ABSTRACT
The merchants demanded of the emperor in consideration of loans already made, and of others which it was expected the Welser would require, that the province of Venezuela should be granted to them as a hereditary fief of the crown. In 1545, Charles V. rescinded the grant which had been made to the Germans, and the province of Venezuela reverted to the crown. The first of the governors who directed the affairs of Venezuela after the province was brought immediately under the king was Juan Perez de Tolosa, who died in 1548. During the second half of the sixteenth century the history of Venezuela is made up of accounts of exploring expeditions, of the founding of towns, and of wars with the Indians. Belalcazar, who had come from Peru, and Federmann, who had been sent by Governor Spira, of Venezuela, yielded their rights of conquest in favor of Quesada, who had reached Bogotá in April, 1537.
