|
|
Article: Álvaro de Mendaña de Neyra
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of World Biography
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Á
lvaro de Menda
ñ
a de Neyra
The Spanish explorer
Á
lvaro de Menda
ñ
a de Neyra (1541-1595) discovered the Solomon and Marquesas islands. The voyages of Menda
ñ
a and his associates in search of new conquests to the south ended the Spanish phase of the Age of Discovery.
Born in Saragossa,
Á
lvaro de Menda
ñ
a de Neyra was the nephew of an appointee to the viceroyalty of Peru. Menda
ñ
a was put in charge of an expedition to the South Pacific which sailed from Callao, Peru, late in 1567. With him went Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, an adventurer whose campaign for the conquest of the mythical Southern Continent (also called Terra Australis, although it had no ...