Pedro de Ursúa

Who was Pedro de Ursúa?

Pedro de Ursúa was a Basque Spanish conquistador from Baztan in the 16th century. In Panama, Ursúa subdued a Cimarron revolt by tricking Cimarron leader Bayano into coming unprepared to negotiate a truce, but then captured him and sent him back to King Philip II of Spain. Ursúa also searched the Amazon region for El Dorado and the Omaguas with Lope de Aguirre. Aguirre, commonly portrayed as a monomaniac, assassinated Ursúa: perhaps because Ursúa wouldn't let him take his mistress on the expedition, perhaps merely as a ploy for power.

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 about 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.