Vasco Balboa
1475 – 1519
Spanish

Explorer and the first Spaniard to view the Pacific Ocean ("from a peak in Darien"). He lived a life of adventure and discovery, but eventually quarreled with his superior and was executed.

Contemporaries
1519–1589Catherine de' Medici
1432–1519Leonardo da Vinci
1484–1531Huldrych Zwingli
1420–1498Tomás de Torquemada
1452–1485Richard III
1478–1535Sir Thomas More
1492–1549Margaret of Angouleme
1491–1556St. Ignatius of Loyola
1490–1546Sir Thomas Elyot
1504–1575Heinrich Bullinger