Hernán Pérez de Quesada, sometimes spelled as Quezada,Official website Motavita
/ref> (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 the inner highlands of the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. The harsh journey, taking almost a year and many deaths, led through the modern departments Magdalena, Cesar,

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Huila of present-day Colombia between 1536 and 1539 and, without him, Meta, Caquetá and Putumayo of Colombia and northern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

between 1540 and 1542. Hernán founded Sutatausa, Cundinamarca, and aided in the conquest of various

indigenous groups Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, such as the Chimila,

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

, Panche,

Lache The Lache ( ; sometimes simply Lache) is a housing estate in the city of Chester, in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 10,000. It is located approximately southwest of the ancient city, with good local transport links en ...

, U'wa, Sutagao and others. Under the command of Hernán Pérez de Quesada the last independent Muisca ruler; '' hoa'' Quiminza was publicly decapitated. As second in command under his brother, in the previous years '' psihipquias''

Tisquesusa Tisquesusa, also spelled Thisquesuza, Thysquesuca or Thisquesusha (referred to in the earliest sources as Bogotá, the Elder) (died Facatativá, 1537) was the fourth and last independent ruler ('' psihipqua'') of Muyquytá, main settlement of t ...

and Sagipa and

Tundama Tundama or Saymoso (15th century - Duitama, late December 1539) was a '' cacique'' of the Muisca Confederation, a loose confederation of different rulers of the Muisca who inhabited the central highlands ( Altiplano Cundiboyacense) of the C ...

Duitama Duitama () is a city and municipality in the department of Boyacá. It is the capital of the Tundama Province. Duitama is located northeast of Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia and northeast of Tunja, the capital Boyacá. Duitama has ex ...

had suffered a similar fate. After returning from his expeditions to the south reaching Quito, where he reunited with his younger brother Francisco, both De Quesadas went back to Santafé de Bogotá. Hernán was tried and imprisoned there for the murders of the Muisca rulers by the governor of the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada. In 1544, en route to Cartagena with his brother Francisco, their ship was hit by lightning off the coast of

Cabo de la Vela Cabo de la Vela (Spanish for "cape of sails") is a headland in the Guajira Peninsula in Colombia with an adjacent small fishing village. It is a popular ecotourism destination of the Caribbean region of Colombia History Spanish explorer Juan ...

in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

killing Hernán and Francisco and wounding several other conquistadors. Knowledge of the life and expeditions of Hernán Pérez de Quesada has been provided by his brother Gonzalo and scholars Pedro de Aguado, Juan Freyle,

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 Pan ...

Joaquín Acosta Tomás Joaquín de Acosta y Pérez de Guzmán (December 29, 1800February 21, 1852) was a Colombian explorer, historian, chorographer, and geologist. A native of Colombia in South America, he served in the Colombian army and in 1834 attempted ...

and

Liborio Zerda Liborio Zerda ( Bogotá, Republic of New Granada, 10 July 1834 (other sources state 1830 or 1833)Las sociedades indígenas de los Llanos
-

Banco de la República The Bank of the Republic ( es, Banco de la República) 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 ...

Historia general de las conquistas del Nuevo Reyno de Granada
-

National Library of Colombia The National Library of Colombia ( es, Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia) is a national library located in Bogota, Colombia. The library is a dependency of the Colombian Ministry of Culture. Founding and history The National Library of Colombi ...

Cómo era Hernán Pérez de Quesada
-

Acosta, 1848

Biography

Calle de Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (Madrid)

Early life

Hernán Pérez de Quesada was born around the year 1512 in the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

n city of Granada as second son of Gonzalo Jiménez and Isabel Jiménez de Quesada.Fundaciones antecedentes a la conquista de la aldea Chicamocha
/ref>Isabel de Rivera Quesada
- Geni.comBiography Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
-

His family was Catholic, but descended from marranos (

Sephardi Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

). His elder brother was conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez and he had four other siblings; brother Melchor, Francisco, who also was conquistador in Peru, and sisters Magdalena de Quesada and Andrea Ximénez de Quesada.El enigma de la espada de Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
-

El Espectador ''El Espectador'' (meaning "The Spectator") is a newspaper with national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on 22 March 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It changed from a daily to a weekly editio ...

Familia Berrio y Jiménez de Quesada
/ref> Hernán also had a half-sister; Isabel de Quesada.Isabel de Quesada
- Geni.com In 1535, arriving early 1536, the brothers Gonzalo, Francisco and Hernán sailed from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

to Santa Marta, one of the first cities founded in modern-day Colombia, by

Rodrigo de Bastidas Rodrigo de Bastidas (; Triana, Seville, Andalusia, c. 1465 – 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. ...

in 1525.

Conquest in Colombia

1536 - the harsh route towards Muisca territory

The first

indigenous group Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

that was submitted to the Spanish Crown were the

Tairona Tairona (or Tayrona) was a 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, Magdalena and La Guajira Departments of Colombia, South America, which g ...

, who inhabit the area around Santa Marta, presently living on the slopes of the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

and in Tayrona Park. On April 6, 1536, triggered by the stories of the

mythical Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

"City of Gold" '' El Dorado'', Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada organised two groups of conquistadors towards the inner highlands of the Colombian

, as first European explorers. The army with the brothers De Quesada and more than 700 soldiers and 80 horses went over land and another, of more than 200 men, embarked in boats and ascended the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; 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 ...

from Ciénaga, in search of its origin. The list of the soldiers that eventually made it to

Funza Funza () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, of the department of Cundinamarca. Funza is situated on the Bogotá savanna, the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense with the urban centre at an altit ...

has been compiled by Juan Florez de Ocáriz (1612-1692).List of conquistadors led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
-

The land army was led by Gonzalo with Hernán second in command. The first indigenous group conquered, were the

Chimila people The Chimilas or ''Ette Ennaka'' are an indigenous people in the Andes of north-eastern Colombia. Their Chimila language is part of the Chibcha language family, of which there were estimated to be around 1000 speakers in 1998. At the time of the ...

. Continuing south, the troops had to cross inhospitable terrains full of creeks and part of their supplies and equipment was lost when crossing the Ariguaní River.Conquista rápida y saqueo cuantioso de Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
/ref> The troops led by the De Quesadas passed through among other settlements

Tamalameque Tamalameque is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Cesar. It was originally the site of a Chimila settlement, ''Thamara''. Tamalameque is located on the right bank of the Magdalena River and borders Chimichagua and Pailitas ...

Barrancabermeja Barrancabermeja is a city in Colombia, located on the shore of the Magdalena River, in the western part of the department of Santander. It is home to the largest oil refinery in the country, under direct management of ECOPETROL. Barrancabermeja ...

and Chipatá where the Spanish for the first time learnt to drink chicha, the fermented alcoholic beverage of the Muisca. The almost-naked conquistadors who suffered from the difficult expedition through the jungles received

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

mantles from the Muisca people in Chipatá. The expedition passed through halted in Chía where they spent the

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

. After that week in April 1537, he ordered his men towards

, the site of the domain of the ''zipa''. Although the army of the brothers De Quesada was reduced to 170 men, the hundreds of guecha warriors couldn't resist their superior arms and were defeated. In the meantime, ''zipa''

sent messengers to the ''caciques'' in the Muisca Confederation to inform them of the arrival of the light-skinned heavily armed men. The ''caciques'' considered the invaders sacred and didn't dare to attack them. Funza was conquered and founded on April 20, 1537.Official website Funza
Of the more than 900 soldiers who left Santa Marta a year earlier, only 162 survived the harsh expedition. On the same day that his brother Gonzalo founded

Tenza Tenza () is a town and municipality in the subregion of the Eastern Boyacá Province of the Colombian department Boyacá. Tenza borders La Capilla and Pachavita in the north, in the east the department of Cundinamarca, in the south with Sutat ...

, June 24, 1537, Hernán founded Sutatausa.Official website Sutatausa

= First conquest by Hernán Pérez de Quesada

1538 - establishment of Bogotá and surroundings

At the start of 1538, when the troops were exhausted after almost two years in foreign terrain, the soldiers asked what was their payment for the conquest they had done. De Quesada divided the conquered treasures over his men; 40,000 pieces of fine gold, 562 emeralds and ''

tumbaga ''Tumbaga'' is the name for a non-specific alloy of gold and copper given by Spanish Conquistadors to metals composed of these elements found in widespread use in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica in North America and South America. The term is believe ...

'' (gold-copper-silver alloys). Foot soldiers received 520 pieces each, horse riders the double amount, captains 2080 pieces, generals 3640 and some pieces were given as prizes for the most distinguished soldiers. Masses were organised to honour the many dead soldiers during the campaign and part of the treasure was given to Juan de las Casas. De Quesada was not pleased to hear about the advancement of another group of conquistadors in the east, led by

Nikolaus Federmann Nikolaus Federmann ( es, link=no, Nicolás Féderman, ) (c. 1505, Ulm – February 1542, Valladolid) was a German adventurer and conquistador in what is modern-day Venezuela and Colombia. He is a significant figure in the history of Klein-Vened ...

, coming from later

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

across the Llanos Orientales. Another team of conquerors, commanded by

Sebastián de Belalcázar Sebastián de Belalcázar (; 1479/1480 – 1551) was a Spanish conquistador. De Belalcázar, also written as de Benalcázar, is known as the founder of important early colonial cities in the northwestern part of South America; Quito in 1534 and Ca ...

, was coming from the south, originating from Quito. Gonzalo sent Hernán to meet the southern group who had traveled through the hot valley of

Neiva Neiva () is the capital of the Department of Huila. It is located in the valley of the Magdalena River in south central Colombia with a population of about 357,392 inhabitants. It is one of the most important cities in southern Colombia, mainly ...

. Hernán ordered the decapitation of Aquiminzaque, the last ''zaque'' of Hunza in late 1538.Public execution of Aquiminzaque in Tunja
- Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

Foundation of Bogotá

One and a half year after the victory of the conquistadors on

, in the area of

Teusaquillo Teusaquillo is the 13th locality of Bogotá, capital of Colombia. It is located in the geographic center of the city, to the northwest of downtown Bogotá. This district is inhabited by middle and upper class residents. It is an urbanized locality ...

, the modern capital of Colombia was founded. Although some historians set the date at April 27, 1539, the common and celebrated date of foundation is August 6, 1538. The foundation was performed by the construction of 12 houses of reed, referring to the

Twelve Apostles In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...

, and the construction of a preliminary church, also of reed. Father Juan de las Casas held his first mass in the improvised church. The city was named Santafé de Bogotá, a combination of the Spanish city of Santa Fe and the

Chibcha The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan lan ...

name of the southern Muisca capital ''Bacatá'', meaning "Enclosure outside of the farmfields".Etymology Bacatá
-

The newly established country, part of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

was called New Kingdom of Granada, after the place of birth of the brothers De Quesada in

;

Kingdom of Granada ) , common_languages = Official language:Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino , capital = Granada , religion = Majority religion:Sunni IslamMinority religions:Roman ...

Return to Spain of Gonzalo, Sebastián and Nikolaus

The three leaders of the conquest expeditions; Gonzalo de Quesada, Nikolaus Federmann and Sebastián de Belalcázar, met in

Bosa Bosa is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Oristano (until May 2005 it was in the province of Nuoro), part of the Sardinia region of Italy. Bosa is situated about two-thirds of the way up the west coast of Sardinia, on a small hill, abo ...

and agreed to travel back to Spain to ask for compensation for their exploration for the Spanish Crown. Gonzalo assigned Hernán as interim governor of the New Kingdom and chose the first mayor and council for the capital. The chaplain of the team of Federmann, Juan Verdejo, was named priest. Most of the soldiers of the expeditions of Federmann and De Belalcázar decided to stay in Bogotá, reinforcing the troops of De Quesada. Without having found '' El Dorado'', three years after his departure from Santa Marta, in mid May 1539, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada returned to the Caribbean coast, to sail to Spain from Cartagena.

Hernán in charge of the New Kingdom of Granada

1540–1541

In his search for ''El Dorado'', Hernán explored the departments of Tolima and Huila. Hernán Pérez de Quesada was only one of many explorers in the search for ''El Dorado''.Expeditions ''El Dorado''
/ref> After the destruction and looting of the Sun Temple in

Sogamoso Sogamoso () is a city in the department of Boyacá of Colombia. It is the capital of the Sugamuxi Province, named after the original Sugamuxi. Sogamoso is nicknamed "City of the Sun", based on the original Muisca tradition of pilgrimage and ador ...

in September 1537, Hernán Pérez thought there was an even bigger place where the indigenous people hid their

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, called "La Casa del Sol". In his quest, starting from Sogamoso along the right banks of the Chicamocha River, he approached with a hundred men the terrain of the

and entered Jericó, at that time called Cheva, where he and his troops gathered the food of the original inhabitants who promptly fled to Chita.Jericó, un municipio de altura
- El Tiempo The city of

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 departmen ...

, in the times of the Muisca called Hunza, was founded on 1541 by

Gonzalo Suárez Rendón Gonzalo Suárez Rendón (1503, Málaga, Castile – 1590 (or 1583), Tunja, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish conquistador, known as the founder of the capital of Boyacá; Tunja, second city of the New Kingdom of Granada. A veteran of the It ...

in an expedition ordered by Hernán de Quesada. In July 1541, the Chapter of Tunja told De Quesada that he couldn't leave his empire alone. Hernán responded that "whatever he did, was in the interest of the Spanish Crown".Kupchick, 2008, p.132 Later in 1541, Hernán Pérez de Quesada went northward towards the later department of

Norte de Santander North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities. North Santander is bordered by Vene ...

, where he crossed Panqueba, Guacamayas,

El Cocuy El Cocuy () is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the sub-region of the Gutiérrez Province. The national natural park El Cocuy National Park is nearby. Born in El Cocuy * Santos Gutiérrez José S ...

and Chita, and reached Chinácota but had to return soon after that.Cúcuta - fundadores y exploradores

/ref> Soldiers of his army submitted the U'wa living in El Cocuy.El Cocuy, tierra de nieve y sol
- El Tiempo On his southern expedition in the same year, Hernán Pérez de Quesada was the first European to reach the southeastern Colombian departments of Caquetá and Putumayo.Hernán Pérez de Quesada
One of his soldiers, Lázaro Fonte, the 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 ...

, died due to the natural dangers of the jungle.Ocampo López, 1996, p.103

= Second conquest by Hernán Pérez de Quesada

Reunion with his brother Francisco and death

De Quesada reached Peru with an army of 500 men, without finding the mythical ''El Dorado''. In 1542 he reached the Kingdom of Quito in a bad shape where he joined his brother Francisco.Biography Hernán Pérez de Quesada
-

Both brothers returned to Bogotá, where Hernán was tried and imprisoned by Luis Alonso de Lugo, the new

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the capital after Hernán, for his mistreatment of the indigenous peoples and the murders of Saymoso, Quiminza, Tisquesusa and Sagipa. In 1544 Hernán and Francisco were embarked on a ship from Santo Domingo to Cartagena , that was hit by lightning off the coast of

. Both brothers died and several other conquistadors and the Bishop of Santa Marta, friar Martín de Calatayud. Cabo de la Vela, Colombia

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez de Quesada, Hernan 1500 births Year of birth uncertain 1544 deaths Deaths from lightning strikes 16th-century Spanish people 16th-century explorers People from Granada Spanish people of Jewish descent Spanish conquistadors Andalusian conquistadors Spanish city founders Explorers of Amazonia History of the Muisca History of Colombia History of Ecuador History of Peru