Hernán Pérez de Quesada

Hernán Pérez de Quesada
Hernán, as Spanish conquistador, wore an armoured uniform
Born	~1500 Granada, Castile
Died	1544 Caribbean Sea, New Kingdom of Granada
Cause of death	Lightning strike
Nationality	Castilian
Occupation	Conquistador
Years active	1536-1542
Employer	Spanish Crown
Known for	Spanish conquest of the Muisca Quest for El Dorado
Title	Governor of New Kingdom of Granada
Term	1539-1542
Predecessor	Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1538-1539)
Successor	Luis Alonso de Lugo (1542-1544)
Criminal charge	• Mistreatment of indigenous people • Murders of Tisquesusa, Sagipa & Aquiminzaque
Spouse(s)	none
Parents	Luís Jiménez de Quesada (father) Isabel de Rivera Quesada (mother)
Relatives	Gonzalo Jiménez (brother) Francisco Jiménez (brother) Melchor Jiménez (brother) Andrea Ximénez (sister) Catalina Magdalena (sister) Isabel de Quesada (half-sister)
Notes

Hernán Pérez de Quesada, sometimes spelled as De Quezada, (Granada, Castile, ~1500 - Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Cabo de la Vela, New Kingdom of Granada, 1544) was a Spanish conquistador. Second in command of the army of his elder brother, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Hernán was part of the first European expedition towards the inner highlands of the Colombian Andes. The harsh journey, taking almost a year and many deaths, led through the departments Magdalena, Cesar, Santander, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Huila of present-day Colombia between 1536 and 1539 and, without him, Meta, Caquetá and Putumayo of Colombia and northern Peru and Ecuador between 1540 and 1542.

Hernán founded Sutatausa, Cundinamarca, and aided in the conquest of various indigenous groups, such as the Chimila, Muisca, Panche, Lache, U'wa, Sutagao and others. Under the command of Hernán Pérez de Quesada the last Muisca ruler; zaque Aquiminzaque were publicly decapitated. As second in command under his brother, in the previous years zipas Tisquesusa and Sagipa and Tundama of Duitama had suffered a similar fate. After returning from his expeditions to the south reaching Quito, where he reunited with his younger brother Francisco, both De Quesadas went back to Bogotá. Hernán was tried and imprisoned there for the murders of the Muisca rulers by the governor of the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada. In 1544, en route back to Spain with his brother Francisco, their ship was hit by lightning off the coast of Cabo de la Vela in the Caribbean Sea killing Hernán and Francisco and wounding several other conquistadors who were returning to Spain.