page_title: Pedro de Heredia
section_title: Inland expeditions and residencias
hierarchical_section_title: Pedro de Heredia / Inland expeditions and residencias
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Trajet des conquistadors en Colombie &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Alonso de Ojeda&#160;(1499-1501) &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Vasco Núñez de Balboa&#160;(1513) &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Pedro Arias Dávila&#160;(1513-1519) &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Pascual de Andagoya, Diego de Almagro et Francisco Pizarro&#160;(1515-1529) &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Pedro de Heredia et ses lieutenants&#160;(1532-1538) &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Sebastián de Belalcázar&#160;(1533-1539) &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Lieutenants de Sebastián de Belalcázar&#160;(1533-1539) &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada&#160;(1536-1538) &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Nicolás de Federmán&#160;(1537-1539)
context_page_description: Pedro de Heredia was a Spanish conquistador, founder of the city of Cartagena de Indias and explorer of the northern coast and the interior of present-day Colombia.
context_section_description: Heredia signed friendship pacts with the Indian chiefs of the nearby islands. With the help of Catalina acting as interpreter, Heredia conquered and ruled the area around Cartagena, including Turbaco and the Magdalena River. He looted Indian graves in the Sinú river  area and founded Santiago de Tolú. His spoils from these expeditions included a solid gold porcupine weighing 132 pounds - the heaviest gold object plundered during the Conquest. Heredia returned with a bounty of one and half million ducats in gold. Each soldier received six thousand ducats, far more than the amount given to the troops who helped conquer Mexico and Peru.
  Pedro de Heredia prepared a second expedition to the South Sea and in 1534 he reached the Sinú river, where he ransacked the indigenous peoples' tombs for gold. He and his troops then penetrated to Antioquia and returned exhausted to Cartagena. Once there, Heredia met Fray Tomas de Toro, the first bishop of Cartagena, sent by king Carlos I of Spain, and his brother Alonso, who had recently arrived from Guatemala. Heredia rescinded Francisco Cesar and appointed Alonso as lieutenant general. His brother Alonso led two expeditions to the Sinú, and in the last he arrived at the Cauca river in 1535. In 1536, Heredia mounted an expedition southward on the Atrato river with no results.
  Irregularities in the conduct of the Heredia brothers earned them numerous complaints. In 1536, Judge Juan de Vadillo (a relative of Pedro de Vadillo) was appointed by the Audiencia of Santo Domingo to investigate the charges against Pedro de Heredia and his brother for defaulting on due payments for land and mistreatment of the natives.
  Vadillo found Heredia guilty and imprisoned him, assuming for himself the interim government of Cartagena. Heredia was allowed to go to Spain to attend his trial, in which he was acquitted. He returned to Cartagena with some members of his family: a few nieces and his two sons, Antonio, who joined him on all his subsequent expeditions, and Juan, who later settled in Santa Cruz de Mompox. Shortly after his return, Heredia embarked on a quest for the treasure of Dabeiba, the precursor of the myth of El Dorado. After an unproductive long trip, Heredia returned to San Sebastián de Urabá where he accused Jorge Robledo and had him imprisoned, then sent him back to Spain for usurpation of Heredia's jurisdiction. On March 16 of 1542, Heredia departed for Antioquia to annex the territory to Cartagena. There Heredia was taken prisoner himself  by Sebastián de Belalcázar and sent to Panamá to stand trial for his attempts to seize control of Antioquia. Unwilling to mediate in such a delicate affair, the Royal Audience of Panama released Heredia, who returned to Cartagena.
  Immediately after his arrival in Cartagena on July 25, 1544, the city was pillaged by a French Huguenot nobleman, Jean-François Roberval, known as "Robert Baal". Cartagena was not yet fortified and was an easy target for the French. Heredia was obliged to fight with his sword at his own house, as the enemy held the advantage in numbers, forcing him to flee and hide nearby with his relatives. The ransom for the city was 200,000 gold ducats, payment of which was enough to satisfy Roverbal, who then abandoned the region. Shortly after Roverbal's assault, Heredia left Antioquia to annex the territory under the jurisdiction of Cartagena. He returned to Cartagena in 1548 to appear before a residencia (court of inquiry) for abuse of his power and authority during office. The visitador (a royal inspector who reported to the Council of the Indies) Miguel Diez de Armendáriz found him guilty of all charges; Heredia, however, continued to hold his administrative position.
caption: Map of Colombian conquest
  De Heredia's route indicated in blue
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