User:Steveprutz/jamestown/zuniga


 * Spanish diplomat (1600-1631)

Don Pedro de Zúñiga y de la Cueva (or simply Don Pedro Zuniga) was a Spanish Ambassador to England from c. 1605 to 1609, then later in 1612. During the time of the New World colonization (notably the English Jamestown, Virginia, settlement) he held court with King James I of England. Pedro was the son of Diego de Zúñiga y Benavides, who was ambassador of France to Spain.

Before England's attempts at colonization, Spain had already laid claim to much of Florida and the southeast coast of America. The Anglo-Spanish War was over, but tensions still existed. From the Spanish, there was a desire to suppress other nations from exploiting the Americas. Piracy and privateering also made traveling to the Caribbean and Americas an uncertain endeavor for explorers. Don Pedro Zúñiga's activities included reconnaissance of the Virginia colony.

In 1608, Zuniga obtained a manuscript map of Virginia, which included the location of Jamestown (James Fort palisades), over 60 native villages, rivers, and John Smith's route after capture by Opechancanough. It appears that the chart was a tracing of John Smith's (or possibly traveling companion and cartographer Nathaniel Powell's) original map from several Chesapeake Bay expeditions. Smith had sent two maps to England: one to London Company and one to Henry Hudson.

The "Zuniga chart" was forwarded to King Philip III of Spain. The map was rediscovered by historian Alexander Brown in Archivo General de Simancas, Valladolid, Spain. It is only sketch of the James Fort compound known to exist.