Gonzalo García Zorro

Gonzalo García Zorro (c. 1500 – 1566) was a Spanish conquistador who participated in the Spanish conquest of the Muisca people. García Zorro was encomendero (mayor) of Santa Fe de Bogotá for seven terms, and received the encomiendas of Fusagasugá and Fosca.

Gonzalo García Zorro
Bornc. 1500
Guadalcanal, Extremadura, Spain
Died1566 (aged 65–66)
Santa Fe de Bogotá, New Kingdom of Granada
Cause of deathDuel with Alonso Venegas Carrillo
NationalityCastilian
OccupationConquistador
Years active1536–1544
EmployerSpanish Crown
Known forSpanish conquest of the Muisca
Spouse(s)Luisa (indigenous)
Margarita (indigenous from Tunja)
Francisca Pimentel Treceno
ChildrenFrancisca García Zorro (daughter)
Gonzalo and Diego García Zorro (sons)
Parents
  • Diego Alonso El Zorro (father)
  • Teresa González de Sancha (mother)
RelativesAntonio García Zorro (brother)
Unnamed (sister)
Encomendero of Bogotá
In office
1544–1545
Preceded byJuan Ruiz de Orejuela
Succeeded byJuan Ruiz de Orejuela
In office
1545–1546
Preceded byJuan Ruiz de Orejuela
Succeeded byJuan de Céspedes
In office
1548–1548
Preceded byJuan Muñoz de Collantes
Succeeded byJuan Ruiz de Orejuela
In office
1550–1551
Preceded byJuan de Avellaneda
Succeeded byJuan de Avellaneda
In office
1553–1554
Preceded byJuan de Rivera
Succeeded byJuan Tafur
In office
1556–1556
Preceded byAntonio Ruiz
Succeeded byDomingo Lozano
In office
1564–1564
Preceded byJuan Ruiz de Orejuela
Succeeded byAndrés de Molina
Notes

He married three times, twice with Muisca women, and had one daughter, Francisca, and a son, Diego. García Zorro died of wounds he suffered in a duel with Alonso Venegas. Venegas was the son of fellow conquistador Hernán Venegas Carrillo and the grandson through his mother of Sagipa, the last zipa (leader) of the Muisca, whom García Zorro had helped to kill.

Knowledge of the life of García Zorro comes from the works Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias (1589) and El Carnero (1638), by Juan de Castellanos and Juan Rodríguez Freyle respectively.

Biography

Gonzalo García Zorro was born around 1500 in Guadalcanal, at the border between Extremadura and Seville.[2] His parents were Teresa González de Sancha and Diego Alonso El Zorro. Gonzalo García Zorro had a brother, Antonio, and a sister.[1]

García Zorro joined the expedition led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada from Santa Marta towards the Muisca Confederation in April 1536 as a cavalry leader.[3][4][5] García Zorro was later convicted of crimes against the last zipa, Sagipa.[6]

Gonzalo García Zorro was seven times encomendero of Santa Fe de Bogotá: in 1544 succeeding Juan Ruiz de Orejuela, who succeeded García Zorro again; from 1545 to 1546, succeeding the second term of Juan Ruiz de Orejuela and preceding Juan de Céspedes; in 1548 between the reign of Juan Muñoz de Collantes and the third term by Juan Ruiz de Orejuela; from 1550 to 1551 in between the terms of Juan de Avellaneda; between 1553 and 1554 succeeding Juan de Rivera and preceding Juan Tafur; in 1556 between the terms of Antonio Ruiz and Domingo Lozano; and finally in 1564 succeeding Juan Ruiz de Orejuela again and preceding Andrés de Molina.[7]

Gonzalo García Zorro received the encomiendas of Fusagasugá,[3][8] and Fosca.[9] The encomienda of Suesca was shared between Gonzalo García Zorro and Juan Tafur.[10]

Gonzalo García Zorro died in 1566 at Santa Fe de Bogotá of wounds he received in a duel with Alonso Venegas. Venagas was the son of Magdalena de Guatavita, daughter of Sagipa, and Hernán Venegas Carrillo.

Gonzalo García Zorro was one of the soldiers in the expedition along the green route from Santa Marta into the Muisca Confederation

See also

References
  1. Gonzalo García Zorro – Geni
  2. (in Spanish) Gonzalo García Zorro – Banco de la República – Soledad Acosta de Samper
  3. Acosta, 1848, p.399
  4. De Piedrahita, 1676, p.102
  5. (in Spanish) Lista de los que consiguieron el descubrimiento del Reino de Granada con el General don Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, en el año de 1538 – Banco de la República
  6. Ocampo López, 1996, p.55
  7. (in Spanish) List of mayors of Bogotá – 1538–1599
  8. (in Spanish) Los caballeros de la conquista
  9. De Castellanos, 1589, p.418
  10. Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.112

Bibliography

Further reading
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