Pinzón–Solís voyage

The Pinzón–Solís voyage was a Spanish maritime expedition in 1508–1509 to the Bay of Honduras, and possibly to adjacent bodies of water, led by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón and Juan Díaz de Solís. It is thought to have been the earliest European reconnaissance of coasts in the western portion of the aforementioned Bay, and thus of the Caribbean shores of Belize, Guatemala, western Honduras, and possibly southern Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Prelude
Since the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain had expected but not received word of a western passage to la Especiería. As the years wore on, the lack of progress became so glaringly obvious that on 13 March 1505 and again on 23 August 1506, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón and Amerigo Vespucci were especially commissioned to redeem the frustrated record by discovery of such a passage. For some reason or another, however, these commissions could not be promptly fulfilled. Consequently, in March 1508, Ferdinand II of Aragon convened 'the most distinguished navigators' of the day to Burgos, to furnish him a course of action which would discover a western passage to la Especiería. As a result of which, on 23 March 1508, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón and Juan Díaz de Solís were jointly commissioned via capitulación to forthwith undertake the named venture in those seas north of Veragua, with the former given command over military matters, and the latter over maritime ones.

Pinzón and Solís summarily headed to Seville on 25 March 1508 to enlist the carabela San Benito, Pinzón master, and the nao La Magdalena, Solís master, for their armadilla, and 'renowned pilot' Pedro de Ledesma, and veedor and escribano Alonso Páez for their crew. Once all had been readied, the cost of rent, wages, and provisions for the voyage is thought to have totalled almost two million maravedis.

Voyage
Scarce little is known of the voyage's itinerary, and what little known has proven contradictory. Its date of departure from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, for instance, is not exactly known, though all preparations were finalised by May 1508. Its route is likewise imprecisely understood, as conflicting accounts of it exist.

Some accounts of the route, notably first-hand accounts by Ledesma and Pinzón, describe an itinerary which partly traced that of Columbus's fourth voyage from Cape Gracias a Dios west towards the Bay Islands,  branched beyond it from the Bay Islands west towards Amatique Bay, then north towards Cape Catoche. For instance, Ledesma reported that 'they discovered, above the land of Veragua to the north, all which up to now [in 1513] has come to be known from the island of Guanaja northwards, which lands are called Chavañin y Pintigua which they reached going north up to 23 degrees and 30 minutes.' Similarly, Pinzón reported that they discovered '[lands] from the island of Guanaxa to the province of Camarona; going along the coast towards the east there is another province called Chabañin e Pintigue, which was discovered by this witness [Pinzón] and Juan Solis [Solís], and that they similarly discovered going along the coast, a great bay which they named Gran baya [Bahía] de la Navidad, and from there this witness discovered the syerras [Sierras] de Carya and other lands too farther ahead, and that these provinces never the said don Cristóbal colón [Columbus] nor any other ever reached.' If these accounts are to be believed, then, the voyage reconnoitred the southern and western coasts of the Bay of Honduras, that is, the Caribbean coasts of present-day Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.

Other accounts of the route, however, describe an itinerary which traced that of Columbus's fourth voyage from Cape Gracias a Dios west towards the Bay Islands. For instance, Ferdinand Columbus, who had reportedly examined the voyage's route as charted by Ledesma, deemed the expedition simply a duplicate of his father's fourth voyage.

In contrast to the above, a bit more is clearly known of the voyage's return. Pinzón and Solís reached Santo Domingo in May 1509, where they watered for a few days while their ships were boarded and searched. The armadilla then took a few months crossing the Atlantic, finally arriving in Seville, Spain on 29 August 1509, where they offloaded 'diverse objects of guanines' to be melted into ingots, and 'various' native Indians whom they had impressed, enslaved, or abducted.

Aftermath
The voyage proved a failure, as it did not discover a western passage to the Spice Islands, and thereby helped to shift Spanish efforts to that end away from the Caribbean coasts of Middle America. Curiously, swiftly upon disembarking, Pinzón accused Solís of irregularities in contravention of their capitulación, leading to the latter's detainment pending further investigation. Solís was found not guilty, though, and awarded 34,000 maravedis in compensation, while Pinzón and Ledesma were awarded posts at the Casa de la Contratación.

Legacy
The first print map to feature intelligence gathered by this Pinzón and Solís voyage is thought to have been the Peter Martyr map, drafted on 4 December 1514 by Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca and Pietro Martire d'Anghiera for publication in reprints of the latter's 1511 Legatio Babylonica. Though the discovery of the Yucatán Peninsula is popularly credited to a 1517 expedition by Hernández de Córdoba, some scholars note the feat should properly be assigned to this Pinzón and Solís voyage. The voyage is further credited with the discovery of some 300 nautical leagues of coastline north and northwest of the Bay Islands, between 16° 28' N to 23° 30' N.