 |
 |
|
Biography of Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Name: Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Birth Date: c. 1475
Death Date: January, 1519
Place of Birth: Jerez de los Caballeros, Estremadura, Spain
Nationality: Spanish
Gender: Male
Occupations: explorer, conquistador
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
The Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa (ca. 1475-1519) explored Central America and discovered the Pacific Ocean. He was the first Spanish explorer to gain a permanent foothold on the American mainland.Vasco Núñez de Balboa was born at Jerez de los Caballeros in the province of Estremadura. He was descended from an old and noble Galician family. To improve his meager fortune, Balboa went to the new Spanish colonies in America. In 1500 he sailed with Rodrigo de Bastidas on a preliminary reconnaissance of the Colombian and northern Panamanian coasts. He then settled in Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and tried farming but failed and fell heavily into debt.Meanwhile, two would-be conquistadores, Alonso de Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa, received crown licenses to settle the regions explored by Bastidas. Ojeda headed for the northern Colombian coast late in 1509 with 300 men, while Nicuesa …showed first 150 words…
You are viewing only a small portion of the biography.
Please login or register to access the full copy.
|
|
…showed last 150 words…his rival's mistreatment of friendly Native Americans, while Pedrarias attempted to win over Balboa by offering his daughter in marriage.At last Balboa decided to strike out once more on his own. On the southern Panamanian coast he constructed four brigantines and was about to sail off on another voyage of conquest when he was summoned to confer with Pedrarias. On his way to the meeting Pizarro arrested him. Balboa was accused of plotting treason and condemned, and in January 1519 he was beheaded. Further Reading Balboa's career is explored in detail in Kathleen Romoli, Balboa of Darién (1953). Charles L.G. Anderson Life and Letters of Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1941), may also be consulted. There is a short account of Balboa in F. A. Kirkpatrick, The Spanish Conquistadores (1946). See also C. H. Haring, The Spanish Empire in America (1947), and J. H. Parry, The Age of Reconnaissance (1963).
Need a custom written paper?
|
|
 |
|
