Vasco Núñez de Balboa

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Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Vasco Núñez de Balboa (* 1475 near Jerez de los Caballeros / Spain ; † January 1519 in Acla , near Darién , Panama , executed) was a Spanish explorer, conquistador and adventurer. He was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the American continent in 1513 .

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Núñez de Balboa came from an impoverished Galician noble family. Like many adventurers, the news about the wealth of gold discovered by Columbus in 1492 prompted him to travel to the New World. In 1500 he participated as a simple seaman in Rodrigo de Bastidas' expedition to explore the Colombian and northern coasts of the Panama Strait. He then settled in Hispaniola (Haiti) in 1501 as a pioneer farmer. There he raised pigs, but did not get rich. Like many others, he spent his money in dives and got into debt.

Journey of the Enciso

In 1510 Núñez de Balboa had so many debts that he decided to flee the island. At that time, a lawyer named Martín Fernández de Enciso was equipping a ship to establish a settlement on the north coast of Urabá ( Colombia ) and exploit the lands there. Núñez de Balboa sensed an opportunity to escape from his creditors.

Since the ship was heavily guarded by Enciso, Balboa hid in an empty provisions box and let friends carry him on board. Only after the ship had been out at sea for two days and he knew that one would not turn back because of him did the stowaway reveal himself. Enciso was very angry at first and wanted to expose Núñez de Balboa to the next beach.

Spanish colonies in the Caribbean around 1513 called Tierra Firme

But before that happened, they met another Spanish ship led by Francisco Pizarro . The team reported that they were the last survivors of a settlement whose inhabitants were killed by the swampy climate and poisonous arrows of the indigenous population. Now the Enciso team did not want to continue. Núñez de Balboa said that he knew the entire coast of Central America and that he remembered finding a place called Darién on the bank of a gold-bearing river, where there were friendly people. The crew followed his suggestion to go to this place. Enciso was deposed as leader; Núñez de Balboa became the expedition leader and captain general. On arrival at the destination, Balboa founded what may be the first permanent settlement of the Spaniards in continental America: Santa María la Antigua del Darién .

Governor of Darién

In December 1510, Balboa was appointed governor of Darién by King Ferdinand V of Spain . Enciso was now on his way to Spain to bring charges against Balboa for his mutiny.

In 1511, Núñez de Balboa went on an inland expedition. Many Indians were killed and robbed in his search for gold . One day he met the chief Careta, who suggested that he forge an alliance with his tribe instead of making enemies of the Indians. Balboa accepted the offer and married the chief's daughter. Together with Careta, he then subjugated the natives in the neighborhood.

The most powerful chief in the area, Comagre, heard about this in 1513. He invited Balboa and his companions into his spacious house. Unsolicited, he gave his guests 4,000 ounces of gold. No sooner had he distributed the gift than his guests attacked each other with swords and fists, because everyone wanted to secure his share. Comagre was astonished at this behavior, because gold was an ordinary metal for him. He told his guests about a mighty lake behind the mountains and that all rivers that flow into this lake carried gold with them. There is as much gold there as you want. But it is a dangerous way.

Núñez de Balboa heard this with great interest. Finally there seemed to be a trace of the fabulous gold country that he and others had dreamed of for years. But the big lake also seemed very interesting to him. Because many still believed that Columbus had reached Asia. But the doubts about it had grown stronger. The lake could be the proof that Columbus had discovered a new continent.

Traversing Panama

Núñez de Balboa's journey through Panama, 1513. Ida: Away

Balboa wrote to the Spanish king and asked a troop of a thousand men to discover the new sea and finally to win the gold land that Columbus had promised in vain and that he, Núñez de Balboa, would conquer. Before this news reached the king, Núñez de Balboa received the information that a judge from Spain was on his way to try him for mutiny or to return him in chains to Spain.

Now Núñez de Balboa did not want to wait any longer for the requested thousand men from Spain. He called his people together and declared his intention to cross the Isthmus of Panama . His courage carried over to the others. 190 soldiers agreed to follow him. Francisco Pizarro was among them .

The march began on September 1, 1513. Together with hundreds of Indians as porters and numerous bloodhounds , they set off. However, due to ignorance, Balboa had not chosen the shortest route and thus extended the dangerous route by a few days. From the beginning they had to cut their way through the jungle with sword and ax . Again and again they were attacked by locals. Then there was the heat, hurricane-like downpours and millions of mosquitoes. The path went through swamps with alligators and snakes . The ground was littered with ticks , scorpions , millipedes and ants. The rivers were crossed on self-made rafts.

Many soldiers became sick and weak. Núñez de Balboa ordered that all febrile and weak should stay behind. When the expedition had to go back a little because of a cliff, only a few remains of the sick people left behind were found, strewn with ants. After seeing this, other sick people were killed immediately to save them from this terrible agony. After three weeks, only 69 of the 190 soldiers were alive.

Then they came to the mountain from the top of which one should see the great lake. Núñez de Balboa ordered the team to stand still. Nobody should follow him, because he did not want to share this first view of the unknown ocean , but rather to have been the first Spaniard, the first European and the first Christian to see the new ocean for eternity. On September 25, 1513, at eleven o'clock in the morning, he was finally the first European to see the Pacific - or more precisely the Gulf of San Miguel , a bay of the Gulf of Panama - from the American continent and was thus possibly the first to see the continent -Discovered the property of America , although it was postulated a few years earlier by Amerigo Vespucci , who had determined clear peculiarities of the fauna and flora of America through precise observations .

Statue of Balboa in Madrid ( E. Pérez , 1954)

After looking at the sea for a long time, he called his comrades over to share his joy and pride. Four days later, Núñez de Balboa took a few steps into the sea at the mouth of the Saban River and, when he discovered salty sea water, took possession of the “South Sea” (mar del sur) for his king.

The Spaniards found gold and pearls on the coast. All bags and sacks were stuffed full of these treasures and we started our way back. A local told Núñez de Balboa about another country called Birù in the south with immeasurable treasures, the first information about the Inca Empire in Peru . With that, Balboa had a goal for another conquest. But first he had to return to Darién with the few survivors. Núñez arrived in Darién on January 19, 1514, even close to death.

Arrest and death

Again he asked the Spanish king for a troop of 1000 men for the conquest of Peru, but that never happened. Due to intrigues at the Spanish court, he was replaced as governor of Darién by the Spanish soldier (and his future father-in-law) Pedrarias Dávila . The Spanish king heard of Núñez de Balboa's discoveries and in July 1515 appointed him captain general of the provinces of Coiba and Panama and governor of the South Seas .

Núñez de Balboa then made some discoveries along the coast of Panama. But the relationship with his father-in-law Pedro Arias Dávila , who is described as cruel and greedy for money, got worse and worse. Eventually Dávila had him arrested on an alleged conspiracy. Without charge and without the possibility of defense, Núñez de Balboa was beheaded along with four friends in the city of Acla , Panama in January 1519 .

souvenir

  • The Panamanian currency, the Panamanian Balboa , is named after the conquistador . Numerous streets, public spaces and parks in the states of the American West, but also companies and products today bear Balboa's name.
  • A famous literary representation of the discovery of the South Sea (Pacific) by Núñez de Balboa succeeded Stefan Zweig in the great moments of mankind .
  • The lunar crater Balboa is named after him.

literature

  • Luis Blas Aritio: Vasco Núñez de Balboa y los cronistas de indias. Panama 2012, ISBN 978-9962667070 .
  • Charles L. Anderson: Life and letters of Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Greenwood Pr., Westport, Conn. 1970
  • Frutos Asenjo García: Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Silex, Madrid 1991
  • Mark McKain: The exploration of South America. Mason Crest Publ., Philadelphia 2002
  • Gustavo A. Mellander: The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years. Interstate Publishers, Danville 1971, Ill.OCLC 138568
  • Stefan Zweig : Escape to Immortality . In: Great moments of mankind . 12 historical miniatures (=  Fischer library ). tape 595 . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1964. ( E-Text )

Web links

Commons : Vasco Núñez de Balboa  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Oviedo, Vol. III, Libro xxix, caps. iii. 1992. Historia general de las Indias.
personal data
SURNAME Núñez de Balboa, Vasco
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish explorer, conquistador and adventurer
DATE OF BIRTH 1475
PLACE OF BIRTH Jerez de los Caballeros , Spain
DATE OF DEATH January 1519
Place of death Acla , near Darién , Panama