Ulrich Schmidl or Schmidel (1514 in Straubing - 1579 in Regensburg) was a German Landsknecht, conquistador, explorer, chronicler, and councilman. Schmidl was, beside Hans Staden, one of the few Landsknechts who wrote down their experiences of travel in the New World.
Schmidl was the son of a wealthy merchant, and received a good education. He entered military service and took part in 1534 as a Landsknecht under Pedro de Mendoza in an expedition to today's Argentina (the Río de la Plata). He also accompanied Juan de Ayolas on his first trip in quest of provisions, and afterward went with Ayolas in his expedition up the Paraguay River, and was one of the soldiers that were left with Domingo Irala in charge of the vessels in Puerto la Candelaria (modern Fuerte Olimpo). When Cabeza de Vaca was deposed in April 1544, Schmidel sustained Irala, who was the new governor, and in 1546 accompanied him in his expedition to Peru as far as the foot of the Andes, where he was despatched with Nuño de Chaves to President La Gasca. He accompanied Irala on his last unfortunate expedition of 1550. [1]
He became a founder of Buenos Aires. His journey led him across the Río Paraná and Río Paraguay and into today's Paraguay, where he helped to found Asunción. From there he undertook several expeditions in the Gran Chaco, which led him into southeast Bolivia.
In 1552, on learning of the death of his elder brother to whose estate he was to succeed, Schmidl obtained his discharge. In Seville, he presented to the council of the Indies letters from Irala with the report of his discoveries, and arrived toward the close of 1554 in Straubing, where he afterward resided. He had kept a diary during his wanderings, and wrote a narrative of his adventures under the title of Wahre Geschichte einer merkwürdigen Reise, gemacht durch Ulrich Schmidel von Straubingen, in America oder der Neuen Welt, von 1534 bis 1554, wo man findet alle seine Leiden in 19 Jahren, und die Beschreibung der Länder und merkwürdigen Völker die er gesehen, von ihm selbst geschrieben (The true story of a noteworthy trip made by Ulrich Schmidel from Straubingen in America or the New World from 1534 to 1554, where will be found all his troubles of 19 years and the description of lands and noteworthy peoples he saw, described by himself; Frankfort, 1557), of which a Latin version appeared in Nuremberg in 1599 as Vera historia, etc. Henri Ternaux-Compans published a translation of the work in his Voyages, relations et mémoires originaux pour servir à l'histoire de la découverte de l'Amérique, recueil de documents sur la Floride (20 vol., 1837–1841) and Andrés González de Barcia in his Historiadores primitivos de Indias. Schmidel thus became the first historian of Argentina. [1]
Much of his account in the German language overlaps with an account written in Spanish by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, who was adelantado of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata between 1540 and 1545. Their accounts, one by a German mercenary, another by a Spanish nobleman, offer stark differences in point of view. [2] : 35–40
His narrative gives the names and tells of the habits and manner of living of many Indigenous American nations that were extinct a century later. [1] Perhaps the most fascinating parts of his accounts are those that attribute cannibalism not only to some South American tribes, but also to the desperate conquistadors who were unsuited for survival in the rough climate, and would consume one another in an effort to escape starvation. A particularly notable account states that Spaniards who were hung, were hacked up by their fellow countrymen, and devoured. [2] : 37
After his return to Straubing with a few pieces of booty, he inherited the fortune of his deceased brother, and became a councilman. Because of religious strife he had to leave Straubing and went in 1562 to Regensburg, where he died around 1579.
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Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the New World, and one of four survivors of the 1527 Narváez expedition. During eight years of traveling across what is now the US Southwest, he became a trader and faith healer to various Native American tribes before reconnecting with Spanish civilization in Mexico in 1536. After returning to Spain in 1537, he wrote an account, first published in 1542 as La relación y comentarios, which in later editions was retitled Naufragios y comentarios. Cabeza de Vaca is sometimes considered a proto-anthropologist for his detailed accounts of the many tribes of Native Americans that he encountered.
The Governorate of the Río de la Plata (1549−1776) was one of the governorates of the Spanish Empire. It was created in 1549 by Spain in the area around the Río de la Plata.
Pedro de Mendoza was a Spanish conquistador, soldier and explorer, and the first adelantado of New Andalusia.
The Sierra de la Plata was a mythical source of silver in the interior of South America. The legend began in the early 16th century when castaways from the Juan Díaz de Solís expedition heard indigenous stories of a mountain of silver in an inland region ruled by the so-called White King. The first European to lead an expedition in search of it was the castaway Aleixo Garcia, who crossed nearly the entire continent to reach the Andean altiplano. On his way back to the coast, Garcia died in an ambush by indigenous people in Paraguay, but survivors brought precious metals back to corroborate their story.
Sopa paraguaya is a traditional food of the Paraguayan cuisine similar to corn bread. It is spongy & soft. Corn flour, cheese, onion and milk or whey are common ingredients. It is a cake rich in caloric and protein content.
Domingo Martínez de Irala was a Spanish Basque conquistador.
The chipa guasu is a cake made with corn grains, onions and Paraguayan cheese. It is one of 70 varieties of chipa, a traditional set of side dishes from Paraguay. It is often served in asados.
Juan de Ayolas was a conquistador born in Briviesca who explored the watershed of the Río de la Plata for the Spanish Crown. He accompanied Pedro de Mendoza on his 1534 expedition to colonize the region between the Río de la Plata and the Strait of Magellan and briefly succeeded him as the second governor of the region after Mendoza returned home in 1537.
Juan de Salazar y Espinosa (1508–1560) was a Spanish explorer, founder of the Paraguayan city of Asunción. Born in the city of Espinosa de los Monteros in Burgos, Spain, not much is known about his early life. He married Isabel Contreras y Mendoza and had five children. He died on February 11, 1560, in Asuncion, Paraguay's capital.
Felipe de Cáceres was a Spanish conquistador and Governor of Rio de la Plata.
Guayrá was a historical region of the Spanish Empire, located in the Governorate of Paraguay, within the colonial Viceroyalty of Peru. The region is located in present-day Paraguay and Paraná.
Long before Spanish conquistadors discovered Paraguay for King Charles V in 1524, semi-nomadic Chaco Indian tribes populated Paraguay's rugged landscape. Although few relics or physical landmarks remain from these tribes, the fact that nearly 90 percent of Paraguayans still understand the indigenous Guarani language is testament to Paraguay's Indian lineage. The Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1524 and founded Asunción in 1537. Paraguay's colonial experience differed from that of neighboring countries, such as Bolivia and Argentina, because it did not have gold and other mineral deposits that the Spanish were searching for. Because of its lack of mineral wealth and its remoteness, Paraguay remained underpopulated and economically underdeveloped. Early governor Domingo Martínez de Irala took an Indian wife and a series of Indian concubines and encouraged other male settlers to do likewise. Intermarriage fused Indian culture with that of the Europeans, creating the mestizo class that dominates Paraguay today. From the beginning, however, Indians retained their Guaraní language, even as Spanish influence was accepted, and embraced, in other aspects of society.
Ruy Diaz de Melgarejo was a Spanish conquistador and statesman who served in the settlement and defense of the possessions of the Crown of Castile in the region of Río de la Plata in South America. His life was marked by wars, conspiracies, persecutions and family conflicts. Melgarejo enjoyed the favor of the Spanish crown. He almost absolutely ruled the independent province of Guayrá for 30 years.
Gonzalo Casco (1533–c.1588) was a Spanish military leader and conquistador of Paraguay.
Mateo Gil was a Spanish conquistador, who served as alcalde and regidor of Santa Fe, Argentina, during the Viceroyalty of Peru.
Martín Suárez de Toledo (1520-1584) was a Spanish nobleman and conquistador. He served as interim Governor of the Río de la Plata and Paraguay. Suárez de Toledo is primarily remembered for his involvement in the conquest and colonization of the Río de la Plata region.
Nicolás Colman was an English military man, a conquistador in the service of the Spanish crown. He was one of the sailors who accompanied Pedro de Mendoza in the expedition of the Río de la Plata.
Juliana, better known as the India Juliana, is the Christian name of a Guaraní woman who lived in the newly founded Asunción, in early-colonial Paraguay, known for killing a Spanish colonist between 1539 and 1542. She was one of the many indigenous women who were handed over to or stolen by the Spanish, forced to work for them and bear children. Since the area was not rich in minerals as they had anticipated, colonists generated wealth through the forced labor of indigenous people—especially the sexual exploitation of women of childbearing age.
Lambaré, also transliterated as Lampere, was a purported cacique of the Guaraní people who fought against and subsequently reconciled with Spanish conquistadors in what is now Paraguay in the 16th century.
