Francisco Ortiz de Vergara (1524 in

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, ...

– 2 December 1574 in Ciudad Zaratina) 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 ...

and colonizer.

Biography

He succeeded Gonzalo de Mendoza as

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

Rio de la Plata Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

. He was elected, rather than appointed by the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

or his predecessor. His election was confirmed by

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Pedro de la Torre Pedro de la Torre (died 1573) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Paraguay (1554–1573). ''(in Latin)'' Biography Pedro de la Torre was ordained a priest in the Order of Friars Minor. On 27 August 1554, he was appointed duri ...

, but he was demoted by the Royal Audience and returned to Spain in 1565 following charges by Ñuflo de Chaves. During his administration, there were a number of failed attempts at new settlements - Sancti Spiritus, San Francisco, and

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; ), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), Pirai River in the eastern Tropical ...

. This last, in the southern

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

, was eventually successful, but only after the city had been moved over 200 kilometers from site chosen by Chaves. The former location is in the vicinity of

San José de Chiquitos San José de Chiquitos, or simply San José, is the capital of Chiquitos Province in the Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. It is known as part of the '' Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos'', which is declared in 1990 a World Heritage Site, as a for ...

and is now an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

site under the name ''Santa Cruz la Vieja''.

References

Spanish conquistadors 1524 births 1574 deaths People from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata People from Seville 16th-century Spanish explorers Governors of the Río de la Plata {{Argentina-politician-stub