Spanish conquistador
Rodrigo de Bastidas
(
Spanish pronunciation:
[ro?ð?i?o
ðe
βas?tiðas]
;
Triana, Seville
,
Andalusia
,
c.
1465
[1]
–
Santiago de Cuba
,
Cuba
, 28 July 1527) was a Spanish
conquistador
and
explorer
who mapped the northern coast of
South America
, discovered
Panama
, and founded the city of
Santa Marta
.
Personal life
[
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]
Rodrigo de Bastidas was a well-to-do merchant and mariner from the town of
Triana
near
Seville
. Because of a mistake by historian
Martin Fernandez de Navarrete
, Bastidas is still sometimes misrepresented as a notary.
He was born around 1465 and married Isabel Rodriguez de Romera sometime before 1500.
Exploration
[
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]
After sailing with
Christopher Columbus
during his
second voyage
to the
New World
in 1493, de Bastidas petitioned the Spanish Crown to start his own quest to be financed totally with his own money. In exchange for granting de Bastidas the right to explore various territories in the New World, the Crown required him to give them one fourth of the net profits he would acquire. The King and Queen issued a charter that is still preserved in the National Archives in Spain. He sailed to the New World from
Cadiz
in October 1500 with two ships; the
San Anton
and the
Santa Maria de Gracia
. He was accompanied on this voyage by
Juan de la Cosa
and
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
.
At the South American coast he sailed westward from
Cabo de la Vela
,
Colombia
, in an attempt to explore the coastline of the
Caribbean basin
. He discovered the mouth of a river he named the
Magdalena River
and the
Gulf of Uraba
on the Colombian coast. He reached
La Punta de Manzanillo
on
Panama
's upper Caribbean coast before having to abandon his effort. He is acknowledged to be the first European to have claimed that part of the isthmus, and therefore is credited with the discovery of Panama which includes the San Blas region of the indigenous
Kuna
. However, the poor condition of his ships, caused by
shipworm
that ate the wooden hull, forced him to turn back and head to
Santo Domingo
to effect repairs. Despite repeated repairs, the ships eventually sank in port at
Jacaragua
, leaving most of the indigenous slaves to drown, while some gold and pearls were saved. De Bastidas was forced to return overland to Santo Domingo, trading trinkets for food and supplies with
Taino
natives along the way. On arrival in Santo Domingo he was placed under arrest by Governor
Francisco de Bobadilla
,
[5]
and sent back to Spain for allegedly trading with the indigenous people without permission. He was acquitted of these charges by the Spanish Crown, and rewarded with a pension. He returned to Santo Domingo with his family, and became "rich in cattle, at one time possessing 8000 head".
[6]
[7]
In 1504 he undertook another expedition to
Tierra Firme
, raiding 600 slaves for sale in
Hispaniola
.
[6]
Foundation of Santa Marta
[
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]
In 1520 the governorship of Trinidad was granted to de Bastidas, but this was opposed by
Diego Columbus
, the son of Christopher, and de Bastidas waived the grant. He received instead permission to exploit a region from Cabo de la Vela westward to the Magdalena River; however this expedition was delayed for several years.
[6]
In 1524 he returned to the New World and accompanied by
Juan de Cespedes
founded the city of
Santa Marta
on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. He named the city Santa Marta because it was on Saint Martha's feast day (July 29) that the city was founded.
De Bastidas has been called Spain's
Noblest Conquistador
because he had a policy of respect, humanity and friendship towards the native people; he maintained pacifistic relations with his neighbors, the native
Taganga
,
Dorsino
and
Gaira
, although it is said he had slaves too. The following quote related to the founding of Santa Marta does not support this appellation:
[
citation needed
]
"I assure you that with the help of God I will enter powerfully against you, and I will make war on you in every place and in every way that I can, and I will subject you to the yoke and obedience of the church and their highnesses, and I will take your persons and your women and your children, and I will make them slaves, and as such I will sell them, and dispose of them as their highnesses command: I will take your goods, and I will do you all the evils and harms which I can, just as to vassals who do not obey and do not want to receive their lord, resist him and contradict him. And I declare that the deaths and harms which arise from this will be your fault, and not that of their highnesses, nor mine, nor of the gentlemen who have come with me here."
On a trip to the interior and the territories of Bonda and Bondigua in present-day Colombia, he traded a substantial amount of gold. De Bastidas had a policy prohibiting his troops from brutally using the indigenous people or robbing them of their goods. His troops, many of whom had gone adventuring in the hopes of obtaining gold, asked de Bastidas for a share. He refused to share it with his men, saying that he needed it to help defray the costs of the colony.
Death
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De Bastidas' refusal to share the gold that he had acquired greatly angered some of his men, among them his lieutenant Villafuerte,
[8]
who led a conspiracy of some fifty men to murder de Bastidas. One night, while Bastidas was asleep, he was attacked and stabbed five times. He was able to cry out, and his men rushed to his aid. Although seriously wounded, he did not die immediately.
Owing to a lack of adequate medical facilities in Santa Marta, Bastidas attempted to sail to Santo Domingo, but bad weather forced him to land in Cuba, where he died from his injuries. Later, his only son,
Archbishop
Rodrigo de Bastidas y Rodriguez de Romera
, moved his remains to Santo Domingo where he is interred along with his wife and son at The
Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor
in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, the oldest cathedral in the Americas.
[6]
See also
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References
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Further reading
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External links
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]