Baltasar Maldonado
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Baltasar Maldonado, also written as Baltazar Maldonado,
Banco de la República
(c.1510, Salamanca, Castile – 1558,
Santafé de Bogotá Santa Fe (Spanish; 'holy faith') or Santa Fé (Portuguese; 'holy faith') may refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Fe, Argentina **Santa Fe Province Bolivia * Santa Fe de Yapacaní * Santa Fe (Oruro) Brazil * Bonito de Santa Fé *Santa Fé de Goiá ...
,
New Kingdom of Granada The New Kingdom of Granada ( es, Nuevo Reino de Granada), or Kingdom of the New Granada, was the name given to a group of 16th-century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Royal Audience of Santa ...
) was a Spanish
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 first served under
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 ...
, and later in the army of
Hernán Pérez de Quesada Hernán Pérez de Quesada, sometimes spelled as Quezada, (c. 1515 – 1544) was a Spanish conquistador. Second in command of the army of his elder brother, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Hernán was part of the first European expedition towar ...
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 ...
.Biography Baltasar Maldonado
Soledad Acosta SamperBanco de la República
In 1539, Maldonado defeated the last ruling ''
Cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...
'' (chieftain) of the Muisca, Saymoso (called "''Tundama''" by the Spaniards). Maldonado took part in a quest for ''
El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
'' led by Hernán Pérez de Quesada in the southern regions of present-day Colombia. After this failed expedition, Maldonado went to Popayán and Cali and traveled back to
Santafé de Bogotá Santa Fe (Spanish; 'holy faith') or Santa Fé (Portuguese; 'holy faith') may refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Fe, Argentina **Santa Fe Province Bolivia * Santa Fe de Yapacaní * Santa Fe (Oruro) Brazil * Bonito de Santa Fé *Santa Fé de Goiá ...
, the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada where he died in 1552. The adventures of Maldonado during the first half of the 16th century have been described by
scholars A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...
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 ...
in his work ''
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 ...
''.


Early life

Maldonado was born in Salamanca in a family of hidalgos, the son of Francisco Maldonado, who served under the Duke of Alba.Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.88 He married Leonor de Carvajal y Mendoza, and the couple had four children; two sons: Alfonso Maldonado y Carvajal and Alonso Maldonado; and two daughters: María Maldonado y Carvajal and Ana Maldonado de Carvajal.Baltasar Maldonado
– Geni
Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.52 The sister of Leonor de Carvajal married successively
Jorge Robledo Jorge "George" Robledo Oliver (14 April 1926 – 1 April 1989) was a Chilean professional footballer. He played as a striker, and is most notable for his time spent with Newcastle United. He was the first non-British-registered foreign player ...
, Pedro Briceño, and president of '' Audiencia''
Francisco Briceño Francisco Briceño, natural de Corral de almagüer. (died 30 Jul 1571) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the sixth Bishop of Almería (1571).
.


Spanish conquest

In 1535, Maldonado traveled from Spain to
Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...
and then to
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 ...
., accompanying Santa Marta's interim governor, Rodrigo Infante. The army of the new governor, Pedro Fernández de Lugo, arrived on January 2, 1536, and punitive expeditions against the rebel natives of the area were conducted. Maldonado then joined the expedition led by Fernandez's de Lugo lieutenant, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, whose purpose was to explore the Magdalena River and to find a land path to Peru. The expedition discovered toward the Eastern Ranges where later they encountered two other expeditions: an eastern expedition led by Nikolaus Federmann, and another one led by Sebastián de Belalcázar. Immediately after
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
was established (August 6, 1538), the soldiers participated in the
Battle of Tocarema The Battle of Tocarema (Spanish: ''Batalla de Tocarema'') was a battle fought between an alliance of the troops of Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and ''zipa'' of the Muisca Sagipa of the southern Muisca Confederation and the ind ...
in late August to over-power the
Panche The following purported languages of South America are listed as unclassified in Campbell (2012), Loukotka (1968), ''Ethnologue'', and ''Glottolog''. Nearly all are extinct. It is likely that many of them were not actually distinct languages, only ...
who lived to the west of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense.


Conquest of Tundama

The Muisca Confederation was separated into federations: The ''
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 ...
'' of
Bacatá Bacatá is the name given to the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation on the Bogotá savanna. It mostly refers to an area, rather than an individual village, although the name is also found in texts referring to the modern settlement of Fu ...
(the central federation), the '' Zaque'' of
Hunza Hunza may refer to: * Hunza, Iran * Hunza Valley, an area in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan ** Hunza (princely state), a former principality ** Hunza District, a recently established district ** Hunza River, a waterway ** Hunza Peak, a mou ...
(the southern federation), and the ''
Iraca The ''iraca'', sometimes spelled ''iraka'',Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.12, p.77Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.14, p.85 was the ruler and high priest of Sugamuxi in the confederation of the Muisca who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense; the central high ...
'' Sugamuxi in Suamox (the northern-most group). Before Fall 1537, the first two had submitted to Spanish rule: Bacatá in April 1537; and then Hunza four months later. The northernmost territories of Suamox were still controlled by the ''
Cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...
'' (or 'King') Tundama, whose '' bohío'' was built on an island in the lake of the settlement with the same name, today known as Duitama. Tundama was the last ''cacique'' of Duitama and the ''caciques'' of
Cerinza Cerinza is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, and part of the Tundama Province subregion. Cerinza borders Belén in the north, Encino, Santander in the west, Santa Rosa de Viterbo in the south and Floresta and B ...
, Chitagoto, Icabuco, Lupacoche, Sátiva,
Soatá Soatá is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia. Soatá is located on the western slopes of the Cordillera Oriental mountain range, at the northeast end of the Department of Boyacá. It is the capital of the Northern Boyacá P ...
and
Susacón Susacón is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Northern Boyacá Province. Susacón borders to the north Soatá, in the east Boavita, La Uvita and Jericó, in the south Sativanorte and in ...
were loyal to him.Biography Cacique Tundama
- Pueblos Originarios
Tundama, other than the earlier ''caciques'' of the Muisca resisted heavily against the European invaders and punished one of his people who suggested to surrender by cutting off their ears and left hand.Biography Tundama
Tundama declared a "death war" against the Spanish soldiers and gathered an army of 10,000 guecha warriors. Maldonado defeated Tundama and 4000 other Muisca in a December 1539 battle, a struggle that took two weeks, culminating in the Battle of Vargas Swamp, close to
Paipa Paipa is a town and municipality in the Tundama Province, a part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Paipa borders Duitama, Firavitoba, Tibasosa, Sotaquirá and Tuta.Battle of Vargas Swamp Battle of Vargas Swamp ( es, Batalla del Pantano de Vargas) was a battle that occurred near Paipa, on July 25, 1819. A joint Venezuelan and Neogranadine army commanded by Simón Bolívar was trying to prevent Spanish forces from arriving at San ...
by
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
would be fought.Battle of Vargas Swamp, 1819
/ref> Tundama was killed by Maldonado wielding a large hammer.


Quest for ''El Dorado''

The mythical city of gold ''
El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
'' was a common legend in the early days of the conquest of what later would become Colombia; the troops of Gonzalo de Quesada were drawn from the relative safety of the Caribbean coast in
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 heart of the Andes, while around the same time the southern expedition led by De Belalcázar heard similar stories in Quito. After the establishment of the New Kingdom of Granada, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada left for Spain with De Belalcázar and other soldiers who participated in the conquest and left the reign of the new colony in the hands of his brother,
Hernán Pérez de Quesada Hernán Pérez de Quesada, sometimes spelled as Quezada, (c. 1515 – 1544) was a Spanish conquistador. Second in command of the army of his elder brother, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Hernán was part of the first European expedition towar ...
. Hernán organised an expedition to search for the mythical lands of
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
towards the southeast of the Cundiboyacense; the vast flatlands of the Llanos Orientales. The troops left Bogotá in September 1540 and passed through Pasca, that had been founded by fellow conquistador Juan de Céspedes three years earlier.Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.93 The conquistadors passed the mountains of the Eastern Ranges and crossed the Guaviare and Papamene Rivers. While crossing one of the many rivers of the Llanos, a horserider of the expedition, Jorge Olmeda, drowned with his horse and an indigenous woman he had taken with him. The Spanish honoured him by naming this the Olmeda River. The soldiers reached La Fragua, a settlement populated by the Choque in the present-day department of Caquetá, where Hernán Pérez de Quesada decided to stay for a while to rest. He sent Maldonado ahead to search for other settlements in the area. Maldonado tried to cross a river but he was halted by the indigenous people living there, who shot
poisoned arrows ''Poisoned Arrows: An investigative journey through the forbidden lands of West Papua'' is a 1989 book by British writer and environmental and political activist, George Monbiot. Another edition was released in 2003. Background The book covers M ...
at the conquistador, forcing him to retreat. At night, Maldonado and his men attempted to defeat the indigenous a second time—this time successfully—by ambushing them on a small island in the river. The hurt natives fled and many drowned in the waters. Hernán Pérez de Quesada with the other remaining soldiers joined the troops of Maldonado again in Mocoa, Putumayo to the south. From here, the expedition went back into the Andes to search for food. Maldonado walked for three days, finally encountering a lush valley in
Sibundoy Sibundoy (Camsá: Tabanok "village") is a town and municipality in the Putumayo Department of the Republic of Colombia. The town existed well before the Spanish came in 1534. The Inca, under Huayna Cápac, conquered the local people in 1492 and ...
, terrain of the Inga and
Kamëntsá The Kamëntsá are an indigenous people of Colombia. They primarily live in the Sibundoy Valley of the Putumayo Department in the south of Colombia.Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian departments of Colombia, department of Cauca Department, Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Cordillera Occidental (Colombia), Western Mountain Range and Cordillera Central (Colo ...
and the colleagues of Maldonado from four years earlier lived in the area. Maldonado, however, was unaware of this and returned to his expedition leader Hernán to report the location of the valley. The troops marched back and found the conquistadors, among which were Molina and Cepeda. The expedition to find ''El Dorado'' had failed because many of the Spanish soldiers died of diseases, poisoned arrows, and drowning in the numerous rivers of the Llanos Orientales and western Amazon River basin. Maldonado's expedition returned to
Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...
(formerly founded by De Belalcázar).


Later life and death

Maldonado, who had spent years in the conquest of Colombian terrain, returned to Bogotá via
Pensilvania Pensilvania (Spanish for Pennsylvania) is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Caldas. Climate Pensilvania has a subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate cli ...
.Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.94 He died in the capital in 1552.


Maldonado's expeditions of conquest


The Maldonado family

The Maldonado family lived in
Salamanca, Spain Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...
. Notable is
Francisco Maldonado Francisco Maldonado (1480 in Salamanca – 24 April 1521) was a leader of the rebel Comuneros from Salamanca in the Revolt of the Comuneros. He was captured at the Battle of Villalar The Battle of Villalar was a battle in the Revolt of the Co ...
, who was a leader in the Revolt of the Comuneros. Various conquistadors and other people involved in the
Spanish colonization of the Americas Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions ...
from the Maldonado family are known in history.Arias de Maldonado
Soledad Acosta SamperBanco de la República
Francisco Maldonado Dorado del Hierro
Banco de la RepúblicaSoledad Acosta Samper
Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.126Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.182Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.183Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.260Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.415List of conquistadors led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
Banco de la República
*
Bituima Bituima is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative divi ...
, Diego Carasquilla Maldonado — became an ''oídor'' for Santa Fe de Bogotá in Lima; * (Francisco) Arias Maldonado — who also served under De Belálcazar and became encomendero of Sora in Boyacá; * Francisco de Grado Maldonado – son of Isabel Maldonado, was a conquistador in Peru. * Francisco Maldonado Dorado del Hierro — served under German conquistadors
Georg von Speyer Georg von Speyer (1500, Speyer, Holy Roman Empire – 11 June 1540, Coro, Klein-Venedig) was a German conquistador in New Granada and Venezuela. His birth name was Georg Hohermuth but he chose to call himself after his place of birth. He ...
and Nikolaus Federmann, and was later made encomendero of Sasaima; and * Isabel Maldonado, married to two conquistadors: Pedro Núñez Cabrera and, following his death, Miguel Holguín y Figueroa.Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.153 * Juan Maldonado — another conquistador in Colombia and son-in-law of
Ortún Velázquez de Velasco Ortún Velázquez de Velasco (, Cuéllar, Castile – 4November 1584, Pamplona, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish conquistador. He is known as the co-founder and first governor of Pamplona in the Norte de Santander department of Colombia ...
; * Juan Prieto Maldonado — conquistador in
Tunja Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá department an ...
; * Rodrigo Arias de Maldonado — conquistador in
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
;


See also

* List of conquistadors in Colombia


References


Bibliography

*


Further reading

* * * * * * * *


External links

*
The conquest of Tundama
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maldonado, Baltasar Year of birth unknown 1552 deaths 16th-century Spanish people 16th-century explorers Spanish conquistadors Castilian-Leonese conquistadors People from Salamanca Explorers of Amazonia History of the Muisca History of Colombia Duitama