Cristóbal de Tapia was an inspector sent to New Spain in 1521 to investigate the conduct of the conquistador Hernán Cortés, and if he deemed it necessary, to arrest him and bring him to trial.
In 1521 the bishop of Burgos, Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca, was president of the Council of the Indies, the body exercising direct royal control over the overseas empire of Spain.
The individual selected for the delicate task of apprehending Cortes, and bringing him to trial, on the theatre of his own discoveries and in the heart of his own camp, was named Christoval de Tapia, veedor, or inspector of the gold foundries in St. Domingo.
He was a feeble, vacillating man, as little competent to cope with Cortes's in civil matters, as Narvaez had shown himself to be in military.Tapia arrived from Santo Domingo with two ships in December 1521.
The dreams of disappointed ambition were gradually succeeded by those of avarice; and the discomfited commissioner consented to re-embark for Cuba, well freighted with gold if not with glory.