Gaspar de Espinosa y Luna (

Medina de Rioseco Medina de Rioseco is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León and Spain. According to a 2011 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 4,967 inhabitants. The city also has th ...

, Spain, c. 1484 - Cuzco, Peru, 14 February 1537) was a Spanish explorer,

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 ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He participated in the expedition of Pedro Arias Dávila to Darién and was appointed mayor of

Santa María la Antigua del Darién Santa María la Antigua del Darién—turned into Dariena in the Latin of Decades of the New World, De Orbo Novo—was a Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonial town founded in 1510 by Vasco Núñez de Balboa, located in present-d ...

. He initiated proceedings against Vasco Núñez de BalboaPrescott, W.H., 2011, The History of the Conquest of Peru, Digireads.com Publishing, and conquered part of current

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. After living some time in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, he returned to America to join Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro in the

conquest of the Inca Empire The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spanish sol ...

First years

He was born into a family of merchants and bankers, whose business was to direct trade between

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

and

Castilla Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to: Places Spain *Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha *Kingdom of ...

from

. Later settled in

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 ...

, where trade with the Indies were allowed to increase his fortune. Later, his family founded a bank that soon became the benchmark for commercial activity that took place in the rest of Europe and also in the New World.

Travel to the Indies

Already in middle age, he sailed for the Spanish and in 1513 was elected mayor of Castilla del Oro. A year later he formed part of the issuance of Pedrarias Dávila to Darién. Participated in the founding of the city of

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

(1519) and was appointed mayor of

. He led the expedition to the Pacific coast of Central America and was one of the architects of the discovery of the Gulf of

Nicoya Nicoya is a Districts of Costa Rica, district and head city of the Nicoya (canton), Nicoya canton, in the Guanacaste Province, Guanacaste province of Costa Rica, located on the Nicoya Peninsula. It is one of the country's most important tourism, ...

. He led an expedition to

Veragua {{unreferenced, date=January 2015 Veragua or Veraguas was the name of five Spanish colonial territorial entities in Central America, beginning in the 16th century during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term was based on a Central Amer ...

with

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...

in 1520.Leon, P., 1998, The Discovery and Conquest of Peru, Chronicles of the New World Encounter, edited and translated by Cook and Cook, Durham: Duke University Press, He returned to Spain, but soon became ruler of Santo Domingo and Panama, and returned to sail to America. Finally, went to Peru where he financed with the help of his family, the expedition of Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro, and tried, unsuccessfully, reconciliation between the two. Espinosa's family was closely related to the court during the first half of the sixteenth century, it came as much of the funding for the expedition to the Moluccas conducted in 1525, and had previously provided funding for the conquest of Peru sufragrar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinosa, Caspar 1484 births 1537 deaths 16th-century Spanish people Spanish conquistadors Spanish explorers Spanish politicians