Juan (Francisco) de Céspedes Ruiz (1501 or 1505Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.69 in

Argamasilla de Calatrava Argamasilla de Calatrava is a municipality in the Province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 5,408. See also * Argamasilla de Alba Argamasilla de Alba is a municipality in the Province of Ciudad Real, Castile-L ...

, Castile – 1573 or 1576 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

New Kingdom of Granada New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

) was a Spanish

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 is known as the founder of the town of

Pasca Pasca is a town and municipality in the Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca department of Colombia located in the Andes. It belongs to the Sumapaz Province. Pasca is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the capital B ...

, Cundinamarca, in the south of the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a savanna#Savanna ecoregions, montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is si ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. De Céspedes arrived in the Americas in 1521 and participated in the conquest of the Tairona and the foundation of

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 ...

under

Rodrigo de Bastidas Rodrigo de Bastidas (; Triana, Seville, Andalusia, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 28 July 1527) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who mapped the northern coast of South America, discovered Panama, and founded the city of Santa Marta. Personal li ...

. From 1542 to 1543 and in 1546 he served as

mayor of Bogotá In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

and after that until 1570 as

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

of the first president of Colombia. Juan de Céspedes married Isabel Romero, one of the first Spanish women who arrived at Colombian territories and had two legitimate sons and one daughter. His date of death is uncertain; in late 1573 or 1576. Knowledge about Juan de Céspedes has been provided by

chroniclers A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, t ...

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 ...

in his memoirs (1576),

Pedro Simón ''Fray'' Pedro Simón ( San Lorenzo de la Parrilla, Spain, 1574 - Ubaté, New Kingdom of Granada, ca. 1628) was a Spanish Franciscan friar, professor and chronicler of the indigenous peoples of modern-day Colombia and Venezuela, at the time f ...

in 1626,

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, Ecuador ...

in his work ''

El Carnero ''El Carnero'' () is the colloquial name of a Spanish language colonial chronicle whose title was ''Conquista y descubrimiento del Nuevo Reino de Granada de las Indias Occidentales del mar océano, y fundacion de la ciudad de Santafé de Bogot ...

'' (written between 1636 and 1638) and

Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita (1624, Bogotá – March 29, 1688) was a Spanish Neogranadine Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Panamá (1676–1688) ''(in Latin)'' and the Bishop of Santa Marta (1668–1676).Arzobispo de Pa ...

(1688).Jiménez de Quesada, 1576Fernández de Piedrahita, 1688

Biography

Juan de Céspedes was born in 1501 or 1505 in Argamasilla de Calatrava, Castile-La Mancha in a family of

hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico :''Most, if not all, named for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753–1811)'' * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coah ...

s from

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

. His parents were Lope de Céspedes and María (de) Ruiz and he had one brother; Diego.Juan Francisco de Céspedes
- Geni In 1521, he left Spain for

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

, the first stronghold of the Spanish in the Americas. De Céspedes accompanied

in the conquest of the

Tairona Tairona or Tayrona was a Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia, Pre-Columbian culture of Colombia, which consisted in a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar Department, Cesar, Magdalena Department, Mag ...

and foundation of

in 1525. After the Spanish king

Carlos V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

installed

García de Lerma García or Garcia may refer to: People * García (surname) * Kings of Pamplona/Navarre ** García Íñiguez of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 851/2–882 ** García Sánchez I of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 931–970 ** García Sánchez II of Pampl ...

as governor of Santa Marta on December 20, 1527, the latter named Juan de Céspedes Captain of the Infantry and sent him on an expedition into the Valle-Dupar, Pocigüeyca, a village south of Santa Marta towards Ciénaga, and the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...

. After this expedition that took two years, De Céspedes was sent by

Pedro Fernández de Lugo Pedro Fernández de Lugo (1475 Seville –1536 Santa Marta) was the second adelantado of the Canary Islands and governor of Tenerife and La Palma, a title confirmed again by Charles I of Spain, in Barcelona, on August 17, 1519. Pedro Fernández de L ...

into the interior of the province of Santa Marta.Biography Juan de Céspedes
-

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 ...

When in 1536

organised the main expedition into the Colombian Andes, he named De Céspedes as one of eight captains; of cavalry. At this expedition also his brother Hernando de Prado joined.List of conquistadors led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
-

In the lower parts of the Magdalena River, at the confluence with the San Jorge and

Cauca River The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. From its headwaters in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Magangué in Bolívar Department, an ...

s, Juan de Céspedes and

Juan de Sanct Martín Juan de Sanct Martín, also known as Juan de San Martín, was a Spanish conquistador. Little is known about De Sanct Martín, apart from a passage in ''El Carnero'' (1638) by Juan Rodríguez Freyle and ''Epítome de la conquista del Nuevo Reino de ...

reached first and were joined by the other troops of De Quesada.Exploración y conquista de Nueva Granada
/ref>La expedición de Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada por el Río Magdalena y el origen del Nuevo Reino de Granada (1536-1537)
-

Jorge Gamboa Mendoza Jorge Augusto Gamboa Mendoza (born 27 January 1970) is a Colombian anthropologist and historian. He has been contributing on the knowledge of Hispanic and pre-Hispanic territories of what is now Colombia, especially the Muisca.

After the journey of a year into 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 ...

, the troops settled on the Bogotá savanna. De Céspedes was sent south, while the other troops went north, into the territories of the ''

zaque 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 ''Zaque'' was the ruler of the ...

'' 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 mo ...

. De Céspedes reached

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 ...

in May 1537 with forty infantry and 15 horses.Historia de Fusagasugá
On July 15, 1537, Juan de Céspedes conquered and founded

, Cundinamarca.Official website Pasca
/ref> De Céspedes continued south and west from there through the

Sumapaz Páramo Sumapaz Páramo (Spanish: ''Páramo de Sumapaz'' - meaning "Utterly peaceful moorland" ) is a large páramo ecosystem located in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense mountain range, considered the largest páramo ecosystem in the world. It was decla ...

into the territories of the Sutagao. He was accompanied by Juan López de Herrera and suffered from the cold climate.Conquistadores de los Sutagaos
/ref>Historical summary of Pasca, Cundinamarca
As a result of his bravery during this harsh conquest, De Céspedes was awarded 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

Ubaque Ubaque is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province of the department of Cundinamarca. Ubaque borders the municipalities Choachí in the north, Fómeque in the east, Cáqueza and Chipaque in the south and in the west is the ...

Chipaque Chipaque is a municipality and town in the Eastern Province of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. The municipality of is located at an altitude of in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes with its westernmost part situated in the E ...

Quetame Quetame is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre of Quetame is located at from the capital Bogotá at an altitude of . The municipality borders Fómeque in the nort ...

and Subachoque, to the east of and on the

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. (Do not confuse with The Altiplano or the Altiplano Nariñense, both fur ...

. The encomiendas of Ubaque and Quetame were passed on to his son Lope de Céspedes.Ubaque - "Falda cubierta de bosque"
/ref>
/ref>

New Kingdom of Granada

In 1539, the brother of the founder of Bogotá, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada,

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 towards ...

had taken the governance of the New Kingdom of Granada. In this year, the conquistadors, among which De Céspedes, asked the King of Spain to construct a hospital in Bogotá.Hospital in Bogotá
/ref> Under the command of Pérez de Quesada, De Céspedes and Juan de Sanct Martín tortured 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 ...

'' of the Muisca,

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 ...

, by cutting and burning the soles of the feet of the Muisca ruler.A Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, creador del "alma" colombiana
/ref> De Céspedes was sent westward into the terrain of the Panche, who were beaten in the

Battle of Tocarema The Battle of Tocarema (Spanish: ''Batalla de Tocarema'') was 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 indigenous ...

in August 1538. De Céspedes passed through

San Antonio del Tequendama San Antonio del Tequendama is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Tequendama Province part of the department of Cundinamarca. The municipality is located along the ''Serranía de Subía'' in the Tena Valley and borders Tena and Bojacá ...

.Official website San Antonio del Tequendama
/ref> From 1542 to 1543, De Céspedes was

, the capital of New Kingdom of Granada. He succeeded

Hernán Venegas Carrillo Hernán Venegas Carrillo Manosalvas (1513 – 2 February 1583)Alonso Luis de Lugo Alonso is a Spanish name of Germanic origin that is a Castilian variant of ''Adalfuns''. The original Visigothic name ''Alfonso'' suffered the phonetic change of the phoneme /f/ into the mute /h/ in the Early Middle Ages (around 9th Century), w ...

sent De Céspedes back to Santa Marta to help rebuild the city that was destroyed and burned by the French

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

Roberto Baal Roberto is an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish variation of the male given name Robert. Notable people named Roberto include: * Roberto (footballer, born 1912) * Roberto (footballer, born 1977) * Roberto (footballer, born 1978) * Roberto (footbal ...

. From Santa Marta, De Céspedes participated in conquests in the interior. In 1546, De Céspedes returned to the capital in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

and served a second term as mayor of the city. The first president of the New Kingdom of Granada,

Andrés Díaz Venero de Leyva Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

, named Juan de Céspedes his

, a position he held until it was abolished in 1570. In 1565, De Céspedes constructed the Santa Bárbara church in Bogotá, that still exists today. He constructed the chapel thanking the Saint of Thunder, as he escaped death of a lightning strike at that place. The lightning strike did kill one of his slaves.Atlas histórico de Bogotá colonia - Guía historica y descriptiva de Bogotá colonial
-

Juan de Céspedes had one son with an indigenous woman named Isabel. De Céspedes married Isabel Romero, one of the first Spanish women who arrived at the Spanish colony in northern South America, the

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

of soldier Juan Francisco Lorenzo, who drowned in the Opón River. The marriage of De Céspedes and Romero was the first wedding in the New Kingdom of Granada, together with Lope Rioja and Elvira Gutiérrez.Andrés Mejía disertó en Argamasilla de Calatrava sobre la figura del conquistador Juan de Céspedes y su familia, en su libro "La Provincia de Ciudad Real en el Nuevo Mundo (siglos XVI y XVII)"
/ref> The couple had two sons, Antonio and Lope, and De Céspedes one stepdaughter; María, daughter of Isabel Romero and her first husband who was given the last name of Juan.Genealogy Juan de Céspedes
/ref>Los caballeros de la conquista
/ref> Lope (Gutiérrez) de Céspedes served as mayor of Bogotá from 1577 to 1578 and in 1605 and Antonio held the same position from 1591 to 1592 and 1596 to 1597. Juan de Céspedes died in late 1573 or 1576 in the New Kingdom of Granada. The house of De Céspedes was discovered on the site of the first convent of San Águstin, when it was moved to the San Francisco church, the oldest remaining church in Bogotá.

Biography

New Kingdom of Granada

Conquest by Juan de Céspedes

Encomiendas

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading