Andagoya, Pascual de (1495–1548)

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Andagoya, Pascual de (1495–1548)

Pascual de Andagoya (b. 1495; d. 1548), early Spanish explorer and chronicler of the Conquest. Andagoya arrived in the Caribbean in 1514 with Pedrarias Davila (Pedro Arias de Ávila), and in 1521 he became governor of Panama. The following year he led a group to explore to the south. Andagoya sailed down the Pacific coast to the San Juan River of southern Colombia, where, suffering from an injury and virtually out of supplies, he turned back. Andagoya returned with tales of great riches to the south. Inspired by these tales, Francisco Pizarro utilized the information uncovered by Andagoya in subsequent forays south. In 1537 Andagoya became governor of the Pacific coast region of Colombia. However, his rival Sebastián de Belalcázar brought charges against him, believing that Andagoya had encroached on his domain. Andagoya was jailed and sent to Spain. According to some accounts, he died in Cuzco, Peru, in 1548; others maintain that he never returned to the New World.

As an explorer Andagoya enjoyed a special reputation for his humane regard for the natives. He is most remembered for his lively account of the deeds of conquest, Narrative of the Proceedings of Pedrarias Davila in the Provinces of Tierra Firme or Castilla del Oro, and of the Discovery of the South Sea and the Coasts of Peru and Nicaragua (translated by Sir Clements Markham, 2d ed. 1978).

See alsoBalboa, Vasco Núñez de .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beyond Andagoya's own writings, the early Spanish exploration, conquest, and settlement of Panama and Colombia are covered in Carl Ortwin Sauer, The Early Spanish Main (1969). Two classic works capture much of the flavor of the times: Sir Clements Markham, The Conquest of New Granada (1912); and Frederick Alexander Kirkpatrick, The Spanish Conquistadores (1934).