Georg Hohermuth of Speyer

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Inspection of the Welser Armada by Hohermuth von Speyer (right) and von Hutten (center) in San Lúcar de Barrameda

Georg Hohermuth von Speyer (also Jorge de Espira ; * around 1500 in Speyer ; † June 11, 1540 in Coro , Venezuela ) was a German conquistador and governor of Venezuela.

Life

Hohermuth was in the service of Bartholomew VI in Augsburg , Lyon and Seville . Welser , received a coat of arms from Emperor Charles V in 1530 and was appointed governor and general captain of the Welser province of Venezuela and Cabo de la Vela in 1534 . Together with Philipp von Hutten and Nikolaus Federmann , he reached Coro in 1535. In addition to his duties in the areas of justice , pacification, settlement and mission , he mainly turned to the search for the legendary " El Dorado "; however, one expedition failed. During his absence until 1538 he was replaced by Federmann in his offices. Charles V confirmed him . 1539 again as governor and general captain. Hohermuth's expedition discovered some western tributaries of the Orinoco .

He probably reached the area of ​​today's Putumayo province on the border between Colombia and Ecuador and discovered the Río Caquetá and the Río Putumayo , both tributaries of the Amazon .

In his notes there is talk of a mountain range in which he was attacked by an Indian tribe called Omaguas . His expedition team was so decimated that shortly afterwards he had to turn back, forced by the remaining participants. Presumably, this mountain range was the Serranía de Chiribiquete , which is almost inaccessible to this day , in the east of today's Colombian province of Caquetá . He died while preparing for a second expedition to Goldland .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Georg Hohermuth of Speyer
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jorge de Espira; Hohermuth, Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conquistador and governor of Venezuela
DATE OF BIRTH around 1500
PLACE OF BIRTH Speyer
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 1540
Place of death Coro , Venezuela