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Pedro de Valdivia

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Image:Pedro de Valdivia.jpg thumb|right|217px|Pedro de Valdivia '''Pedro de Valdivia''' (c. 1500 - January 1, 1554) was a conquistador of Chile. He was the founder of various city cities within the territory, including Santiago, Chile Santiago, Concepción, Chile Concepcion, and Valdivia, Chile Valdivia.

Early years
Pedro de Valdivia is believed to have been born in Badajoz Badajoz, Spain in 1500 (some sources put his date of birth as early as 1497) from a family of nobles. In 1520 he enlisted with the army of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and fought in Flanders in 1521 and Italy between 1522 and 1525. He married Marina Ortiz de Gaete. In 1535 he left her to embark for a voyage to Venezuela. In 1537, he went to Peru to help Francisco Pizarro in the struggle against Diego de Almagro and won. Afterwards, he went with Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro to conquer both the provinces of ''Collao'' and ''las Charcas'' in ''High Peru'' (currently Bolivia). As compensation for conquering these lands, Valdivia was awarded a silver mine.

The expedition
After the failure of the expedition of Diego de Almagro, Valdivia asked the governor of Peru permission to complete the conquest of the lands south of Peru (known as ''Nuevo Toledo''). He got the permission and was named ''lieutenant of the Governor'', and not Governor as he wanted. He was an original Spanish conquistador. The expedition was fraught with problems from the beginning. Valdivia had to sell the lands that were assigned to him to finance the expedition. A shortage of soldiers and adventurers was also problematic since they were not interested in conquering what they were sure were extremely poor lands. The expedition left Cuzco, Peru in January of 1540 with almost a thousand native Indians and only a few Spanish. En route more Spanish joined the expedition. These conquistadores had formed part of the failed campaigns to the highlands of Bolivia. All in all around 150 Spanish joined the expedition of Valdivia. He followed the desert route of ''Atacama'', the same route that Almagro had followed back to Peru. When they arrived at the valley of Copiapo, Chile, Valdivia took possession of the land in the name of the king. Soon thereafter they continued south and in December of the same year they arrived in the valley of the ''Mapocho'' River, where they finally decided to establish a permanent settlement.

Foundation of Santiago
Image:Fundacion de Santiago.jpg 250px|thumb|Pedro Lira's [[1889 painting of the founding of Santiago by Pedro de Valdivia at Huelén Hill]] On February 12, 1541 Pedro de Valdivia founded Santiago, Chile. The ceremony was held at the foot of ''Huelén'' hill (now known as ''Cerro Santa Lucía'', Santa Lucía Hill). One of the first orders Valdivia gave was to search for gold in the ''Marga Marga'' mines and developing a courier service to Peru. He knew about this gold mines by the word of a captured chief called Michima Lonco.

Destruction of Santiago
After a peaceful period of coexistence, local Indians led by Michimalonco attacked the new village of Santiago, on 11th of September 1541. Valdivia was not in the village at the time, and the defense of the city was led by Inés Suárez. This event meant a substantial setback for the conquest of the Chilean territory, since rebuilding could only start in 1543 with the arrival of new supplies.

New Initiatives
In September of 1543 new arms, clothes and other equipment arrived from Peru on the ship ''Santiaguillo''. Valdivia then sent an expedition north, led by Juan Bohén. This expedition, founded La Serena halfway between Santiago and the northern Atacama desert, in the valley of ''Coquimbo''. In February of 1546 Valdivia, accompanied by 70 men, traveled south. He got to the Bío-Bío River where he planned to found another town. However, the hostility of the indigenous people forced him to return to Santiago in March of 1547. In 1547 and 1548 Valdivia was in Peru to gather more resources and men. While he was there he fought in the battle of Xaquixahuana. As recognition for his services the then Viceroy of Peru gave Valdivia the title of ''Royal Governor of Chile Governor''. Between 1549 and 1553, Valdivia again undertook the conquest of southern Chile, but faced heavy resistance from the indigenous Indians. In spite of the resistance, in 1550 he got to the ''Bío-Bío'' zone, where after winning a battle against the local natives, he founded Concepción, Chile. He later founded the more southern villages of La Imperial, Valdivia, Chile and Villarica, Chile among others.

The uprising of 1553
After a brief stay in Santiago, Chile Santiago, Valdivia returned to the south again in December of 1552. To keep the connection open between Concepción and the southern settlements Valdivia had a number of forts built in the coastal mountain range. One of the first signs that a big rebellion was building was in the attack on the fort of Tucapel. Valdivia decided to personally inspect the fort, but the indigenous forces attacked when the party was near the fort and Valdivia was captured. The Battle of Tucapel would be Valdivia's last: while it may be the exaggeration of legend that he was beaten to death, impaled on a stake, and his heart was cut into pieces and eaten, it is certain that he did not survive his captivity. His career and death are part of the epic poem La Araucana by Alonso de Ercilla.

See also
*Indian Lautaro Lautaro Category:1500 births Valdivia, Pedro de Category:1554 deaths Valdivia, Pedro de Category:Chilean people Valdivia, Pedro de Category:History of Chile Valdivia, Pedro de Category:Royal Governors of Chile Valdivia, Pedro de Category:Spanish explorers and conquistadores Valdivia, Pedro de ca:Pedro de Valdivia de:Pedro de Valdivia fr:Pedro de Valdivia es:Pedro de Valdivia nl:Pedro de Valdivia pt:Pedro de Valdivia sv:Pedro de Valdivia

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