Sancti Spiritu was a fortification established in 1527 near the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...

by the explorer Sebastian Cabot. It was the first European settlement in the territory of modern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

and was destroyed by Amerindians (Native Argentines) two years later.

Antecedents

The voyage of

Juan Díaz de Solís Juan Díaz de Solís ( – 20 January 1516) was a 16th-century navigator and explorer. He is also said to be the first European to land on what is now modern day Uruguay. Biography His origins are disputed. One document records him as a Portuguese ...

explored the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

, along the coast of Uruguay. In 1516, Solís disembarked on the Uruguay coast shortly after entering the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

, along with six other men. The local Charrúas saw them and killed them in a swift surprise attack. A boy, Francisco del Puerto, was spared because of his young age. The remaining sailors left and returned to Europe. Del Puerto, who was left behind, lived for ten years among the indigenous people. He was rescued by a subsequent European voyage led by Sebastian Cabot. Del Puerto told Cabot rumors of a "white king" and a mountain of silver that was located north of the

. Cabot considered the tale to be true, and dropped his initial orders (to seek a path to the Indies shorter than the one found by the Magellan-Elcano expedition) in order to look for the mountain. The rumor was ultimately proved to be false; there were no precious metals in the La Plata basin. But the European belief in the rumor was one of the reasons for the

name of Argentina Argentina (a Spanish adjective meaning "silvery"), is ultimately derived from the Latin ''argentum'' "silver" and the feminine of the adjectival suffix -īnus. The Latin "argentum" has its origin from the ancient Greek-Hellenic word "argyro(s)", ...

Establishment

The Sancti Spiritu fort was built next to the

Carcarañá River The Carcarañá River (Spanish, Arroyo Saladillo or Río Saladillo) is a river in Argentina. It begins at the confluence of the Río Tercero and the Saladillo River (the lower course of the Río Cuarto) in the south-east of the province of Córd ...

, in what is currently

Santa Fe Province The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco (divided by the 28th parallel south), Corrientes, Entre R� ...

. The Spanish enjoyed the warm climate, and Cabot built a house nearby. They got help from the Amerindians, and the priest Francisco García provided religious support. The Amerindians were initially friendly towards the Spanish. Cabot left the fort on December 23, in a ship with 130 men, in a quest to find the empire of the White King. He left the other 32 men at the fort. The expedition was a harsh one and the Amerindians were forced into obedience. As a result, they left and did not provide any more food. Many

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ...

did not agree with the actions of Cabot and attempted to mutiny, but after Francisco García revealed their plan, their leader was executed.Abad de Santillán, p. 107 The voyage stopped near the

Paraguay River The Paraguay River (Río Paraguay in Spanish, Rio Paraguai in Portuguese, Ysyry Paraguái in Guarani) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. It flows about from its headwaters i ...

, after hearing there were new ships in the area. Miguel Riflos led some further explorations with 30 men, but most of them died during a mutiny of Del Puerto against Núñez de Balboa, caused by personal enmity. The new ships, which intercepted Cabot before his return to Sancti Spiritu, were led by

Diego García de Moguer Diego García de Moguer (1484 or 1496–1544) was a Spanish explorer who also sailed for the Portuguese Crown later in life. Biography Spanish sources indicate that Diego García was born in Moguer in 1484 (or 1496), but there are Portugue ...

, who had taken part in the old voyage of Solís. They discussed the validity of exclusive navigation rights on the river, but finally agreed to return to the fort, join forces, request Spanish aid and embark on a second expedition against the White King.

Destruction

Cabot sent three groups of scouts to the west, to seek more information about the White King, but then left the fort without waiting for their return. However, Cabot returned to the fort almost immediately, as he learned that the

indigenous peoples in Paraguay Indigenous peoples in Paraguay, or Native Paraguayans, include 17 ethnic groups belonging to five language families." ...

and around the fort had become hostile to the Spaniards and had organized a rebellion against them. Cabot and Moguer returned to the fort, where Gregorio Caro had relaxed military discipline. They ordered him to kill a hundred Amerindians as a deterrent, and Cabot abused 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 S ...

Yaguari. The measures were not effective, and the Amerindians became more hostile. Military discipline was still relaxed, despite the return of Cabot. Cabot organized a

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

to Paraguay, again leaving Caro in charge of the fort. Cabot confirmed that the Amerindians were about to attack the fort, but continued to the north, trusting that Caro would be able to defend it. The attack came on the night of September 1, 1529. The Amerindians set the fort on fire while all the soldiers were sleeping. When they woke up, realizing defense would be useless, they tried to board the two ships and flee. Most of them were killed and one of the ships was destroyed before it could leave.Abad de Santillán, p. 108 The survivors joined Cabot and García who immediately returned to help. By the time they returned, all remaining Spaniards were dead, and the fort had been burned and razed to the ground. Completely defeated, they left the Americas and returned to Europe.

Consequences

The destruction of Sancti Spiritu ended the period of Spanish exploration of Argentina, leading to the period of colonization. The rumors of the White King and the silver mountain continued to raise interest in Spain and Portugal. Spain sent Pedro de Mendoza to colonize the area before Portugal could do so. This led to the establishment of the city of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, near the mouth of the River Paraná. Ruy Díaz de Guzmán wrote a history of Sancti Spiritu in his book ''La Argentina'' (1612). The book included the story of a woman named Lucía Miranda, involved in a

love triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with ...

with a Spaniard and a cacique. Miranda's relationships were said to have inadvertently helped the success of the Amerindians' attack on the fort. The story was repeated by later chroniclers and historians, but it is now known that it was fictitious: there was no woman among the crew of Sebastian Cabot.Abad de Santillán, p. 105

References

Bibliography