Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro de Valdivia (c.
1500 -
January 1,
1554) was a
conquistador of\n
Chile. He was the founder of various
cities within the territory,\nincluding
Santiago,
Concepcion and
Valdivia.
Early years
Pedro de Valdivia is believed to have been born in Badajoz, Spain\nin 1500 (some source put his date of birth as early as 1497) from\na family of nobles. In 1520 he enlisted with the army of Charles V and fought in Flanders in 1521 and Italy between 1522\nand 1525. He married Marina Ortiz de Gaete. In 1535\nhe left her to embark for a voyage to Venezuela.
In 1537 he went to Peru to help Francisco Pizarro in de\nstruggle against Diego de Almagro and won. Afterwards he went with\nHernando and Gonzalo Pizarro to conquer both the province of\nCollao and las Charcas in High Peru (currently \nBolivia). As compensation for conquering these lands, Valdivia was\nawarded a silver mine.
The expedition
After the failure of the expedition of Diego de Almagro, Valdivia\nasked the governor of Peru permission to complete the conquest of the\nlands south of Peru (known as Nuevo Toledo). He got the\npermission and was named lieutenant of the Governor, and not\nGovernor as he wanted.
The expedition was fraught with problems from the beginning. Valdivia\nhad to sell the lands that where assigned to him to finance the\nexpedition. A shortage of solders and adventurers was also problematic\nsince they were not interested in conquering what they were sure were\nextremely poor lands.
The expedition left Cuzco in January of 1540 with\nalmost a thousand native Indians and only a few Spanish. En route more\nSpanish joined the expedition. These conquistadores had formed part of\nthe failed campaigns to the highlands of Bolivia. All in all\naround 150 Spanish joined the expedition of Valdivia.
He followed the desert route of Atacama, the same route that Almagro had\nfollowed back to Peru. When they arrived at the valley of \nCopiapo Valdivia took possession of the land in the name of\nthe king. Soon thereafter they continued south and in December of the\nsame year they arrived in the valley of the Mapocho River, where\nthey finally decided to establish a permanent settlement.
Foundation of Santiago
On the February 12, 1541 Pedro Valdivia founded Santiago, Chile. The ceremony was held at the foot the hill Huelén (now known as Cerro Santa Lucia).
One of the first orders that Valdivia gave was for the search for gold\nin the Marga Marga mines and the construction of a courier service\nto Peru.
Destruction of Santiago
After an apparent peaceful period, on the 11th of\nSeptember 1541, local Indians led by Michimalonko attacked\nthe new Village of santiago. Valdivia was not in the village at the time, and the defense of the city was led by Inés Suérez.
This event meant a real setback for the conquest of the Chilean\nterritory, since the rebuilding could only start in 1543 with the\narrival of new supplies.
New Initiatives
In September of 1543 new arms, cloths and other equipment from Peru\narrived in the ship Santiaguillo. because of this Valdivia was in\na position to send an expedition, led by Juan Bohén, north. Where\nin between Santiago and the northern Atacama desert, In the valley\nof Coquimbo, La Serena, Chile was founded.
In February of 1546 Valdivia, accompanied by 70 men, traveled\nsouth. He got to the bio-bio river where he had planned to found\nanother town. However the hostility of the indigenous people forced\nhim to return to Santiago in March of 1547.
In 1547 and 1548 Valdivia was in Peru to gather more resources and\nmen. While he was there he fought in the battle of\nXaquixahuana. As recognition for his services the then vice-king\nof Peru gave Valdivia de title of Governor.
Between 1549 and 1553, after his arrival back in Santiago, Valdivia\nagain undertook the conquest of the South. Which wasn't made any\neasier by heavy resistance from the indigenous Indians. Nevertheless\nin 1550 he got to the bio-bio zone, where after winning a battle\nwith the indigenous he founded Concepción. Later they also\nfounded the more southern villages of La Imperial, Valdivia and Villarica among others.
The uprising of 1553
After a brief stay in Santiago, Valdivia returned to the south again\nin December of 1552. To keep the connection open between Concepción\nand the southern settlements Valdivia had a number of forts build in\nthe coastal mountain range. One of the first signs that a big\nrebellion was building was in the attack on the fort of\nTucapel. Valdivia decided to personally inspect the fort, but the\nindigenous forces attacked when the party was near to fort and Valdivia was\ncaptured. According to legend, he was beaten to death, impaled on a stake, and his heart was cut into pieces and eaten.
See also: Lautaro
Valdivia, Pedro de\nValdivia, Pedro de
