Juan de(l) Junco (1503 in

Ribadesella Ribadesella (Asturian: Ribeseya) is a small municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. Known for its location on the Cantabrian Sea, at the outlet of the River Sella, Ribadesella is a town that forms part ...

, Asturias, Castile – ? in

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 ...

) 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 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. Del Junco started his career as a conquistador in the 1526 expedition led by Sebastian Cabot exploring the Río de la Plata in present-day Argentina. In 1535, he arrived 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 ...

on the

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 ...

Caribbean coast Tung Chung, meaning " eastern stream", is an area on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. One of the most recent new towns, it was formerly a rural fishing village beside Tung Chung Bay, and along the delta and lower courses of T ...

from where the expedition in search of ''

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 ...

'' set off in April1536. Del Junco played a role in the foundations of

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 ...

(August6, 1538), and

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 ...

(August6, 1539). He was a senior captain 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 ...

. Del Junco was named second in line of succession, after Gonzalo's brother Hernán, in the event of the death of the first governor of the

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 ...

. Del Junco was awarded 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 ...

'' (mayoralty) of Cucaita, close to Tunja, for his efforts as a soldier. In 1541, Del Junco left South America for Santo Domingo, where he married and remained until his death. Juan del Junco was named by several early chroniclers of the Spanish conquest of Colombia: ''

Epítome de la conquista del Nuevo Reino de Granada ''Epítome de la conquista del Nuevo Reino de Granada'' (English: ''Summary of the conquest of the New Kingdom of Granada'') is a document of uncertain authorship, possibly (partly) written by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada be ...

'' (first published in 1889);''Epítome'', 1889, p.82 ''

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 ...

'' ( De Castellanos, 1589);De Castellanos, 1589, p.400 ''

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 ...

'' ( Freyle, 1638);Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.61 and ''

Historia general de las conquistas del Nuevo Reino de Granada Historia may refer to: * Historia, the local version of the History channel in Spain and Portugal * Historia (TV channel), a Canadian French language specialty channel * Historia (newspaper), a French monthly newspaper devoted to History topics * ...

'' ( De Piedrahita, 1676).De Piedrahita, 1676, p.101

Biography

Early career

Juan del Junco, in some texts also named as Juan de Junco, was born in Asturias in 1503. He was baptised in

; as was his brother,

Rodrigo del Junco Rodrigo del Junco (born in Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain, died 1592) was a Spanish soldier, a factor (mercantile agent) and Overseer of the Royal Estate in '' La Florida'', and governor of the province in 1592. Biography Rodrigo del Junco was ba ...

, who would become governor of La Florida.Rodando por Ribadesella
/ref> He was active as a soldier in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in his early years.La conquista del Pacífico. La historia de "los trece de la fama" en la isla del Gallo
/ref>

American Expeditions

The conquest expeditions of Juan del Junco commenced in 1526, when he embarked on a ship leaving

Sanlúcar de Barrameda Sanlúcar de Barrameda (), or simply Sanlúcar, is a city in the northwest of Cádiz province, part of the autonomous community of Andalucía in southern Spain. Sanlúcar is located on the left bank at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River oppos ...

. He served under Sebastian Cabot in the exploration of the Río de la Plata.De Plaza, 1810, p.61 In 1532 or 1533, taking

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 ...

with him,Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.75 Del Junco sailed to

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

. From there his plan was to travel to the newly founded city of Cartagena, but went to

instead to assist Roberto Infante, then governor of the city, arriving in 1535.Conquistadores en el Altiplano
/ref> Del Junco joined the harsh expedition into the Colombian Andes from Santa Marta as a captain in an expedition led by

, departing on April6, 1536.Lista de los que consiguieron el descubrimiento del Reino de Granada con el General don Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, en el año de 1538
- Banco de la República After almost one year, the heavily reduced regiment reached 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 ...

on the Bogotá savanna. As a captain Del Junco participated in the foundation of

on August6, 1538 by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada; and

on August6, 1539 by Gonzalo Suárez Rendón.Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.103 Juan del Junco is noted as one of the captains of the newly founded

to hand back the weapons of the earlier dismissed Lázaro Fonte, lover of

Zoratama Zoratama, also spelled as Soratama, was a Muisca woman and the lover of Spanish conquistador Lázaro Fonte. Her story reminds of the North American indigenous Pocahontas who married John Rolfe after saving the life of John Smith. Together wi ...

. His companions in this task were Gonzalo Suárez Rendón, Pedro Fernández de Valenzuela and Diego Paredes.De Plaza, 1810, p.89 Fonte was imprisoned but released when he informed De Quesada of the arrival of two other conquest expeditions on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, by Nikolaus Federmann from the east and Sebastián de Belalcázar from the south. Fonte had used the skin of a

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

to write his revelations.Ocampo López, 1996, p.103Soratama y su Amor al Conquistador Español: Lázaro Fonte
/ref>Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.72

Local government

After the conquest expeditions, captain Del Junco was appointed a ''

regidor A regidor (plural: ''regidores'') is a member of a council of municipalities in Spain and Latin America. Portugal also used to have the same office of ''regedor''. Mexico In Mexico, an ayuntamiento (municipal council) is composed of a municipal ...

'' (councillor) of

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 ...

,Acosta, 1848, p.281 and received the

of Cucaita, in the province of Tunja. He was the next in line to succeed as governor of the province in the event of the death 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 ...

, brother of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.De Piedrahita, 1676, p.145Acosta, 1848, p.420 He spent twenty months in the New Kingdom of Granada and extorted 20,000 pesos of gold from the Muisca people. Notable ''

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 ...

s'' he pillaged gold and

emeralds Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p. ...

from were the ''caciques'' of Quiminza, Cucayta, Boyacá, Sora, Sutamanga and Cuqueitagacha. In a 1560 letter, Juan del Junco wrote to the Spanish Crown "of the 11,000 indians that resided on the banks of the Magdalena River, not even 500 survived".El día que América amaneció estrenando alma
/ref>

Personal life

In 1541, Del Junco returned to Santo Domingo, the city he had left six years before. He married Inés de Villalobos, daughter of

oidor An ''oidor'' () was a judge of the Royal ''Audiencias'' and ''Chancillerías'', originally courts of Kingdom of Castile, which became the highest organs of justice within the Spanish Empire. The term comes from the verb ''oír'', "to hear," referr ...

(judge)

Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón (c. 1480 – 18 October 1526) was a Spanish magistrate and explorer who in 1526 established the short-lived San Miguel de Gualdape colony, one of the first European attempts at a settlement in what is now the United State ...

. The couple had children, but their fate is unknown, as is the year of his death.Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.50

References

Bibliography

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