Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532–1592) was a Spanish adventurer, author, historian, mathematician, and astronomer. He was named the governor of the Strait of Magellan by King Philip II in 1580. His birthplace is not certain and may have been

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

, in Galicia, where his paternal family originated, or

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

in Castile, where he later is known to have studied . His birth year is also uncertain however it is believed that he was born between 1530 and 1532. His father Bartolomé Sarmiento was born in Pontevedra and his mother María Gamboa was born in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, Basque Country.

Biography

Early life

At the age of 18, Sarmiento de Gamboa entered the royal military in the European wars. Between 1550 and 1555 the future navigator fought in the armies of Emperor Charles V. In 1555 he began his exploring career, sailing across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. His first destination was

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

(in what is today

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

), where he lived for two years. Little is known of this period in his life, other than that he encountered difficulties with the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

. He then sailed to

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, where he lived for more than twenty years, gaining a reputation as a navigator.

Discovery of the Solomon Islands

Sarmiento arrived in Peru in 1557. Due to his broad cultural background, he became one of the most relevant figures in Lima, where he obtained the Chair of Grammar thanks to the mediation of the Viceroy of Peru and the Marquis of Cañete. Although in Lima he was accused by the Inquisition of possessing two magic rings and some magic ink and of following the precepts of Moses. While in Lima, Sarmiento also joined Álvaro de Mendaña's expedition in search of gold and riches that the Incas had spread tales about. This journey through the southern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

was to find the '' Terra Australis Incognita'', which, had Mendaña followed Sarmiento's indications, should have reached

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

or/and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

; but instead they discovered the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

in 1568. On February 7, 1568 the crew reached the Solomon Islands, deeming the island that they encountered first Santa Isabel Island. They continued to explore the islands after this discovery; however, they failed to find the gold that they had set off in search off. The mission to discover and populate new lands would have been a success had it not been for Mendaña who prioritized returning home over populating and settling the Solomon Islands. To this end, the crew returned home landing in Callao on July 22, 1569. In order to take credit of the discoveries for himself Mendaña threw the journals and maps made by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa overboard and abandoned him in

. However, a trial was then held in Lima, with the result giving Sarmiento credit for the discoveries.

''The History of the Incas''

In 1572 he was commissioned by Francisco de Toledo, the fifth Viceroy of Peru, to write a history of the Incas. Toledo hoped such a history would justify Spanish colonisation by revealing the violent history of the Incas. Sarmiento collected oral accounts first hand from Inca informants and produced a history (commonly titled ''The History of the Incas'') that chronicles their violent conquest of the region. Written in Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire, just forty years after the arrival of the first Spaniards in the city, Sarmiento's ''The History of the Incas'' contains extremely detailed descriptions of Inca history and mythology. The royal sponsorship of the work guaranteed Sarmiento direct access to the highest Spanish officials in Cuzco. It also allowed him to summon influential natives, as well as those who had witnessed the fall of the Inca Empire, so that they could relate their stories. Sarmiento travelled widely and interviewed numerous local leaders and lords, members of the royal Incan families, and the few remaining Spanish conquistadors who still resided in Cuzco. Once the first draft of the history was completed, in an unprecedented effort to establish the unquestionable authenticity of the work, his manuscript was read, chapter by chapter, to forty-two indigenous authorities for their commentary and correction. After the public reading, which occurred on 29 February and 1 March 1572, the manuscript was entrusted to a member of the viceroy's personal guard. He was to take the manuscript to Spain and deliver it to King Philip II, along with four painted cloths showing the history of the Incas and a number of other artefacts and objects that Toledo had collected. However, due to a series of unusual events, this document of Inca history was relegated to obscurity for centuries.

Strait of Magellan

He became the commander of the naval station in the Pacific in 1578, when Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

attacked the coasts of Peru and Mexico. Sarmiento de Gamboa sailed out of the port of Callao with eleven vessels in 1579 to capture Drake. He did not find Drake, who had gone westward through the Pacific Ocean, but he explored the southern Pacific Coast of South America, passed the Magellan Strait from west to east for the second time, drawing precious maps of many points of the Strait, and, after an impressive sailing of the

from southwest to northeast, he reached Spain in late 1580. On his reporting the results of his expedition to King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

, the latter resolved to fortify the Strait, and in 1581 sent an expedition of twenty-four vessels with 2,500 men from Cadiz, under the command of Sarmiento de Gamboa and Diego Flores Valdez. The expedition lost eight vessels in a storm, and Flores, on account of rivalry with Sarmiento de Gamboa, abandoned him with twelve vessels in the entry of the Strait and returned to Spain. With only four vessels, Sarmiento de Gamboa continued the voyage, arriving in January 1583 at a favorable point, where he established a fort and colony garrisoned by 300 men which he called ''Rey Don Felipe''. The settlement failed shortly after he left, and when Thomas Cavendish visited the ruins in 1587 he renamed the place Port Famine. A055a161 0379

In 1584 Sarmiento de Gamboa sailed for Europe, but he was captured by an English fleet under to Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebell ...

and carried to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

where he was presented to Queen

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. They had a conversation in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, which was their only common language, and despite Spain's official policy of keeping all navigational information secret, he shared his maps with British cartographers. Queen Elizabeth gave him a "Letter of Peace" to be carried to King Philip II of Spain. However, on his way back to Spain he was captured by French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

s and was kept prisoner until 1588. During that time Spain mounted the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

and attacked the English fleet. If Queen Elizabeth's "Letter of Peace" had been delivered in time to Spain, there might not have been a war. Meanwhile, his colony dissolved and gradually perished of starvation; one of the survivors was rescued by Cavendish's fleet in 1587, and another by Meriche in 1589. After his liberation, Sarmiento de Gamboa made a representation of his experience and a complaint against Flores to King Philip II; it seems that his complaint was neglected.

Later life

Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa spent the rest of his life dedicating himself to his writings and worked as an editor of poetry. On his last naval mission in the service of the king he was made Admiral of an armada of galleons en route to the Indies. He died while on the mission, near the coast of Lisbon.

Legacy

Due to his experiences Sarmiento became a byword for bad luck; Riesenberg tells us 'people would say, glibly, "So and so has the luck of Pedro de Sarmiento"'. Sarmiento de Gamboa is commemorated in the

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

of a species of South American lizard, '' Liolaemus sarmientoi''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore:

Johns Hopkins University Press Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Sarmiento", p. 233). A Spanish research vessel, RV ''Sarmiento de Gamboa'', also carries his name.

References

Bibliography

*Estensen, Miriam (2006). ''Terra Australis Incognita''.

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

. *Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro (1943). ''Historia de los Incas''. Buenos Aires: Emecé Editores. * * *Vaccarella, Eric. "''Fábulas, letras, and razones historiales fidedignas'': The Praxis of Renaissance Historiography in Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa's ''Historia de los Incas'' ". ''Colonial Latin American Review'' 16 (1): 97–103. * *Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro (2007). ''The History of the Incas''. English translation of Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa's (1572) ''Historia de los Incas''. Translated and edited by Brian S. Bauer and Vania Smith. Introduction by Brian S. Bauer and Jean Jacque Decoster. Austin:

University of Texas Press The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is the university press of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly and trade books in several areas, including Latin American studies, Caribbean, Caribbea ...

External links

* * *
Short biography
*

Carta memorial de Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa a S. M., escrita en el Cuzco a 4 de marzo de 1572
* Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro de
VIAJES AL ESTRECHO DE MAGALLANES
— 1572—1589 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gamboa, Pedro Sarmiento De 1532 births 1592 deaths Sarmiento Sarmiento Sarmiento Writers from Galicia (Spain) Spanish people of Basque descent 16th-century Spanish historians People who died at sea Spanish explorers of South America 16th-century Spanish mathematicians