he was sent to Egypt on a diplomatic mission to dissuade the Sultan of Egypt from taking vengeance on the Christians in Egypt and Palestine for the defeat of the Moors in Spain and the Fall of Granada . This he achieved by strongly asserting that there were no forced conversions and that Granada Muslims had asked for baptism of their own volition - plus, more importantly, promising Spanish help to Egypt against

6716-719: The southwest of the Dominican Republic, and continues northwest into Haiti, parallel to the Cordillera Central, as the Montagnes Noires, Chaîne des Matheux and the Montagnes du Trou d'Eau. The Plateau Central lies between the Massif du Nord and the Montagnes Noires , and the Plaine de l'Artibonite lies between the Montagnes Noires and the Chaîne des Matheux, opening westward toward the Gulf of Gonâve ,

6808-422: The surviving 7,000 troops in late 1803, the leaders of the revolution declared western Hispaniola the new nation of independent Haiti in early 1804. France continued to rule Spanish Santo Domingo. In 1805, Haitian troops of General Henri Christophe tried to conquer all of Hispaniola. They invaded Santo Domingo and sacked the towns of Santiago de los Caballeros and Moca, killing most of their residents, but news of

6900-407: The territory. Under Napoleon , France reimposed slavery in most of its Caribbean islands in 1802 and sent an army to bring the island into full control. However, thousands of the French troops succumbed to yellow fever during the summer months, and more than half of the French army died because of disease. After an extremely brutal war with atrocities committed on both sides, the French removed

6992-636: The threat of conquest by the Ottomans [1] . He described his voyage through Egypt in the Legatio Babylonica, which was published in the 1511 edition of his Decades . Following the success of this mission, he received the title of maestro de los caballeros (master of knights). In 1520, Martyr was given the post of chronicler ( cronista ) in the newly formed Council of the Indies , commissioned by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor to describe what

7084-633: The treatment of Tainos in Hispaniola under the Spanish Empire as genocide. Sugar cane was introduced to Hispaniola by settlers from the Canary Islands , and the first sugar mill in the New World was established in 1516, on Hispaniola. The need for a labor force to meet the growing demands of sugar cane cultivation led to an exponential increase in the importation of slaves over the following two decades. The sugar mill owners soon formed

7176-527: The two countries today). After a brief return to Spanish rule, the Dominican Republic would win its final independence in 1865. Haiti would become one of the poorest countries in the Americas, while the Dominican Republic gradually has developed into one of the largest economies of Central America and the Caribbean . Hispaniola is the second-largest island in the Caribbean (after Cuba), with an area of 76,192 square kilometers (29,418 sq mi), 48,440 square kilometers (18,700 sq mi) of which

7268-553: The use of the name Hispaniola on the island, and recommended the use of that name to the National Geographic Society . The name "Haïti" was adopted by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1804, as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue, in tribute to the Amerindian predecessors. It was also adopted as the official name of independent Santo Domingo, as the Republic of Spanish Haiti ,

7360-564: The water for fishing or for migration purposes, and upwards of 100 people could fit into a single canoe. The Taíno came frequently in contact with the Caribs , another indigenous tribe. The Taíno people had to defend themselves using bows and arrows with poisoned tips and some war clubs. When Columbus landed on Hispaniola, many Taíno leaders wanted protection from the Caribs. Christopher Columbus first landed at Hispaniola on December 6, 1492, at

7452-621: Was La Española , meaning "The Spanish (Island)". It was also called Santo Domingo , after Saint Dominic . The island was called various names by its native people, the Taíno . The Taino had no written language, hence, historical evidence for these names comes through three European historians: the Italian Peter Martyr d'Anghiera , and the Spaniards Bartolomé de las Casas and Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo . Based on

7544-481: Was a prolific writer. He is estimated to have composed some eight hundred letters addressed to various illustrious persons relating events in Spain and the Spanish court, written in a journalistic style, often quite gossipy. Moving in court circles, Peter Martyr was personally acquainted with most of the leading figures of the day, and it is from his letters that historians have drawn much of the details about their physical appearance, personality, quirks and anecdotes. It

7636-530: Was an Italian historian at the service of Spain during the Age of Exploration . He wrote the first accounts of explorations in Central and South America in a series of letters and reports, grouped in the original Latin publications of 1511 to 1530 into sets of ten chapters called "decades". His Decades of the New World ( De Orbe Novo ) are of great value in the history of geography and discovery. He describes

7728-634: Was as a chronicler that Martyr performed his most notable literary work. He collected documents and accounts from the discoverers as well as personally interviewing them. He learned from the letters of Christopher Columbus and made use of the reports of the Council of the Indies. He had a great grasp of geographical issues; he was the first European to realize the significance of the Gulf Stream . His Opera , published in Seville in 1511 ( Legatio Babylonica, Oceani Decas, Poemata, Hymni, Epigrammata ), included

7820-490: Was given the name Saint-Domingue . By 1670 a Welsh privateer named Henry Morgan invited the pirates on the island of Tortuga to set sail under him. They were hired by the French as a striking force that allowed France to have a much stronger hold on the Caribbean region. Consequently, the pirates never really controlled the island and kept Tortuga as a neutral hideout. The capital of the French Colony of Saint-Domingue

7912-581: Was made in the cordillera central, which led to a mining boom. By 1501 Columbus's cousin, Giovanni Colombo, had discovered gold near Buenaventura. The deposits were later known as Minas Nuevas. Two major mining areas resulted, one along San Cristobal -Buenaventura, and another in Cibao within the La Vega -Cotuy- Bonao triangle, while Santiago de los Caballeros , Concepción , and Bonao became mining towns. The gold rush of 1500–1508 ensued, and Ovando expropriated

8004-464: Was more gold in the island than the natives had yet found, and were determined to make them dig it out." Gold mining using forced indigenous labor began early on Hispaniola. Miguel Díaz and Francisco de Garay discovered large gold nuggets on the lower Haina River in 1496. These San Cristobal mines were later known as the Minas Viejas mines. Then, in 1499, the first major discovery of gold

8096-526: Was moved from Tortuga to Port-de-Paix on the mainland of Hispaniola in 1676. In 1680, new Acts of Parliament forbade sailing under foreign flags (in opposition to former practice). This was a major legal blow to the Caribbean pirates. Settlements were made in the Treaty of Ratisbon of 1684, signed by the European powers, that put an end to piracy. Most of the pirates after this time were hired out into

8188-542: Was occurring in the explorations of the New World . In 1523, Charles gave him the title of Count Palatine and in 1524 called him once more into the Council of the Indies. Martyr was invested by Pope Clement VII , as proposed by Charles V, as Abbot of Jamaica . Although Martyr never visited the island, as abbot he directed the construction of the first stone church there. He died in Granada in 1526. Peter Martyr

8280-401: Was originally settled by a few Spanish colonists. The pirates were attacked in 1629 by Spanish forces commanded by Don Fadrique de Toledo , who fortified the island, and expelled the French and English. As most of the Spanish army left for the main island of Hispaniola to root out French colonists there, the French returned to Tortuga in 1630 and had constant battles for several decades. In 1654,

8372-722: Was published in Basle in 1582; an English version may be found in Arber, The first three English books on America (Birmingham, 1885); a French one by Gaffarel in Recueil de voyages et de documents pour servir à l'histoire de la Geographie (Paris, 1907). Martyr also wrote the historical account, Opus epistolarum, although it was not edited or published until after his death. This collection consists of 812 letters to or from ecclesiastical dignitaries, generals, and statesmen of Spain and Italy, dealing with contemporary events, and especially with

8464-436: Was the chief Caonabo who had massacred his settlement at Navidad. While Columbus established a new settlement the village of La Isabela on Jan. 1494, he sent Alonso de Ojeda and 15 men to search for the mines of Cibao. After a six-day journey, Ojeda came across an area containing gold, in which the gold was extracted from streams by the Taíno people. Columbus himself visited the mines of Cibao on 12 March 1494. He constructed

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