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Ulrich Schmidl, engraving from Levinus Hulsius, 1599

Ulrich Schmidl or Schmidel (1510 in Straubing - 1579 in Regensburg) was a German Landsknecht, conquistador, explorer, chronicler and councilman. Schmidl was, beside Hans Staden, one of the few the Landsknechts, who wrote his experiences down.

Schmidl took part 1534 as a Landsknecht under Pedro de Mendoza in an expedition to today's Argentina (Río de la Plata), lived and fought there for nearly 20 years and became a founder of Buenos Aires. He wrote a book about his experiences in the Río de la Plata region, becoming the first historian of Argentina. His journey led him across the Río Paraná and Río Paraguay and into today's Paraguay, where he helped to found Asunción. From there he undertook several expeditions in the Gran Chaco, which led him into southeast Bolivia.

In 1554 he returned with a few pieces of booty to Straubing, where he had inherited the fortune of his deceased brother, and became a councilman. Because of religious strife he had to leave Straubing and went in 1562 to Regensburg, where he died in 1579.

[edit] Sources

• Maura, Juan Francisco (2008). Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: el gran burlador de América. Parnaseo/Lemir - Universidad de Valencia. http://parnaseo.uv.es/lemir/Textos/Maura.pdf. 
• Schmidel, Ulrich (2001). Viaje al Río de la Plata. Alicante: Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes - Digital edition based on Buenos Aires Edition - Cabaut y Cía. 1903. http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/12586186423471506765435/index.htm. 

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