Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
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Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532 - 1602) was a Spanish explorer, author, historian, astronomer, scientist, and humanist. Sarmiento was born in Alcala De Henaras. His father Bartolomé Sarmiento was born in Pontevedra in Galacia and his mother María Gamboa was born in Victoria near Bilbao.
At the age of 18, Sarmiento de Gamboa entered the royal military in the European wars. Between 1550 and 1555 the future navigator fought in accordance with the political military of the Austrian rule (King Carlos V). In 1555 he began his exploring career, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. His first destination was what is today Mexico, where he lived for two years, of which little is known, other than that he encountered difficulties with the Inquisition. He then sailed to Peru, where he lived for more than twenty years.
In Lima he was accused by the Inquisition for possessing 2 magic rings, some magic ink and for following the precepts of Moses.
He discovered the Solomon Islands in 1568.
He became the commander of the naval station in the Pacific in 1578, when Sir Francis Drake attacked the coast of Peru and Mexico. He sailed out of the port of Callao with eleven vessels in 1579 to capture Drake, who had returned by the Cape of Good Hope; he explored the coast, and, after some encounters with the natives, returned to Spain in 1580. On his reporting the results of his expedition to Philip II, the latter resolved to fortify the Strait, and in 1581 sent an expedition of twenty-four vessels with 2,500 men from Cadiz, under the command of Sarmiento de Gamboa and Diego Flores Valdez. The expedition was unfortunate, as eight vessels were lost in a storm, and Flores, on account of rivalry with Sarmiento de Gamboa, abandoned him with twelve vessels in the entry of the strait and returned to Spain. With only four vessels, Sarmiento de Gamboa continued the voyage, arriving in January 1583 at a favorable point, where he established a fort and colony, which he called San Felipe (afterward Port Famine).
In 1584 he sailed for Europe, leaving a garrison of 300 men, when he was captured by an English fleet, carried to England, and kept prisoner until 1588. Meanwhile his colony dissolved and gradually perished of starvation; one of the survivors was rescued by Cavendish's fleet in 1587, and another by Meriche in 1589. After his liberation, Sarmiento de Gamboa made a representation of his experience and a complaint against Flores to King Philip II; it seems that his complaint was neglected.
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa spent the rest of his life dedicating himself to his writings. On his last naval mission in the service of the king he was Admiral of the armada of galleons en route to the Indies. He died on board ship, near the coast of Lisbon in 1602.