Early life

He was born Sebastin Moyano in the province of Crdoba, Spain, in either 1479 or
1480. He took the name Belalczar as that was the name of the castle-town near to
his birthplace in Crdoba.[1]:157 According to various sources, he may have left
for the New World with Christopher Columbus as early as 1498, but Juan de
Castellanos wrote that he killed a mule in 1507, and fled Spain for the West Indies
due to fear of punishment, and as a chance to escape the poverty in which he lived.
[citation needed]

America
See also: Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations
He was an encomendero in Panama in 1522. He entered Nicaragua with Francisco
Hernndez de Crdoba in 1524 during the conquest of Nicaragua,[1]:157 and became
the first mayor of the city of Len in Nicaragua. He remained there until 1527,
when he left for Honduras as a result of internal disputes among the Spanish
governors. Briefly returning to Len, he sailed to the coast of Peru, where he
united with the expedition of Francisco Pizarro in 1532.[1]:157,260

Conquest of Ecuado

Plaque of Sebastin de Benalczar in Quito, Ecuador

In 1534, while commanding the settlement of San Miguel for Francisco Pizarro,
Sebastian set off to conquer Quito in Ecuador, without orders from Pizarro. Quito
had been the northernmost city of the Inca Empire, but while Belalczar defeated
the Inca general Rumiahui, the local population secreted the city treasure away.
Belalczar then founded the new city of Quito with Diego de Almagro and Baltasar
Maldonado, honoring Pizarro by naming it in full "San Francisco de Quito".[2]:226

His battles, though, were not entirely honourable. At a village called Quinche near
Puritaco, he found that all the men were away fighting with the national army. To
make an example of these people (and to vent his frustration at finding so little
treasure), he ordered all the women and children to be slaughtered. 'A feeble
excuse to justify cruelty unworthy of a Castilian', was the verdict of Herrera, the
official Chronicler of the Conquest, to Belalczar's excuse that this was done to
terrify other natives into returning to their homes.

Conquest of Colombia

Statue of Sebastin de Belalczar in the Colombian city of Santiago de Cali

See also: Spanish conquest of the Muisca
Moving northward into present day Colombia in search of El Dorado in 1535, he
entered the Cauca River Valley, founding the southwestern Colombian cities of
Santiago de Cali in 1536, and Pasto and Popayn (next in importance after Quito) in
1537. Crossing overland to the Magdalena River Valley, he entered the highlands of
central Colombia, which had also been reached by Gonzalo Jimnez de Quesada and
Nikolaus Federmann, a German, in 1539. The three presented their dispute before
King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The King granted Belalczar rule of the area
with the title of governor of Popayn and the honorary title of adelantado in May
1540. As so often happened among the conquistadors, land squabbles developed again,
this time between Belalczar and Pascual de Andagoya (14951548), who also claimed
the governorship of Popayn. Belalczar successfully defended his lands, and took
over some of Andagoya's. He then intervened in a disagreement between supporters of
the families of Pizarro and Almagro in Per. In 1546, he ordered the execution of
Jorge Robledo, who governed a neighboring province in yet another land-related
vendetta. He was put to trial in absentia in 1550, convicted and condemned to death
for the death of Robledo, and other offenses pertaining to his constant involvement
in the various wars between other conquistadors. A victim of his own ambition, he
died in 1551 before he could begin the voyage back to Spain to appeal the decision,
in Cartagena, Colombia.