Conflicts & Resolutions · War

Spanish conquest of the Muisca

1537–1540 · 16th century

The Spanish conquest of the Muisca was the subjugation of the Muisca Confederation of the Colombian highlands by conquistadors led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada from 1537. The Spaniards defeated the rulers of Bacatá and Hunza and founded Santa Fe de Bogotá in 1538. The region became the New Kingdom of Granada, the core of later Spanish rule in present-day Colombia.

Spanish conquest of the Muisca
Image: Coriolano Leudo Obando · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Battles and settlements

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APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Spanish conquest of the Muisca. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/spanish-conquest-of-the-muisca
MLA
“Spanish conquest of the Muisca.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/spanish-conquest-of-the-muisca. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Spanish conquest of the Muisca.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/spanish-conquest-of-the-muisca.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Spanish conquest of the Muisca’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/spanish-conquest-of-the-muisca (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻