Antonio de Lebrija | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1507 (1507) |
| Died | 1540 (aged 32–33) Brozas, Extremadura, Spain |
| Other names | Antonio de Nebrija |
| Occupations | Conquistador |
| Years active | 1529–1539 |
| Employer | Spanish Crown |
| Known for | Conquest of the Chimila Conquest of the Muisca |
| Relatives | Antonio de Nebrija (grandfather?) |
Antonio de Lebrija (1507–1540) was aSpanishconquistador who participated in theSpanish conquest of the Muisca and theChimila peoples. He was the treasurer of the conquest expedition which left Santa Marta in April 1536 following the high-quality salt trail, theCamino de la Sal, along theSuárez River up the slopes of theEastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes towards theMuisca Confederation.
Antonio de Lebrija was born inAlcántara inExtremadura in 1507, possibly a grandson of his namesake, historian and humanistAntonio de Nebrija.[1] He left Spain for theNew World withGarcía de Lerma, arriving atSanta Marta in 1529. Under the command of de Lerma's nephew,Pedro de Lerma, de Lebrija participated in the conquest of the Chimila people in theValle de Upar,Cesar. Here he discovered the confluence of theMagdalena River with the tributary that received his name, theLebrija River.[2][3]
As captain and treasurer, with seven years of experience inTierra Firme, de Lebrija joined the expedition in search ofEl Dorado, which was led byGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and left Santa Marta in April 1536.[3][4]
In 1538, on the Bogotá savanna, De Quesada sent De Lebrija, along withJuan de Céspedes,Juan de San Martín, andGómez del Corral ahead to locate the most favourable site to found the capital of theNew Kingdom of Granada.[5] They selected a location inTeusaquillo, whereSanta Fe de Bogotá was founded on August 6, 1538.[1]
After the two conquistadorsNikolaus Federmann andSebastián de Belalcázar arrived in Bogotá, De Lebrija departed with De Quesada, and fellow conquistadorJuan de Albarracín forGuataquí, a town they had founded. Guataquí, on the Magdalena River, was the port where De Albarracín ordered the construction of two small boats by theindigenous Panche people.[6] From here, the Spanish conquistadors left forCartagena, from where they sailed back to Spain.[1][3] In Cartagena, in July 1539, de Lebrija authored a letter to theReal Audiencia of Santo Domingo, describing the activities in the New Kingdom.[7] De Lebrija died in 1540 inBrozas, Extremadura.[1]
Antonio de Lebríja is mentioned asLibrixa, and in the early chronicle about the Spanish conquest, a work of uncertain authorship,Epítome de la conquista del Nuevo Reino de Granada.[8]
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