Antonio Sedeño
Antonio Sedeño (died 1538) was a
By 1514, Ferdinand had named Andres de Haro as manager of the Puerto Rican royal mines and farms, Baltasar de Castro as contador,[1] Antonio as factor, and Diego de Arce as veedor. Baltasar, Antonio and Diego held those positions until at least 1520.[2]
Before his appointment to his position in Trinidad, Sedeño had been the Royal Treasurer of
At first, Sedeño treated the natives of the island with "consideration and justice" and was received well by them. He distributed gifts to the indigenous people who came to greet them and the cacique Maruana welcomed him as an ally against other natives. He used the short period of peace to build a fort. The Spaniards' treatment of the natives then turned harsh as their food ran out and they raided the village of Cumucurapo in the north of the island. This prompted fighting which plagued the rest of the years of Sedeño's rule. All the natives except those headed by Maruana then attacked the Spaniards and forced Sedeño to flee. Their fort and arms held out for long enough for them to do so, and Maruana helped them in the process.[3][5]
Sedeño returned to Puerto Rico and attempted to raise new men and supplies to re-established a presence on Trinidad, which turned out to be difficult as people had heard about the conflict. He went on to
Sedeño sailed back to Trinidad in 1532 with 80 men and prevailed the locals in the village of Cumucurapo, which was destroyed and the surviving locals fled to the mountains. However, with the village destroyed, Sedeño had no provisions and so retreated from the island to Margarita. He returned in 1533 a year later and built a stockade in Cumucurapo, but many soldiers became ill and he had to rely on Maruana for supplies. They were attacked on 13 September 1533, and while many Spaniards were killed, they prevailed at the end by counter-attacking on horses.[3]
However, many of his men then left to join
Primary Sources
- Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés: Historia General y Natural de las Indias. Vol. II, Libro 24, Capitulo II – IV. Madrid 1959.
- Fray Pedro Aguado: Recopilación Historial, Parte 2, Vol. III. Libro 4, Capitulo 7 – 27. Ausgabe Bogotá 1957.
References
- ^ Puerto Rico. Office of Historian (1949). Tesauro de datos historicos: indice compendioso de la literatura histórica de Puerto Rico, incluyendo algunos datos inéditos, periodísticos y cartográficos (in Spanish). Impr. del Gobierno de Puerto Rico. p. 87. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ Floyd, Troy (1973). The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492-1526. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. p. 129.
- ^ a b c d e Besson, Gerard. "Don Antonio and the Amerindians". Trinidad Newsday. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
- ^ a b Bonet, Walter A. Cardona (1989). Shipwrecks in Puerto Rico's History, Volume 1. p. 76.
- ^ a b c Stark, James Henry (1897). Stark's Guide-book and History of Trinidad: Including Tobago, Granada, and St. Vincent; Also a Trip Up the Orinoco and a Description of the Great Venezuelan Pitch Lake, Containing a Description of Everything Relating to These Places that Would be of Interest to Tourists and Residents. Lesser Antilles: J. H. Stark. pp. 6.
Sedeno.
- ^ Fernández de Oviedo y Valdéz, Gonzalo (1959). Historia General y Natural de las Indias. Madrid. p. 431.
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