During the Spanish Inquisition, which began in 1478 in an attempt to keep Catholicism alive and controlled by the Spanish Monarchy, De Jerez was thrown in jail for his habit. He was released seven years later to a country that was now full of tobacco smokers.
Luis De Torres stuck with Columbus until 1493 when he left Columbus only to remain on the new settlement of Hispaniola. During this stay, he and his men were allegedly attacked by Indians in retaliation for the Spaniards’ kidnapping and treatment of the native women. De Torres, and those with him, were all killed.
In a world where the main characters get all the credit, Christopher Columbus is generally credited with being the man behind tobacco. Though it was his fleet that led Luis De Torres and Rodrigo De Jerez to their discovery, De Torres and De Jerez really deserve the credit for European history’s introduction to tobacco. The natives brought it to them, and they brought it to everyone else.
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