[
]
Foundation of Santa Marta
In 1520 the governorship of Trinidad was granted to De Bastidas, but this was opposed by Diego Columbus
Diego Columbus ( pt, Diogo Colombo; es, Diego Colón; it, Diego Colombo; 1479/1480 – February 23, 1526) was a navigator and explorer under the Kings of Castile and Aragón. He served as the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indie ...
, the son of Christopher, and De Bastidas waived the grant. He received instead permission to exploit a region from Cabo de la Vela
Cabo de la Vela (Spanish for "cape of sails") is a headland in the Guajira Peninsula in Colombia with an adjacent small fishing village. It is a popular ecotourism destination of the Caribbean region of Colombia
History
Spanish explorer Juan ...
westward to the Magdalena River; however this expedition was delayed for several years.[Charles Loftus Grant Anderson (1911), ]
Old Panama and Castilla del Oro
', Press of the Sudwarth Company In 1524 he returned to the New World and accompanied by Juan de Céspedes founded the city of 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 ...
on the Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
coast of Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
. 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
Dorsino (german: Dursin) was a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about west of Trento
Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also angli ...
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:
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
De Bastidas' refusal to share the gold that he had acquired greatly angered some of his men, among them his lieutenant Villafuerte, 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
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
Rodrigo de Bastidas y Rodriguez de Romera
Rodrigo de Bastidas y Rodriguez de Romera (died 1570) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the second Bishop of Puerto Rico (1541–1567) ''(in Latin)'' and the first Bishop of Coro (1531–1532). ''(in Latin)''
Biography
Rodrigo de Bast ...
, moved his remains to Santo Domingo where he is interred along with his wife and son at The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, the oldest cathedral in the Americas.[
]
See also
*List of conquistadors in Colombia
This is a list of conquistadors who were active in the conquest of terrains that presently belong to Colombia. The nationalities listed refer to the state the conquistador was born into; Granada and Castile are currently part of Spain, but were s ...
*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 ...
* Taganga
*Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations
Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations refers to the conquest by the Spanish monarchy of the Chibcha language-speaking nations, mainly the Muisca and Tairona that inhabited present-day Colombia, beginning the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...
, Juan de Céspedes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
''The Inscriptions at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition''
San Francisco, 1915.
o
Gure Arbasoak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastidas, Rodrigo de
Year of birth uncertain
15th-century births
1527 deaths
People from Seville
Andalusian conquistadors
15th-century Castilians
16th-century Spanish people
Burials at the Basilica Cathedral of Santa María la Menor
Male murder victims
History of Colombia
Deaths by stabbing