![Gaspar de Rodas-Busto-Medellin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Gaspar_de_Rodas-Busto-Medellin.JPG)
Gaspar de Rodas (1518–1607) was a Spanish administrator in the area that now comprises the present-day departments of
Antioquia,
Caldas,
Quindío and
Risaralda, in what is now
Colombia. He was the first governor of Antioquia, part of the
New Kingdom of Granada.
Born in
Trujillo, Cáceres
Trujillo is a municipality located in Extremadura, an autonomous community of Spain in the Province of Cáceres. In 2013, the municipality had 9,086 inhabitants (INE Census, 2013). Originally settled on a granite knoll which was readily fortified ...
, he was the son of Florencio de Rodas and Guiomar Coello.
He arrived at
Quito in 1540 and in 1541, he traveled to
Popayán
Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. It has a population of 318,059 people, an area of 483 km2, is locate ...
with
Sebastián de Belalcázar
Sebastián de Belalcázar (; 1479/1480 – 1551) was a Spanish conquistador. De Belalcázar, also written as de Benalcázar, is known as the founder of important early colonial cities in the northwestern part of South America; Quito in 1534 and Ca ...
, entrusted with the task of relocating the settlement of
Santa Fe de Antioquia
Santa Fe de Antioquia is a municipality in the Antioquia Department, Colombia. The city is located approximately north of Medellín, the department capital. It has a population of approximately 23,000 inhabitants.
History
Founded in 1541 by ...
. He was not successful in this, as he was arrested by the forces of the governor of
Cartagena de Indias. However, he was liberated by the marshal
Jorge Robledo and Rodas returned to Santa Fe de Antioquia.
After the execution of Robledo in 1546, Rodas was named governor of Antioquia. This was confirmed again in 1576 by the Real Audiencia de Santa Fe de Bogotá upon the death of
Andrés de Valdivia.
The first mission entrusted to Rodas was to punish the tribes who had assassinated Valdivia. Having completed this mission, Rodas founded
Cáceres in 1576 and returned to Antioquia. He also attempted to pacify the indigenous peoples at
Marequita and at the valley of Aburrá . In 1581, he founded
Zaragoza de las Palmas.
Sources
*”La epopeya de la raza extremeña en India”, Vicente Navarro del Castillo,
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodas, Gaspar de
1518 births
1607 deaths
History of Antioquia Department
Spanish explorers
Spanish city founders
16th-century Spanish people