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Pedro Arias Dávila | |
|---|---|
| 1st Governor of Castilla del Oro | |
| In office 1513 / July 1514 – 1526 | |
| Monarchs | Joanna I /Charles I |
| Preceded by | Vasco Nuñez de Balboa |
| Succeeded by | Pedro de los Ríos y Gutiérrez de Aguayo |
| Royal Governor of Nicaragua | |
| In office 1528–1531 | |
| Monarch | Charles I |
| Preceded by | Diego Gutiérrez de los Ríos y Aguayo |
| Succeeded by | Pedro Ramírez de Quiñones |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1440 Segovia,Crown of Castile |
| Died | 6 March 1531 León Viejo,Spanish Empire |
| Spouse | María de Peñalosa y Bobadilla |
| Children | Diego Arias Dávila y Bobadilla Pedro Arias Dávila y Bobadilla Elvira de Bobadilla María Arias de Peñalosa Isabel Arias Dávila y Bobadilla |
| Profession | Military,explorer,conquistador, andgovernor |
| Signature |  |
| Nickname(s) | Pedrarias,el Galán,el Justador |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Spanish Empire |
| Branch/service | Infantry |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars |
|
Pedro Arias de Ávila (c. 1440 – 6 March 1531; oftenPedro Arias Dávila orPedrarias Dávila) was a Spanish soldier and colonial administrator. He led the first great Spanish expedition to the mainland of the Americas. There, he served as governor of Panama (1514–1526) and Nicaragua (1527–1531), and foundedPanama City (1519).[1][2] He died in 1531 aged around 90 or 91.
Pedrarias was the son of Pedro Arias and María Ortiz de Cota. He was born into a prominent and well-connected Spanish family. His grandfather, Diego Arias deÁvila, was chief comptroller and a key adviser to KingEnrique IV; his older brother was the Count of Puñonrostro; and his uncle was the Bishop ofSegovia, a wealthy man who left Pedrarias a fortune.[3]
As a boy, he was apage in the court of KingJuan II of Castile. Physically imposing and athletic, he was nicknamed "the jouster" for his skill in tournaments and "the gallant" in reference to his extravagant wardrobe and spendthrift habits. In later life, he served in thewar against the Moors in Granada (1482–1492) and distinguished himself as a colonel of infantryfighting in North Africa (1508–1511). When he returned to Spain, he received a promotion, a citation for valor, and another nickname: "the lion ofBugia".[3]
Towards the end of 1485, he married an intimate friend of queenIsabella I of Spain, Isabel de Bobadilla y Peñalosa, the daughter ofFrancisco de Bobadilla who was appointed to succeedChristopher Columbus as the second governor of the Indies in 1499.
A few years before 1513, he collapsed of some unrecorded illness. As he was about to be lowered to his grave, a tearful servant who was embracing the casket was astonished to hear movement inside. Incredibly, Arias was breathing and very much alive. Thereafter, he ordered an annual Requiem Mass sung for him in the cathedral at Torrejón, and stood in his own unused grave to listen to it. He took his coffin everywhere he went, even to the New World.[4][better source needed]
In 1514, at the age of nearly seventy, he was made commander by KingFerdinand II of Aragon of the largest Spanish expedition (19 vessels and 1,500 men) hitherto sent to America.
They reachedSanta Marta inColombia in July 1514. They then proceeded toDarién, whereVasco Núñez de Balboa ruled as governor.
Arias Dávila superseded him and promised him his daughter in wedlock but he had Balboa judicially murdered at age 44 on 15 January 1519,[5]: 15 being thus a potential bridegroom but never a son-in-law. Arias Dávila's daughter was known as "María de Peñalosa" to honor her female ancestors, something by no means uncommon between the High Spanish Nobility at the time. In 1524, she marriedRodrigo de Contreras, (Segovia, 1502 – 1558). They had 11 children. María died atCiudad de los Reyes on 25 May 1573.
Another of Arias Dávila's daughters, who was born when he was elderly, Isabel Arias or Isabel de Bobadilla (to mark the female ancestors of the family), was married inValladolid,Spain, 1537, to his loyal lieutenantHernando de Soto, the successfulconquistador and explorer ofFlorida andMississippi andGovernor of Cuba.
In 1519, Arias Dávila foundedPanama City and moved his capital there in 1524, abandoningDarién. Dávila sentGil González Dávila to explore to the north. In 1524, he sent another expedition underFrancisco Hernández de Córdoba, who was executed there in 1526 by order of Dávila, by then aged over 85.
The death of the New Governor, a change of position decided in Spain, Lope de Sosa, in 1520 before even landing and taking possession, the expeditions with military garrisons from Panamá and Nata, to reduce the "disorders" promoted by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, a.k.a. Francisco Fernández de Córdoba, the diversion from New Governor of Castilla del Oro since 1526, now, more or less Panamá, Pedro de los Ríos, getting a nomination for himself as the new Governor of Nicaragua in 1527 show the energy of Dávila, already approaching his nineties.[clarification needed]
María Ortiz Cota, the mother of Dávila, was the daughter ofToledo family member and Royal Treasurer Alonso Cota (died 1468) who was married to one Teresa Ortiz, their children being known however as "Ortiz Cota" under the Portuguese family style, whereas, following the Spanish succession style, they would have been known as "Cota Ortiz".
Moreover, he was a party to the original agreement withFrancisco Pizarro andDiego de Almagro which brought about the discovery ofPeru, but he withdrew (1526) for a small compensation, having lost confidence in the outcome. In the same year, he was superseded as Governor of Panama byPedro de los Ríos and retired toLeón, Nicaragua, where he was named its new governor on 1 July 1527. Here he lived for the rest of his life until his death on 6 March 1531. He left an unenviable record, as a man of unreliable character, and who was cruel and unscrupulous.[6]
Through his foundation ofPanama, however, he laid the basis for the discovery ofSouth America's west coast and the subsequentconquest of Peru.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pedro Arias de Avila".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.