Gonzalo García Zorro ( 1500 – 1566) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

who participated in the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca people, Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andes, Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose M ...

people. García Zorro was ''encomendero'' (mayor) of Santa Fe de Bogotá for seven terms, and received the ''

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...

s'' of

Fusagasugá Fusagasugá (; ) or Fusa is a city and municipality in the department of Cundinamarca, in central Colombia. It is located in the warm valley between the rivers Cuja and Panches, a central region of the Andes Mountains in South America. The mun ...

and Fosca. He married three times, twice with Muisca women, and had one daughter, Francisca, and a son, Diego. García Zorro died of wounds he suffered in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

with Alonso Venegas. Venegas was the son of fellow conquistador Hernán Venegas Carrillo and the grandson through his mother of

Sagipa Sagipa or Zaquesazipa (died 1539, Bosa, New Kingdom of Granada) was the fifth and last ruler (''psihipqua'') of Muyquytá, currently known as Bogota, as of 1537. He was the brother of his predecessor Bogotá but the traditional faction of the Mu ...

, the last ''

zipa When the Spain, 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 Funza, Muyquytá. The ''Zaque'' was the ...

'' (leader) of the Muisca, whom García Zorro had helped to kill. Knowledge of the life of García Zorro comes from the works '' Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias'' (1589) and '' El Carnero'' (1638), by

Juan de Castellanos Juan de Castellanos (March 9, 1522 – November 1606)Ju ...

and Juan Rodríguez Freyle respectively.

Biography

Gonzalo García Zorro was born around 1500 in

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

, at the border between

Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...

and

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

.Gonzalo García Zorro
–

Banco de la República The Bank of the Republic () is the central bank of Colombia. It was initially established under the regeneration era in 1880. Its main modern functions, under the new Colombian constitution were detailed by Congress according tLey 31 de 1992 O ...

– Soledad Acosta de Samper His parents were Teresa González de Sancha and Diego Alonso El Zorro. Gonzalo García Zorro had a brother, Antonio, and a sister.Gonzalo García Zorro
– Geni García Zorro joined the expedition led by

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (; 1509 – 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory n ...

from

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...

towards the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andes, Andean highlands of what is today Colombia before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Spanis ...

in April 1536 as a cavalry leader.De Piedrahita, 1676, p.102Lista de los que consiguieron el descubrimiento del Reino de Granada con el General don Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, en el año de 1538
–

García Zorro was later convicted of crimes against the last ''

'',

.Ocampo López, 1996, p.55 Gonzalo García Zorro was seven times encomendero of Santa Fe de Bogotá: in 1544 succeeding Juan Ruiz de Orejuela, who succeeded García Zorro again; from 1545 to 1546, succeeding the second term of Juan Ruiz de Orejuela and preceding Juan de Céspedes; in 1548 between the reign of Juan Muñoz de Collantes and the third term by Juan Ruiz de Orejuela; from 1550 to 1551 in between the terms of Juan de Avellaneda; between 1553 and 1554 succeeding

Juan de Rivera ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish language, Spanish and Manx language, Manx versions of ''John (given name), John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-spea ...

and preceding

Juan Tafur Juan Tafur (1500, Córdoba, Spain, Córdoba, Andalusia, Kingdom of Castile, Castile - ?, ?) was a Spanish Empire, Spanish List of conquistadors in Colombia, conquistador who participated in the Spanish conquest of the Muisca people. He was a cousi ...

; in 1556 between the terms of Antonio Ruiz and Domingo Lozano; and finally in 1564 succeeding Juan Ruiz de Orejuela again and preceding Andrés de Molina. Gonzalo García Zorro received the encomiendas of

,Acosta, 1848, p.399Los caballeros de la conquista
and Fosca.De Castellanos, 1589, p.418 The encomienda of

Suesca Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of ...

was shared between Gonzalo García Zorro and

.Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.112 Gonzalo García Zorro died in 1566 at

Santa Fe de Bogotá Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christma ...

of wounds he received in a

with Alonso Venegas. Venagas was the son of Magdalena de Guatavita, daughter of

, and Hernán Venegas Carrillo. Conquest of Colombia

References

Bibliography

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Biography

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading