Alonso de Ojeda (1466-1515) was a Spanish conqueror who was part of the second voyage that Christopher Columbus made to America. During the following years he traveled the coasts of Colombia, Guyana, Trinidad, Curaçao, Tobago, Aruba and Venezuela. One of the facts for which it is recognized is for having given its name to that last territory.
After participating in the conquest of Granada in 1492, until then a Muslim kingdom, Alonso de Ojeda moved to America with Columbus, specifically to Hispaniola. There he fought against the indigenous people of the island before returning to Spain for a season..
Ennemy with Columbus, Alonso de Ojeda obtained royal permission to lead new explorations in the newly discovered continent. Thus began the so-called “minor trips” or “Andalusian trips”. During the same, the conqueror explored the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. Under his command the first Castilian settlement on the continent was founded: Santa Cruz.
Ojeda was appointed governor of Urabá (Nueva Andalucía), but after failing in several expeditions of conquest he ended up losing his prestige. His last years were spent in Santo Domingo, where he died in 1515.
Alonso de Ojeda was born in Torrejoncillo del Rey, Cuenca. There is no agreement on his date of birth, as some say it was in 1466 and others in 1470.
From a noble family, the future conqueror worked as a page for the Duke of Medinaceli. According to some sources, his first meeting with Christopher Columbus could have occurred at the home of this duke. In 1492, De Ojeda stood out for his military skills in the conquest of Granada.
The best description of his figure was made by Fray Bartolomé de las Casas. The religious affirmed that Ojeda “was small in body, but very well proportioned and very well disposed, a beautiful gesture, a beautiful face and very large eyes: one of the loosest men in running and doing laps in all other things of strength. ".
The protection that Bishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca gave him was fundamental for Alonso de Ojeda to receive the commission to captain one of the ships that were to be part of Columbus's second voyage, in 1493..
After a stop on the island of Guadalupe, the expedition reached Hispaniola. At the beginning of 1494, De Ojeda was commissioned to exploit the interior of the island, specifically the Cibao region. There, the explorer found the first gold samples from the New Continent, which were sent to the Catholic Monarchs..
His next mission consisted of bringing help to a Castilian captain who had had to seek refuge in the fortress of Santo Tomás from the attack of the indigenous people of the area, led by the cacique Caonabo. The men of Alonso de Ojeda, however, were also besieged and had to be helped by a new expedition..
Faced with the threat posed by the Caonabo cacique, Ojeda undertook a campaign to capture him. Success in this mission earned him a prize with a plot of land in Maguana.
Alonso de Ojeda's stay in Hispaniola lasted until the end of 1498, when he returned to Castile. One of the reasons for his return was that he had fallen out with Christopher Columbus.
At Court, Ojeda convinced his former protector, Bishop Fonseca, to have the Crown put him in charge of a new trip to America. This expedition, which started on May 18, 1499, was the first of the "minor trips" or "Andalusian trips".
One of the highlights of the expedition was the participation of Juan de la Cosa and Américo Vespucio. The first made a map of the New World. The second, upon seeing Lake Maracaibo, baptized the area as Venezuela, since it reminded him of Venice.
During this trip, the exploiters found gold and pearls, which they took back to Spain. This success made the kings sign a new capitulation with Ojeda, on June 8, 1501. Through it, the conqueror was appointed governor of Coquibacoa..
Shortly after, he organized a new trip that traveled part of the Venezuelan coast. However, his violent actions against the indigenous and the Portuguese cost him to be sentenced to jail. He was released in 1504 thanks to the intervention of Bishop Fonseca.
The celebration of the Junta de Burgos in 1508 was very important for the life of Alonso de Ojeda. The Crown divided the so-called Tierra Firme into two governorates in view of its colonization. One of them was that of Veragua (current Panama), while the second was that of Nueva Andalucía or Urabá.
The latter was awarded to Ojeda, who assumed the position of governor of a territory that included the current Colombian coast between the Gulf of Urabá and Cabo de la Vela..
Despite the personal success of this appointment, the conqueror's subsequent explorations were a failure. In 1508, he almost lost his life in a confrontation with the natives.
Later, in 1510, Alonso de Ojeda reached the Gulf of Urabá, where he founded the fort of San Sebastián.
The lack of food and the continuous attacks by the natives led Ojeda to resign as governor. In addition, in one of those attacks he was hit by a poisoned arrow that caused an ailment in his leg for the rest of his life..
In his personal life, Alonso de Ojeda had married Guaricha, an indigenous woman whom he baptized as Isabel.
After failing in his expedition to Urabá, Ojeda settled permanently in Santo Domingo. There he retired to the monastery of San Francisco, where he died in 1515.
His first trip to America took place in 1493, in the second of those made by Christopher Columbus to the New Continent. When he fell out with Columbus, he decided to return to Spain to negotiate new expeditions with him in command..
The Catholic Monarchs wanted to see if what Columbus told about the wealth of the new lands was real. Thus, they commissioned Alonso de Ojeda to carry out a new expedition and report on what was found..
The ships left for America on May 18, 1499. Américo Vespucio, who was part of the mission, then went to the area of Brazil..
The rest of the fleet toured the mouths of the Orinoco and Esquibo rivers, the Gulf of Paria and the Trinidad and Margarita islands. Later, he arrived at the island of Curaçao, which Ojeda baptized as the island of the Giants..
It was on that trip that Alonso de Ojeda discovered a gulf that he named Venezuela because of its resemblance to Venice..
Finally, they reached Cape Vela, in La Guajira. This peninsula was baptized by the conquerors as Coquibacoa. From the cape, loaded with some gold, pearls and slaves, they returned to Hispaniola.
On the island, the supporters of Colón received the expedition members very badly. The bad atmosphere led to fights and even some deaths.
Ojeda had to return to Spain. According to the chronicles, their ships carried quite a few natives. But little riches.
On June 8, 1501, the Catholic Monarchs appointed Alonso de Ojeda Governor of Coquibacoa. In addition, they were granted permission to make a new trip to found a colony there, but they refused to visit Paria.
The expedition, made up of four caravels, set out in January 1502. Its first destination was Margarita Island and then headed for the coasts of Venezuela. On the Guajira peninsula, in 1502, he founded the first Spanish settlement on the mainland: Santa Cruz.
This population, however, did not last long. Ojeda and his men carried out multiple attacks on the indigenous people of the area and, in addition, problems occurred within their ranks..
Finally, two of his partners seized him to keep the loot they had obtained and seized Ojeda. Afterwards, all the settlers returned to Santo Domingo, where De Ojeda was held in prison until 1504.
The abandonment of the settlement and the scarcity of the wealth obtained caused the mission to be considered a failure. Given this, the government of Coquibacoa was eliminated.
After being released, Alonso de Ojeda stayed on the island until 1508. That year, King Fernando the Catholic decided to organize the colonization of Tierra Firme.
Juan de la Cosa traveled to the peninsula to represent the interests of Alonso de Ojeda. His main rival to take charge of the colonization was Diego de Nicuesa. Finally, the monarch divided the territory into two parts. Ojeda was assigned Nueva Andalucía or Urabá, of which he was appointed governor.
Alonso de Ojeda organized a new expedition to go to Nueva Andalucía. His departure from Hispaniola occurred on November 10, 1509.
The expedition landed in Calamar Bay, where Cartagena is located today. There they met several indigenous people, who were urged to swear allegiance to the Crown. The natives refused and a battle began that ended with the victory of the conquerors..
However, when they tried to pursue the indigenous people who had fled, the explorers reached the village of Turbaco. The natives defeated the Spanish there. Juan de la Cosa died in combat, but Ojeda and a few other men managed to escape.
The survivors were assisted by the Nicuesa fleet. Both conquerors, forgetting their differences, united to massacre the natives of Turbaco.
Nicuesa went his own way while Ojeda continued sailing along the shores of Nueva Andalucía. In the Gulf of Urabá he founded a new settlement, the fort of San Sebastián, on January 20, 1510.
As happened in Santa Cruz, the inhabitants of the fort soon suffered from a lack of food. In addition, the weather adversely affected the health of the settlers, who were also attacked by the Uraba Indians on several occasions. In one of them, Alonso de Ojeda was wounded in the leg with a poisoned arrow.
Alonso de Ojeda and his men waited for the help they had arranged before leaving from Hispaniola, but it did not arrive.
Faced with this, the conqueror left the fort and asked Francisco Pizarro, then only one soldier, to protect them for fifty days. If in that period he had not returned, he ordered him to leave the settlement and return to Santo Domingo.
After those 50 days passed without Ojeda returning, Pizarro began his return to Santo Domingo. The fort was abandoned and burned by the natives.
Ojeda, after this new failure, embarked on the ship of Bernardino de Talavera, a Spanish pirate, with the intention of returning to Santo Domingo.
The return trip from Ojeda was very bumpy. First, Bernardino de Talavera took him prisoner with the idea of demanding a ransom. Later, a hurricane caused the ship to be stranded in Cuba.
Given this, the pirate's men together with Ojeda himself had to walk the entire coast of the island
During that journey, half of the men died of hunger and various diseases. Ojeda made a promise to the Virgin: to build a temple in the first indigenous town to receive them with hospitality.
Of the 70 men who began the journey, only twelve of them reached Cueybá, where they were kindly received by the Cacique Cacicaná. Thanks to their care, everyone was able to survive and Ojeda kept his promise and built a hermitage in the town.
The conqueror Pánfilo de Narváez found the refugees and transferred them to Jamaica, first, and to Hispaniola, later.
The first settlement founded by Alonso de Ojeda was Santa Cruz, on May 3, 1502. This city, located in northwestern Venezuela, was the first founded by the Spanish on the American mainland..
This settlement was located in the Bay of Castilletes, on the shore of the Cocinetas lagoon, in the Venezuelan Guajira.
The colony had a very short history, since Ojeda's continuous attacks on the indigenous people provoked a violent reaction from them. In addition, there were internal problems between the conqueror and his men. Finally, Santa Cruz was abandoned.
On January 20, 1510, Ojeda founded a new settlement, the Fort of San Sebastián. Again, its existence was very short. Its inhabitants suffered from the lack of food and the attacks of the indigenous people, so in the end they left the area.
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