Pedro de Mendoza

Buenos Aires 1536

Pedro de Mendoza (* 1487 in Guadix , Granada province , † June 23, 1537 on the Atlantic Ocean ) was a Spanish conquistador . He was the first founder of the city of Buenos Aires .

Life

Family, childhood and previous years serving the Crown

Pedro de Mendoza came from a wealthy family from Andalusia . His parents Fernando de Mendoza Luna y Sandoval de la Vega and Constanza de Lujan were among the noblest families in the country. Pedro served as a page at the court of Charles V and accompanied him on his trip to England. As a knight of the military order of Alcantara from 1524, and later of Santiago, he fought in Italy. In 1527 he increased his already considerable fortune with the Sacco di Roma considerably.

The name Mendoza associated him with many of the grandees of this family, such as Don Antonio, the first viceroy of Mexico. Thanks to the influence in his favor by Maria de Mendoza, wife of Francisco de los Cobos y Molina, who was influential at the court, Pedro de Mendoza was considered by the court as future Adelantero del Rio de la Plata.

Appointment as Adelantero del Rio de la Plata and the surrender of Toledo

The colonization of the areas around the Rio Paraguay and the region around the Río de la Plata was extremely important from an economic and strategic point of view. The main goal of the Spaniards in South America was to secure the claims of the crown against the Portuguese, which were laid down in the Treaty of Tordesillas. The time was all the more pressing, since since the arrival of Pedro Alvares Cabral in what is now Brazil there was a latent danger that Portugal could secure the area as far as the Rio de la Plata. This initial situation allowed Pedro de Mendoza to submit the offer to equip and carry out an expedition to the Rio de la Plata at his own risk and expense. Emperor Charles V (for Spain Carlos I) determined him to open up the land on the Río de la Plata and connect it with the newly conquered Inca Empire. On May 21, 1535, Pedro de Mendoza signed the corresponding surrender. This contract was based on the surrender of April 25, 1529, which was concluded between the Spanish crown and Francisco Pizarro in relation to the conquest of Nueva Castilla (Peru). In it, Mendoza is appointed the first Adelantero of the Rio de la Plata and governor of Nuevo Andalucia. The extent of his dominion reached from the southern latitude 25 ° 31 '26 ″, that is, the border with Nuevo Toledo up to 35 ° southern latitude, i. H. to the adjacent Nueva Leon area - calculated from the Pacific coastline. With the rights and powers granted by the court, the Adelantado was able to assess and take the risks in the prospect of success in acquiring wealth. A geographical, more precise definition of the lands to be conquered did not exist because at that time there was no clear idea of ​​the extent of the territories in question. Thus, one could not have suspected that the Spanish conquerors in Peru had already captured the "silver mountain" of Potosi (Bolivia) during their conquest.

The expedition

On August 24, 1535, a well-equipped expedition left the port of Sanlucar with eleven ships. The team consisted of 150 Germans and Dutch, as well as brother Diego de Mendoza and relatives Gonzalo, Francisco and Jorge de Mendoza. One ship of the fleet belonged to the German merchants Sebastian Neithart and Jakob Welser von Nürnberg, whose interests in Seville were taken care of by the Heinrich Peine factor. In the Canary Islands, three more caravels joined the fleet, which now carried a total of 3000 passengers; including women, since it was not supposed to be a military operation (“Conquista”), but rather the establishment of colonies (“Poblar”). A storm destroyed two ships off the Brazilian coast. The rest of the fleet reached Rio de Janeiro on January 3, 1536 . Pedro de Mendoza stayed there for two weeks to take care of an illness that he had contracted during the Italian campaigns in Italy (not on the battlefield). In mid-January 1536 the landing took place on the island of San Gabriel, opposite today's city of Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. On January 22nd, the participants of the expedition pledged loyalty and obedience to the commander. On February 3, 1536, Mendoza founded the port and settlement " Santa Maria del Buen Ayre " - named after the seaman's sanctuary in Seville - in the area of ​​today's Lezama Park. The nearby tributary to the Río de la Plata still bears the name "Riachuelo de los Navios" today. At first the indigenous Querandi behaved peacefully, but very soon the situation deteriorated. The local tribes, reinforced by Charrua and Timbu warriors, attacked the Spaniards on Corpus Christi day in the area of ​​the Laguna de Rocha, resp. of today's Ezeiza Airport. 4 captains died, including Diego de Mendoza, and 30 soldiers. Under the command of Captain Juan Ayolas, the Spaniards tried to barter food along the Río Paraná and look for the silver mountains. Pedro de Mendoza and Juan de Ayolas founded the branch and Fuerte Buena Esperanza in September 1536. The place was only about 6.5 kilometers from Corpus Christi, on the banks of the Rio Parana. Corpus Christi was set up as a base by Ayolas shortly before during his first exploration voyage. This is also where the survivors from Santa Maria del Buen Ayre fled after the indigenous people of the Querandies, Barenis (Guarani) Charuas and Timbus tribes, all in all around 23,000 strong, overran and destroyed the settlement in December 1536.

Return and death of Pedro de Mendoza

Pedro de Mendoza, already seriously ill, appointed Captain Ruiz Galan in Buena Esperanza as bailiff ( regidor ) of Buenos Aires. In the event of his death, which he could not rule out in the near future, he appointed Juan de Ayolas as his successor in all of his offices. Then he set off on the voyage home on April 22, 1537 on the Admiral's ship Santa Magdalena . An escort ship was slung north off the Brazilian coast and finally reached Santo Domingo. The main chronicler Fernandez de Oviedo owed his knowledge of Mendoza's unfortunate expedition to this ship . Mendoza died on June 23, 1537 on board the Santa Magdalena.

Residents of the now rebuilt settlement Sana Maria del Buen Ayre later drove up the Río Paraná and the Río Paraguay and settled in the city of Asuncion del Paraguay . Due to the pressure of the constant Indian attacks and the siege of the place by the indigenous people, a famine resulted among the Spaniards, which only ended when Domingo de Irala gave up the settlement . Some of the survivors found refuge in Buena Esperanza, the greater part followed Francisco Ruiz Galan to Asuncion. Shortly after the conquest of Corpus Christi by the local indigenous people, Buena Esperanza was also destroyed in September 1539.

Web links

• Enzyclopaedia Britannica (English)

literature

• Siegried Huber: Discoverers and Conquerors - German Conquistadors in South America , Verlag Walter Olten, 1966.
• Ulrich Schmidl : Journey to the La Plata area 1534–1554 ; edited and commented by Franz Obermaier. Straubinger Hefte 58, 2006.
• Quevedo Oscar del Carmen: Cronica historica ilustrado del Paraguay colonial Vol. 1, Pagina 103, Edition Quevedo de Ediciones, 962 paginas 1998 (Spanish).
• Universidad Nacional en Revista de la Nacion (Vol. 7), Buenos Aires 1907 (Spanish).