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Ojeda, Alonso de

(Encyclopedia)Ojeda, Alonso de älōnˈsō ᵺā ōhāˈᵺä [key], c.1466–1515?, Spanish conquistador. He joined Columbus on his second voyage and in 1499—at first accompanied by Vespucci—explored the north...

Marcos de Niza

(Encyclopedia)Marcos de Niza märˈkōs dā nēˈsä [key], c.1495–1558, missionary explorer in Spanish North America. A Franciscan friar, he served in Peru and Guatemala before going to Mexico. There he headed a...

González de Ávila, Gil

(Encyclopedia)González de Ávila, Gil hēl gōnthäˈlĕth dā äˈvēlä [key], d. 1543, Spanish conquistador. Despite the opposition of Pedro Arias de Ávila, he conquered Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua in ...

Ayllón, Lucas Vásquez de

(Encyclopedia)Ayllón, Lucas Vásquez de lo͞oˈkäs väsˈkāth dā īlyōnˈ [key], c.1475–1526, Spanish explorer. He emigrated in 1502 to Santo Domingo, where he became a public official. In 1521, Francisco Go...

Escalante, Silvestre Vélez de

(Encyclopedia)Escalante, Silvestre Vélez de sēlvāˈstrā vāˈlāth dā āskälänˈtā [key], fl. 1769–79, Spanish explorer in the American Southwest and Far West, a Franciscan missionary. He was in charge of...

Arias de Ávila, Pedro

(Encyclopedia)Arias de Ávila, Pedro pāᵺräˈryäs [key], c.1440–1531, Spanish colonial administrator. He was sent (1514) as governor to Darién (now part of Panama), then under the rule of Vasco Núñez de Ba...

Cárdenas, García López de

(Encyclopedia)Cárdenas, García López de gärthēˈä lōˈpĕth dā kärˈdānäs [key], fl. 1540, Spanish explorer in the Southwest. A member of the 1540 expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, he was sel...

Albuquerque, Afonso de

(Encyclopedia)Albuquerque, Afonso de əfôNˈzō dĭ əlbo͞okĕrˈkə, –də älˌbəkĕrˈkə [key], 1453–1515, Portuguese admiral, the effective founder of the Portuguese Empire in the East. He first went to ...

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