Juan de Albarracín | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Died | |
| Occupations | Conquistador |
| Years active | 1536–1539 |
| Employer | Spanish Crown |
| Known for | Spanish conquest of the Muisca |
| Spouse | Ana de Lugo |
| Children | Jacome, Alvaro, Alonso de Lugo Albarracín (sons) Inés, Sebastiana, Catalina de Lugo Albarracín (daughters) |
| Relatives | Pedro de Lugo (father-in-law) |
| Notes | |
Juan de Albarracín was a Spanishconquistador who participated in theSpanish conquest of the Muisca andPanche people. He was captain of thebrigs which sailed up theMagdalena River from the Caribbean coast in 1536 and later discovered the high qualitysalt that lead the Spanish conquistadors along theCamino de la Sal up the slopes of theeastern ranges of the Colombian Andes towards theMuisca Confederation.
De Albarracín left Spain with his father-in-lawPedro de Lugo for theNew World, arriving in January 1536 inSanta Marta.[1] De Albarracín taught the men under his command to fish forpearls, nearCabo de la Vela in northernmost present-day Colombia.[2] De Albarracín joined the expedition in search ofEl Dorado, the journey led byGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada which left Santa Marta in April 1536.[3] Juan de Albarracín was one of the three captains of thebrigs that De Quesada sent up theMagdalena River; the other two wereGómez del Corral andAntonio Díaz de Cardoso.[4]
During the strenuous journey, inLa Tora, present-day Barrancabermeja, De Quesada sent troops ahead to investigate routes towards the then unknown Andes. De Albarracín and Díaz de Cardoso found the loafs of high qualitysalt that would lead the conquistadors along theCamino de la Sal or "Salt Route" into theMuisca Confederation.[5]
Together withMartín Galeano De Albarracín participated in battles against the bellicosePanche people, commanded byJuan de Céspedes.[6] When the two conquistadorsNikolaus Federmann andSebastián de Belalcázar had arrived on theBogotá savanna after the foundation of Bogotá as capital of theNew Kingdom of Granada by De Quesada on August 6, 1538, they left with De Albarracín forGuataquí, a town they founded. InGuataquí, on the Magdalena River, he ordered the construction of two small boats byindigenous people to sail the conquistadors back to Spain viaCartagena.[7]
De Albarracín settled in a mansion inJérez de la Frontera and never returned to the New Kingdom.[1][4]
De Albarracín was married to Ana de Lugo, who sailed to the new world with him, and the couple had three sons and three daughters.[1] His grandsonPedro de Lugo Albarracin was the sculptor of various images ofJesus Christ in the Colombian capital Bogota. De Albarracín died in Spain in an unknown year.
Juan de Albarracín is mentioned as "Albarracín" 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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