Jorge Robledo (conqueror)
Marshal Jorge Robledo (Úbedato, c. 1500- Pácora, October 5, 1546) was a Spanish soldier and conquistador. He figures in Colombian history as the "conqueror of Antioquia." Pedro de Heredia accused him of usurping his jurisdiction, imprisoned him and sent him to Spain with a signature process. There Robledo was acquitted of charges of usurpation of jurisdiction. He conquered American territories; He also founded several cities, including San Jorge de Carthage. His biggest rival to control the discovered areas was Belalcázar.
On October 5, 1546, in the Alto de Pozo village of the San Bartolomé district, in the municipality of Pácora, he was captured and sentenced to death by Sebastián de Belalcázar, with whom he maintained a strong rivalry for control of the discovered territories.
Biography
Born in Úbeda, Kingdom of Jaén, Crown of Castile, in one of the first years of the 16th century, he was of noble origin. He was a captain in the Italian wars - see Francis I and Charles V -, where the Castilians won. His role in the conquests of the New World is not limited only to the north of the Cauca region and the region of Antioquia, in Colombia; given that his name appears among the discoverers of New Galicia, in the conquest of Guatemala, in the battle of Cajamarca in Peru, and it is possible that he joined the army of Sebastián de Belalcázar in search of El Dorado.
He was at the time of the founding of the cities of Cali and Popayán and of this last city was one of his first mayors.
Participation in the conquest of Peru
There are only clear references about Jorge Robledo from the moment he helped Francisco Pizarro, when he was preparing to leave for Cajamarca, Peru, and he participated with the army of Sebastián de Belalcázar in the conquest of Peru, from where he passed to the south of the current Colombia. Arriving to reach the basin of the Cauca River in the current north-occident anti-oqueño, making the foundation of the populations of Santa Fe and Antioquia, re-established several times later by the continued attacks of originating populations, propitiating the first colonial settlements in the so-called "Valle de los Hevexicos".
Anserma and Cartago Foundation
In Cali, Governor Lorenzo de Aldana gave him the order to explore the province of Anserma. He founded, in 1539, in the Umbrá Valley, on a hill, the Villa de Santa Ana de los Caballeros, later called Anserma.
He fought with the Pozo Indians, whose chief Pirameque was wounded. Upon defeating him, he continued towards Pácora - current department of Caldas -, where he fought with the paucuras and their chief Pimaná. He went on to Santiago de Arma, where he overcame the strong resistance of the warring Indians, they and their flags, harnessed with pieces of gold. Robledo took hounds on his adventures, which made him more fearsome. Then, he headed towards Quimbaya with Suer de Nava, and on August 9, 1540 he founded San Jorge de Cartago.
Exploration and foundation of Villa de Santa Fe
In 1540 he made his first expedition to the territory that we know today as the Paisa region, in a rancherio they called "El Pueblo de la Pascua", currently Damasco. Then he passed to the valley - called Aburrá by the Indians and San Bartolomé by the conquistadors, today Medellín - which had been discovered by Captain Jerónimo Luis Tejelo, who, accompanied by some men, had separated from Robledo, by his order.
In 1541 he founded the City of Antioquia, which years later would be moved to the current site under the name of Santa Fe de Antioquia.
Return to Spain
In 1542 he moved from Santa Fe de Antioquia to the Atrato River and continued his course with the intention of embarking to Spain through San Sebastián de Buenavista in Urabá - founded in May 1535 -. When he arrived on the coast of Urabá, Alonso de Heredia, accused him of usurping the privileges of his brother Pedro de Heredia, imprisoned him, took away his wealth and was sent to Spain with a trial for having usurped the lands of what, in a few years, would be called Antioquia.. In Spain, Robledo was acquitted of charges of usurpation of jurisdiction, and was rewarded with the title of marshal.
Return to the Indies
He returned to Cartagena de Indias with his wife María de Carvajal, later known as "La Mariscala." Once widowed, he married two more times: first with the royal treasurer of Bogotá and Santa Marta, Pedro Briceño Verdugo , a native of Arévalo, Ávila; and second time with Francisco Briceño López, a native of Corral de Almaguer, Toledo; president, captain general, judge of the Royal Court of New Granada (1574-1575); and governor of Guatemala (1563-1569); and in 1546 he left for Antioquia where he intended to establish himself as the governor of the lands he had found years before. Upon arriving there he arrested the representative of Belalcázar and took over the government. He tried to do the same on his tour of Arma, Cartago, Anserma, and with Belalcázar himself, who was in Cali, but without success.
Death
Through a letter and mandate from the visitor Miguel Díez de Armendáriz, emissary of Marshal Robledo, he delivered a letter to the governor of Popayán—Belalcázar—ordering him not to leave the city of Cali and to recognize the authority of Robledo. in the northern region of the province of Popayán and in the territories that some 30 years or later would be called the province of Antioquia, which he refused.
This confrontation had its ups and downs, as Robledo at times saw his mistakes and asked for peace; However, Belalcázar attacked him, and in 1546 he sentenced him to death, being beheaded on October 5 along with his field aids Hernán Rodríguez de Souza, Baltazar de Ledesma and Juan Márquez Sanabria. According to Pedro Cieza de León, his body was buried and Robledo's head was exposed as a mockery. Belalcázar was tried in absentia for this crime, found guilty and sentenced to death for this murder, for mistreatment committed against the indigenous people and for participating in the fights that occurred between the conquerors, although he died in Cartagena de Indias, before embarking on the trip back to Spain to appeal the court's decision.