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Pedrarias Dávila Appointed Governor of Panama

Type Event Region Central America Time c. 1514

In 1514 Castile appointed Pedro Arias de Ávila (Pedrarias) governor of Castilla del Oro, leading the largest colonial expedition yet to Darién to rep…

Timeline

  1. c. 1513–1514Seville/Spain · AndalusiaAfter Balboa's discovery of the Pacific, Ferdinand II appointed the nearly seventy-year-old Pedrarias governor of Castilla del Oro, tasked with taking over the Darién colony and investigating Balboa. The expedition assembled about 19 ships and 1,500 men, including Oviedo and Bernal Díaz among its members.
  2. c. 1514Sanlúcar de Barrameda · AndalusiaIn April 1514 Pedrarias set sail from Spain; the fleet was the largest expedition to the New World to date, carrying royal orders to suspend Balboa's authority and put him under judicial investigation.
  3. c. 1514Santa María la Antigua del Darién · Darién ProvincePedrarias arrived in Darién in June–July 1514, and Castilla del Oro was elevated to a directly ruled royal colony. Balboa outwardly accepted his replacement and shared geographical intelligence, but conflict between the two soon intensified, foreshadowing Balboa's later execution.

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