Vicente Yáñez Pinzón | |
|---|---|
 Vicente Yáñez Pinzón | |
| Born | c. 1462 |
| Died | c. 1514 (aged c. 52) Triana, Seville, Crown of Castile |
| Nationality | Castilian |
| Occupation | Explorer |
| Known for | Captain of theNiña[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Teresa Rodríguez,[2] Ana Núñez de Trujillo[3] |
| Children | Ana Rodríguez, Juana González[2] |
| Parent(s) | Martín Pinzón, Mayor Vicente[4] |
| Relatives | Pinzón brothers |
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (Spanish: [biˈθente ˈʝaɲeθ pinˈθon]) (c. 1462 – after 1514) was a Spanishnavigator andexplorer, the youngest of thePinzón brothers. Along with his older brother,Martín Alonso Pinzón (c. 1441 –c. 1493), who captained thePinta, he sailed withChristopher Columbus on thefirst voyage to theNew World, in 1492,[5] as captain of theNiña.[6]
Pinzón was born inPalos de la Frontera on the Atlantic coast ofHuelva, youngest of the three prominent sons of seaman Martín Pinzón and his wife Mayor Vicente.[4] His birth year is uncertain; it is generally given as c. 1462;[citation needed] Juan Gil concludes from legal documents that his two daughters were over the age of 20 in 1509, that it certainly cannot be later than 1469.[2] 1469 would be quite a late date, given that there is record of him being a corsair orprivateer (with his older brother Martín Alonso) inMediterranean waters between 1477 and 1479 when other towns failed to provide Palos with an adequate supply of grain in wartime.[7][8]
He married twice: first to Teresa Rodríguez, by whom he had two daughters, Ana Rodríguez Pinzón and Juana González Pinzón;[2] second, probably in 1509, to Ana de Trujillo, who some surviving documents refer to as "Ana Núñez de Trujillo".[3]
It would appear that he was based in Palos at least up to and including the time of Columbus's first voyage (1492); by 1495 he was living in nearbyMoguer; after the economic failure of his 1499–1500 expedition,[9] he appears to have moved no later than 1502 toSeville. He may have moved there to escape creditors.[10] Historian Juan Gil, researching Pinzón's family life, found strong circumstantial evidence that his first wife left behind a mansion inTriana, across the river from Seville: her own property, not his, which passed into the hands of their daughters.[11]
The last primary record of him is in 1514, in Seville or Triana. According to the chroniclerGonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, he died that year, probably at the end of September. It is not known precisely where he is buried, though Oviedo expressed confidence that it was in the cemetery of Triana.[12]
In 1499, Pinzón sailed to theSouth American coast. Pinzón eventually disembarked on the shore called "Praia do Paraíso", in present-dayCabo de Santo Agostinho of the state ofPernambuco, or further northwest, in what is todayFortaleza (capital of the Brazilian state ofCeará). According to theTreaty of Tordesillas (1494) between theCrown of Castile and Portugal, Castile (later Spain) could make no claim, but the place was named "Cabo de Santa María de la Consolación" by Pinzón. He also sighted theAmazon River and ascended to a point about fifty miles from the sea.[13] He called it the "Río Santa María de la Mar Dulce" ("River of Saint Mary of the Fresh Water Sea") on account of the vastness of the fresh water river mouth, and he thus became the first European explorer to discover anestuary of the Amazon River. Pinzón is also considered the discoverer of theOiapoque River.[citation needed]
Unlike other members of the Pinzón family, he always remained loyal to his onetime commander, and in the probings of the pleitos he resisted every official effort to draw out of him anti-Columbus statements.[13]
In 1505, Pinzón was named commander-in-chief andcorregidor of the island of Puerto Rico. This was to be the first administrative step in the colonization of the island called "Borinquén" by itsTaino inhabitants and "San Juan Bautista" by theChristopher Columbus. However, Pinzón did not fulfill this commission.[14] In 1508, he travelledwith Juan Díaz de Solís to South America. No record exists of Pinzón after 1514.[citation needed]
In 1832, botanists Mart. & Zucc. publishedPinzona, a genus offlowering plants belonging to the familyDilleniaceae and named in honour of Vicente Yáñez Pinzón.[15]
Together with his brother, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón is the namesake ofPinzón Island in theGalápagos.
On November 19, 1999, a statue of Pinzón and his brother was dedicated inPalos de la Frontera, Spain, on the occasion of the fifth centennial of thediscovery of Brazil and of the brotherhood with the city,Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Brazil.[citation needed]
English
Spanish
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
