Pedro de Ursúa

Pedro de Ursúa
Pedro de Ursúa
	Pedro de Ursúa
Born	1526; Baztan, Navarra
Died	1561; Amazon River,; South America
Cause of death	Murder
Nationality	Navarre
Occupation	Conquistador
Years active	1545–1561
Employer	Spanish Crown
Known for	Co-founder of Pamplona; Failed conquest of the Muzo; Quest for El Dorado

Pedro de Ursúa (1526 – 1561) was a Spanish conquistador from Baztan in Navarre.^[1]^[2] He is best known for his final trip with Lope de Aguirre in search for El Dorado, where he found death in a plot.

He was born in Arizkun, Baztan, to a Beaumont family who supported the Spanish occupation of Navarre, benefiting directly from the Navarrese loyalist defeat at Amaiur in July 1522.

In Panama, Ursúa subdued a Cimarron (ex-slave) revolt by tricking Cimarron leader Bayano into coming unprepared to negotiate a truce. He then captured Bayano and sent him back to King Philip II of Spain. Together with Ortún Velázquez de Velasco, Pedro de Ursúa founded the city of Pamplona, New Kingdom of Granada, on November 1, 1549.^[3]

Ursúa later searched the Amazon region for El Dorado with Lope de Aguirre. When Ursúa would not allow Aguirre's mistress on the expedition, Aguirre conspired with another officer, Fernando de Guzman, to use this rejection as a pretext to start a riot in which they assassinated Ursúa and seized power.^[4]

Pedro de Ursúa in fiction

A fictional version of Ursúa and Aguirre's story is depicted in the Werner Herzog film, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes and in the Carlos Saura film El Dorado.

The novel Ursúa by William Ospina has become one of the main references concerning Pedro de Ursúa. The book provides details about the life of Ursúa and makes a general account of the events happening in the New World during the mid 16th century.