Gonzalo García Zorro ( 1500 – 1566) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

who participated in the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose confederation of differe ...

people. García Zorro was ''encomendero'' (mayor) of Santa Fe de Bogotá for seven terms, and received the ''

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

s'' of

Fusagasugá Fusagasugá (; ) or Fusa is a town and municipality in the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca, in central Colombia. It is located in the warm valley between the rivers Cuja River, Cuja and Panches, a centr ...

and Fosca. He married three times, twice with Muisca women, and had one daughter, Francisca, and a son, Diego. García Zorro died of wounds he suffered in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

with Alonso Venegas. Venegas was the son of fellow conquistador

Hernán Venegas Carrillo Hernán Venegas Carrillo Manosalvas (1513 – 2 February 1583) was a Spanish conquistador for who participated in the Spanish conquest of the Muisca and Panche people in the New Kingdom of Granada, present-day Colombia. Venegas Carrillo was ma ...

and the grandson through his mother of

Sagipa Sagipa or Zaquesazipa (died 1539, Bosa, New Kingdom of Granada) was the fifth and last ruler ('' psihipqua'') of Muyquytá, currently known as Funza, as of 1537. He was the brother of his predecessor Bogotá but the traditional faction of the Mui ...

, the last ''

zipa When the Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the n ...

'' (leader) of the Muisca, whom García Zorro had helped to kill. Knowledge of the life of García Zorro comes from the works ''

Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias ''Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias'' is an epic poem written in the late sixteenth century by Juan de Castellanos. Description The work gives a detailed account of the colonization of the Caribbean and the territories in present-day Colom ...

'' (1589) and ''

El Carnero ''El Carnero'' ( en, The Sheep) is the colloquial name of a Spanish language colonial chronicle whose title was ''Conquista i descubrimiento del nuevo reino de Granada de las Indias Occidentales del mar oceano, i fundacion de la ciudad de San ...

'' (1638), by

Juan de Castellanos Juan de Castellanos (March 9, 1522 – November 1606)Jua ...

and

Juan Rodríguez Freyle Juan Rodríguez Freyle (also written as Juan Rodríguez Freile), ( Bogotá, New Kingdom of Granada, 25 April 1566 - Bogotá, 1642) was an early writer in the New Kingdom of Granada, the Spanish colonial territory of what today is Colombia, Ecuad ...

respectively.

Biography

Gonzalo García Zorro was born around 1500 in

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

, at the border between

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

and

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

.Gonzalo García Zorro
–

Banco de la República The Bank of the Republic ( es, Banco de la República) is the central bank of Colombia. It was initially established under the regeneration era in 1880. Its main modern functions, under the new Colombian constitution were detailed by Congress a ...

– Soledad Acosta de Samper His parents were Teresa González de Sancha and Diego Alonso El Zorro. Gonzalo García Zorro had a brother, Antonio, and a sister.Gonzalo García Zorro
– Geni García Zorro joined the expedition led by

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory named ...

from

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

towards the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', '' iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. The ...

in April 1536 as a cavalry leader.De Piedrahita, 1676, p.102Lista de los que consiguieron el descubrimiento del Reino de Granada con el General don Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, en el año de 1538
–

García Zorro was later convicted of crimes against the last ''

'',

.Ocampo López, 1996, p.55 Gonzalo García Zorro was seven times encomendero of Santa Fe de Bogotá: in 1544 succeeding Juan Ruiz de Orejuela, who succeeded García Zorro again; from 1545 to 1546, succeeding the second term of Juan Ruiz de Orejuela and preceding Juan de Céspedes; in 1548 between the reign of Juan Muñoz de Collantes and the third term by Juan Ruiz de Orejuela; from 1550 to 1551 in between the terms of

Juan de Avellaneda ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish language, Spanish and Manx language, Manx versions of ''John (given name), John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronoun ...

; between 1553 and 1554 succeeding Juan de Rivera and preceding

Juan Tafur Juan Tafur (1500, Córdoba, Andalusia, Castile - ?, ?) was a Spanish conquistador who participated in the Spanish conquest of the Muisca people. He was a cousin of fellow conquistadors Martín Yañéz Tafur, Hernán Venegas Carrillo and Pedr ...

; in 1556 between the terms of Antonio Ruiz and

Domingo Lozano Domingo may refer to: People * Domingo (name), a Spanish name and list of people with that name * Domingo (producer) (born 1970), American hip-hop producer * Saint Dominic (1170–1221), Castilian Catholic priest, founder of the Friars popularly ...

; and finally in 1564 succeeding Juan Ruiz de Orejuela again and preceding Andrés de Molina.List of mayors of Bogotá – 1538–1599
/ref> Gonzalo García Zorro received the

encomiendas The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

,Acosta, 1848, p.399Los caballeros de la conquista
/ref> and Fosca.De Castellanos, 1589, p.418 The encomienda of

Suesca Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of the Bogotá savanna and i ...

was shared between Gonzalo García Zorro and

.Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.112 Gonzalo García Zorro died in 1566 at

Santa Fe de Bogotá Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

of wounds he received in a

with Alonso Venegas. Venagas was the son of Magdalena de Guatavita, daughter of

, and Hernán Venegas Carrillo. Conquest of Colombia

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading