Pinzón–Solís voyage

The Pinzón–Solís voyage was a Spanish maritime expedition in 1508–1509 to the Bay of Honduras, and possibly to adjacent bodies of water, led by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón and Juan Díaz de Solís. It is thought to have been the earliest European reconnaissance of coasts in the western portion of the aforementioned Bay, and thus of the Caribbean shores of Belize, Guatemala, western Honduras, and possibly southern Quintana Roo, Mexico.^{[n 1]}

Pinzón–Solís voyage

Landing of Columbus / 1847 oil on canvas by J Vanderlyn / via Commons
Country	Spain
Leader	Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, Juan Díaz de Solís
Start	Sanlúcar de Barrameda end March – end June 1508 (1508) / presumed
End	Seville 29 August 1509 (1509-08-29)
Goal	to discover a western passage to la Especiería
Ships	San Benito, La Magdalena
Crew	ca 60 / presumed, inc Pedro de Ledesma, inc Alonso Páez, exc vars native Indian translators
Achievements	First European survey of western Bay of Honduras

Prelude

Since the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain had expected but not received word of a western passage to la Especiería.^[1] As the years wore on, the lack of progress became so glaringly obvious that on 13 March 1505 and again on 23 August 1506, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón and Amerigo Vespucci were especially commissioned to redeem the frustrated record by discovery of such a passage.^[2] For some reason or another, however, these commissions could not be promptly fulfilled.^[2] Consequently, in March 1508, Ferdinand II of Aragon convened 'the most distinguished navigators' of the day to Burgos, to furnish him a course of action which would discover a western passage to la Especiería.^{[3][n 2]} As a result of which, on 23 March 1508, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón and Juan Díaz de Solís were jointly commissioned via capitulación to forthwith undertake the named venture in those seas north of Veragua, with the former given command over military matters, and the latter over maritime ones.^{[4][n 3]}

Pinzón and Solís summarily headed to Seville on 25 March 1508 to enlist the carabela San Benito, Pinzón master, and the nao La Magdalena, Solís master, for their armadilla, and 'renowned pilot' Pedro de Ledesma, and veedor and escribano Alonso Páez for their crew.^[5] Once all had been readied, the cost of rent, wages, and provisions for the voyage is thought to have totalled almost two million maravedis.^{[6][n 4]}

Voyage

Scarce little is known of the voyage's itinerary, and what little is known has proven contradictory.^[7] Its date of departure from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, for instance, is not exactly known, though all preparations were finalised by May 1508.^{[8][n 5]} Its route is likewise imprecisely understood, as conflicting accounts of it exist.

Some accounts of the route, notably first-hand accounts by Ledesma and Pinzón, describe an itinerary which not only partly traced that of Columbus's fourth voyage from Cape Gracias a Dios west towards the Bay Islands, but further branched beyond it from the Bay Islands west towards Amatique Bay, then north towards Cape Catoche. For instance, Ledesma reported that 'they discovered, above the land of Veragua to the north, all which up to now [in 1513] has come to be known from the island of Guanaja northwards, which lands are called Chavañin y Pintigua which they reached going north up to 23 degrees and 30 minutes.'^[9] Similarly, Pinzón reported that they discovered '[lands] from the island of Guanaxa to the province of Camarona; going along the coast towards the east there is another province called Chabañin e Pintigue, which was discovered by this witness [Pinzón] and Juan Solis [Solís], and that they similarly discovered going along the coast, a great bay which they named Gran baya [Bahía] de la Navidad, and from there this witness discovered the syerras [Sierras] de Carya and other lands too farther ahead, and that these provinces never the said don Cristóbal colón [Columbus] nor any other ever reached.'^{[10][n 6]} If these accounts are to be believed, then, the voyage reconnoitred the southern and western coasts of the Bay of Honduras, that is, the Caribbean coasts of present-day Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.^[11]

Other accounts of the route, however, describe an itinerary which only traced that of Columbus's fourth voyage from Cape Gracias a Dios west towards the Bay Islands. For instance, Ferdinand Columbus, who had reportedly examined the voyage's route as charted by Ledesma, deemed the expedition simply a duplicate of his father's fourth voyage.^[12]

In contrast to the above, a bit more is clearly known of the voyage's return. Pinzón and Solís reached Santo Domingo in May 1509, where they watered for a few days while their ships were boarded and searched.^{[13][n 7]} The armadilla then took a few months crossing the Atlantic, finally arriving in Seville, Spain on 29 August 1509, where they offloaded 'diverse objects of guanines ' to be melted into ingots, and 'various' native Indians whom they had impressed, enslaved, or abducted.^[14]

Table

Possible itineraries of the Pinzón–Solís voyage.^{[n 8]}

Route	Notes
P → Guanaja → Izopo → F	cf ^[n 9]
P → Guanaja → Izopo → Amatique → Chinchorro → F	cf ^[n 10]
P → Guanaja → Izopo → Amatique → Chinchorro → Catoche → F	cf ^[n 11]
P → Guanaja → Izopo → Amatique → Chinchorro → Catoche → Tampico → F	cf ^[n 12]

Aftermath

The voyage proved a failure, as it did not discover a western passage to the Spice Islands, and thereby helped to shift Spanish efforts to that end away from the Caribbean coasts of Middle America.^[15] Curiously, swiftly upon disembarking, Pinzón accused Solís of irregularities in contravention of their capitulación, leading to the latter's detainment pending further investigation.^[16] Solís was found not guilty, though, and awarded 34,000 maravedis in compensation, while Pinzón and Ledesma were awarded posts at the Casa de la Contratación.^{[17][n 13]}

Legacy

 

First print map depicting coast discovered by the Pinzón–Solís voyage / 1514 map by Rodríguez de Fonseca & Martire d'Anghiere / via JCB

The first print map to feature intelligence gathered by this Pinzón and Solís voyage is thought to have been the Peter Martyr map, drafted on 4 December 1514 by Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca and Pietro Martire d'Anghiera for publication in reprints of the latter's 1511 Legatio Babylonica.^{[18][n 14]} Though the discovery of the Yucatán Peninsula is popularly credited to a 1517 expedition by Hernández de Córdoba, some scholars note the feat should properly be assigned to this Pinzón and Solís voyage.^[19] The voyage is further credited with the discovery of some 300 nautical leagues of coastline north and northwest of the Bay Islands, between 16° 28' N to 23° 30' N.^{[20][n 15]}

See also

• Magellan expedition, 1519–1522 Spanish voyage which finally discovered a western passage to la Especiería

Notes and references

Explanatory footnotes

1. Called the Pinzón voyage of 1508 in García Cruzado 2011, p. 142, Pinzón expedition of 1508 in Zalama 2010, p. 130, and 1508 Pinzón and Solís voyage in Tilton 1993, p. 25. In infobox, country, leader, goal, ships as per Varela Marcos 2018a, paras 6-8, 10, 12 and Varela Marcos 2018b, paras 33, 35; start as per Varela Marcos 2018a, para 12, Varela Marcos 2018b, para 35, and García Cruzado 2015, pp. 428, 438; end as per Varela Marcos 2018a, para 17 and García Cruzado 2015, pp. 438, 444; crew as per Pacheco, de Cárdenas & Torres de Mendoza 1884, pp. 216–221, Varela Marcos 2018a, para 11, Varela Marcos 2018b, para 34, and García Cruzado 2015, pp. 437–438, 444.
2. Attendees included Juan de la Cosa, Juan Díaz de Solís, Amerigo Vespucci, and Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, in addition to the bishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca, the King, and the royal secretary Lope de Conchillos (Varela Marcos 2018a, para 4, Reichert 2017, p. 14, García Cruzado 2015, p. 435).
3. García Cruzado 2015, pp. 428, 436–437 notes it was hoped said passage might be found on the coasts of present-day Honduras, north of Veragua, as Columbus, upon completion of his fourth voyage, had thought Cathay and Zipango might lie in the vicinity of the coast of Veragua. Diego de Nicuesa and Alonso de Ojeda were concurrently commissioned to lead expeditions to Veragua itself and to its south (García Cruzado 2015, pp. 435–436, García Cruzado 2011, pp. 258–259).
4. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 12 and Varela Marcos 2018b, para 35 note as possible the more precise figure of 1,780,863 maravedis proffered by the professor R Ezquerra Abadía in a 1970 paper for Revista de Indias. García Cruzado 2015, p. 438 accepts this figure sans qualification, deeming the Ezquerra Abadía article 'the most important work dedicated to this voyage.' A 22 March 1508 real cédula directed the Casa de la Contratación to provide Pinzón and Solís two well-provisioned caravelas of 50 to 70 tonnage and 29 crew each (Pacheco, de Cárdenas & Torres de Mendoza 1884, pp. 216–221).
5. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 12, García Cruzado 2015, p. 438, and Varela Marcos 2018b, para 35 note as possible the 29 June 1508 date proferred by the historian M Fernández de Navarrete in his 1829 Colección de los viajes y descubrimientos que hicieron por mar los españoles desde finales del siglo xv, but the first two caution that no sources are cited for said date. Reichert 2017, p. 14 and García Cruzado 2015, p. 429 accept the date sans qualification. García Cruzado 2015, p. 428 gives a June 1508 date. García Cruzado 2015, p. 438, fn 32 notes two works which give a 29 March 1508 date.
6. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 13 and García Cruzado 2015, p. 441 deem Pinzón's description 'similar [to], but less precise' than Ledesma's, noting that the former 'was not as experienced a cartographer as Ledesma.' Bartolomé de las Casas seems to accept these accounts, describing a similar itinerary in his Historia de las Indias (García Cruzado 2015, pp. 439–440). Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas reproduces de las Casas's account in his Historia general de los hechos de los españoles, but introduces egregious dating errors (García Cruzado 2015, p. 438).
7. The ordeal may have been especially ordered by the governor, Nicolás de Ovando (Varela Marcos 2018b, para 39). A few native Indians whom Pinzón and Solís had earlier impressed as translators were detained in Santo Domingo as a result (Varela Marcos 2018b, para 39).
8. Where P and F stand for principium and finis, that is, (i) Hispaniola → Cape Gracias a Dios or (ii) Hispaniola → Veragua → Cape Gracias a Dios or (iii) Hispaniola → Tierra Firme → Veragua → Cape Gracias a Dios for P, and (i) Jamaica → Hispaniola or (ii) Florida → Hispaniola for F. Note Guanaja, Izopo, Amatique, Chinchorro, Catoche, and Tampico stand for Guanaja [island], Punta Izopo [peninsula], Amatique Bay, Banco Chinchorro [atoll], Cape Catoche, and Tampico [port], where the second and fourth are rough midpoints between their preceding and succeeding features.
9. Proposed by Ferdinand Columbus in his Historia del Almirante, citing personal intelligence from Ledesma (García Cruzado 2015, pp. 438–439). Rejected by García Cruzado 2015, p. 439.
10. Proposed by Bartolomé de las Casas in his Historia de las Indias, citing sworn testimony by crew (García Cruzado 2015, pp. 439–440). Accepted by Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas in his Historia general de los hechos (García Cruzado 2015, p. 438, fn 33). Accepted by Reichert 2017, p. 14, Peck 2003, pp. 96–98, and Tilton 1993, pp. 31–36.
11. Accepted by Varela Marcos 2018a, para 15 and Polo Martín 2015, p. 150.
12. Accepted by Varela Marcos 2018b, para 36, García Cruzado 2015, pp. 441–443, Gómez Martín 2013, pp. 55–56, García Cruzado 2011, pp. 143–144, Zalama 2010, pp. 132–133, and Varela Marcos 2005, pp. 151, 155–156, 164–165. Rejected by Peck 2003, pp. 96–98 and Tilton 1993, pp. 25, 31–36.
13. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 18, Varela Marcos 2018b, para 40, and Gómez Martín 2013, p. 56 claim that both Pinzón and Solís were detained for alleged breaches of their capitulación, with proceedings eventually resolved in their favour once Ledesma had remitted some guanines to Valladolid, where the King then held Court. Pinzón would receive a laudatory real orden on 8 April 1510 from Ferdinand II of Aragon (Varela Marcos 2018b, para 41). Solís would go on to succeed Amerigo Vespucci as the second piloto mayor of the Casa de la Contratación in March 1512 (Varela Marcos 2018a, para 19).
14. Map attribution and draught date as per Varela Marcos 2005, pp. 149–150 and Varela Marcos 2005, pp. 150–154, respectively. The map was previously dated to 1511 or to 1511–1513 (Varela Marcos 2005, p. 148).
15. The quoted 300 leagues of coastline assume rounding of Cape Catoche and coasting of the southeastern, southern, and western shores of the Gulf of Mexico up to 23° 30' N (García Cruzado 2015, pp. 441–443, Gómez Martín 2013, pp. 55–56). Varela Marcos 2018a, para 15 claims Pinzón and Solís did not round the Cape, however, arguing that 'if they had [they would have discovered that Yucatán was a peninsula, and so] Antón de Alaminos would have known of it[s being a peninsula] (given he was a friend of Ledesma's) but the said Palos-native in his 1517 expedition knew nothing of the existence of [such] a peninsula, christening the region with the name isla [island] de Santa María de los Remedios.' Varela Marcos 2018b, para 36 claims (i) they entered the Gulf but does not claim (ii) they rounded the Cape. Reichert 2017, p. 14 does not claim (i) nor (ii).

Short citations

1. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 4; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 430–434.
2. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 5; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 434–435.
3. Varela Marcos 2018a, paras 4-5; Varela Marcos 2018b, para 33; Reichert 2017, p. 14; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 435–436.
4. Varela Marcos 2018a, paras 6-8; Varela Marcos 2018b, para 33; Reichert 2017, p. 14; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 427–428, 435–437.
5. Varela Marcos 2018a, paras 9, 11-12; Varela Marcos 2018b, paras 34-35; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 437–438.
6. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 12.
7. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 13; Varela Marcos 2018b, para 36; García Cruzado 2015, p. 438.
8. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 12; Varela Marcos 2018b, para 35; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 428, 437–438.
9. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 14; Varela Marcos 2018b, para 36; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 440–441.
10. Varela Marcos 2018b, para 37; García Cruzado 2015, p. 441.
11. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 15.
12. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 13; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 438–440.
13. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 17; Varela Marcos 2018b, para 39.
14. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 17; Varela Marcos 2018b, para 39; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 438, 444.
15. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 17; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 445–448.
16. García Cruzado 2015, p. 444.
17. Varela Marcos 2018a, para 18; Varela Marcos 2018b, para 40; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 429, 444–445.
18. Varela Marcos 2018b, para 38; García Cruzado 2015, pp. 442–443; Gómez Martín 2013, p. 55; Varela Marcos 2005, pp. 144–147, 154.
19. García Cruzado 2015, p. 442; Gómez Martín 2013, pp. 53–54, 56.
20. García Cruzado 2015, pp. 441–443; Gómez Martín 2013, pp. 55–56.

Full citations

1. de Altolaguirre y Duvale A, Bonilla y San Martín A, eds. (1892). De los pleitos de Colón. Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas de ultramar : Segunda serie : Colección de documentos inéditos de ultramar. Vol. 7. Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia.
2. García Cruzado E, ed. (2011). Jornadas IV, V y VI, 2008, 2009 y 2010. Actas de las jornadas de historia sobre el descubrimiento de América. Vol. II. Palos de la Frontera, Spain: Universidad Internacional de Andalucía; Ayuntamiento de Palos de la Frontera. hdl:10334/3367. ISBN 978-84-7993-211-4.
3. García Cruzado E, ed. (2015). Jornadas VII, VIII, IX y X, 2011, 2012, 2013 y 2014. Actas de las jornadas de historia sobre el descubrimiento de América. Vol. III. Palos de la Frontera, Spain: Universidad Internacional de Andalucía; Ayuntamiento de Palos de la Frontera. hdl:10334/3633. ISBN 978-84-7993-263-3.
4. Gómez Martín JA (June 2013). "El descubrimiento del Yucatán". Revista de estudios colombinos. 9: 53–60. ISSN 1699-3926.
5. Markham CR, ed. (2010) [first published 1894 by the Hakluyt Society]. The Letters of Amerigo Vespucci and Other Documents Illustrative of his Career. Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society. Vol. XC (reprint of 1st ed.). Farnham, England: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-1596-1.
6. Pacheco JF, de Cárdenas F, Torres de Mendoza L, eds. (1884). Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas en América y Oceanía, sacados de los Archivos del Reino, y muy especialmente del de Indias. Colección de documentos inéditos de Indias. Vol. 36. Madrid: Imprenta de Manuel G Hernández.
7. Peck DT (May 2003). "The First European Charting of Florida and the Adjacent Shores". Florida Geographer. 34: 82–114. ISSN 0739-0041.
8. Polo Martín B (June 2015). "La controversia sobre la cartografía del cuarto viaje colombino durante la regencia de Fernando el Católico: la ruta real". Revista de estudios colombino. 11: 143–156. ISSN 1699-3926.
9. Reichert R (January–June 2017). "El golfo de Honduras: estrategias geopolíticas y militares de una frontera imperial, siglos XVI-XVIII". Tzintzun. 65: 9–40. ISSN 2007-963X.
10. Tilton DW (1993). "Latitudes, Errors and the Northern Limit of the 1508 Pinzón and Solís Voyage". Terrae Incognitae. 25: 25–40. doi:10.1179/tin.1993.25.1.25.
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