Jiménez de Quesada, Gonzalo (gōnthä`lō hēmā`nĕth dā kāsä`thä), c.1499–1579, Spanish conquistador in Colombia. Chief magistrate of Santa Marta, he was commissioned to explore the Magdalena Magdalena , river, c.1,000 mi (1,600 km) long, rising in the Cordillera Central, SW Colombia and flowing N to the Caribbean Sea near Barranquilla. It flows in a fault-block valley (c.
..... Click the link for more information. in search of El Dorado El Dorado [Span.,=the gilded man], legendary country of the Golden Man sought by adventurers in South America. The legend supposedly originated in a custom of the Chibcha people of Colombia who each year anointed a chieftain and rolled him in gold, which he then
..... Click the link for more information. . He set out in 1536, and after incredible hardships he defeated the Chibcha Chibcha , indigenous people of the eastern cordillera of the Andes of Colombia. Although trade with neighboring tribes was common, the Chibcha seem to have evolved their culture in comparative isolation.
..... Click the link for more information. and founded (1538) Bogotá Bogotá , city (1993 pop. 4,931,796), central Colombia, capital and largest city of Colombia, and capital of Cundinamarca dept. A picturesque, spacious city, Bogotá is on a high, fertile plateau (c.
..... Click the link for more information. as capital of the New Kingdom of Granada (see New Granada New Granada , former Spanish colony, N South America. It included at its greatest extent present Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. Between 1499 and 1510 a host of conquerors explored the Caribbean coast of Panama and South America.
..... Click the link for more information. ). A hard taskmaster but an able leader, Quesada wavered between humane and brutal treatment of the native population. He obtained fabulous amounts of emeralds and gold. Meeting Federmann Federmann, Nikolaus , 1501–42, German adventurer in Venezuela and Colombia. In the service of the Welser brothers, Augsburg bankers to whom Charles V had granted rights in Venezuela, Federmann first landed at Santa Ana de Coro in 1530.
..... Click the link for more information. and Benalcázar Benalcázar or Belalcázar, Sebastián de , c.1479–1551, Spanish conquistador.
..... Click the link for more information. , who claimed the same territory, Quesada persuaded them to return with him to Spain, where settlement could be made. There he was ignored until 1550, when he was appointed marshal of New Granada and councilor of Bogotá for life. In 1569, still seeking El Dorado, he led a lavishly equipped expedition to the confluence of the Guaviare and Orinoco; he and what remained of his company returned wasted and penniless after three years. Still later, suffering from a skin disease and carried on a litter, Quesada put down an indigenous revolt. Some think that he was the model for Cervantes's Don Quixote. His own account of his conquests has been lost, but excerpts copied by others from the original survive.

Bibliography

See studies by A. F. Bandelier (1893, repr. 1962), C. R. Markham (1912, repr. 1971), G. Arciniegas (tr. 1942, repr. 1968), and R. B. C. Graham (1922, repr. 1973).

Jiménez de Quesada, Gonzalo

(born c. 1495, Córdoba or Granada, Spain—died Feb. 16, 1579, Mariquita, New Granada) Spanish conquistador. He went to the New World as a colonial chief magistrate, then in 1536 he led an expedition of 900 men up the Magdalena River into the central plain of New Granada (modern Colombia), defeating the Chibcha Indians to win the land for Spain. In 1538 two rival conquistadores challenged his claim of conquest; the case was submitted to the crown in Madrid and was inconclusively settled, but Jiménez became the most influential person in New Granada. In 1569 he set out in search of the mythical El Dorado with 500 men; he returned in 1571 with only 25 of his original company.

Mentioned in	?		Encyclopedia browser	?		Full browser	?
No references found			jigsaw Jiguani Jiguaní Jih-k'a-tse Jihad Jihlava Jihlava Hills Jiji Tsushin Jijia Jikes Jilemnicky, Petr Jilemnický, Petr Jili, al- Jilin Jim Jim Clark jim crow Jim Crow Law Jim Crow laws Jim Crowism Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish & Wildlife Area Jim Hogg County Jim Wells County Jima Jiménez de Cisneros, Francisco Jiménez de Quesada, Gonzalo Jimenez, Juan Ramon Jiménez, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Pepita Jimma jimmer Jimmie Davis State Park Jimmu Jimmu Tenno jimmy Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter National Historic Site Jimmy the Greek Jimna Jimson weed jimsonweed Jin dynasty Jinan Jindrich Honzl Jindrich Matiegka Jindrich Mošna Jindrich Mosna Jingdezhen Jingle Bells jingle shell Jingle, Alfred			Jim-crow Jim-Crowism Jim-Crowism Jim-Crowism jim-dandies jim-dandies jim-dandy jim-dandy jim-jams jim-jams Jima Jima Jima of Silla JIMAR JIMAR Tsunami Research Effort JIMAS JIMASS JIMC JIMCOM Jimcrack jimdandy JIME JIMENA Jimena (disambiguation) Jimenez Jiménez Jiménez Jimenez de Cisneros Jiménez de Cisneros Jiménez de Cisneros, Francisco Jiménez de Quesada, Gonzalo Jimenez, Juan Ramon Jiménez, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Pepita Jimeno Jimeno Jimensia JIMES JIMF JIMFF JIMGA jimhickey JIMHO Jimi Jimi Hendrix Jimi Hendrix Jimi Hendrix Jimi Hendrix Experience Jimi Hendrix Wiki Jimi Hoffa Jimi system JIMIA Jimies Jiminy Jiminy Cricket JIMIS Jimjams Jimm