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In 1529, Bartholomew Welser received a huge grant of land in what is now Venezuela from Charles V (King Charles I of Spain), who gave it to Bartholomew in exchange for large sums of money owed to the Welser Family on behalf of the crown. The Family sponsored an expedition to inspect and explore their new lands in 1535 under the command of Philippe von Hutton, hoping to find precious metals and colonize the area. Von Hutton spent several years exploring the continent’s interior and eventually became Captain-General of the province. In 1546, however, the Spanish crown revoked the Welser’s land grant, in large part due to their abuse of the indigenous peoples. The new Spanish Governor had Von Hutton executed.
Antony Welser (d. 1518) was one of the first Europeans to use the sea route to India discovered by Vasco de Gama.
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