Balboa's Childhood

I was born in 1475 in the town of Jerez de los Caballeros in the Spanish providence of Extremdura, near the border with Portugal. My father, Don Nuño Arias de Balboa, was an impoverished knight. I remember the days that my family was wealthy and powerful, but the times have changed and both our wealth and power are gone. Because I was born poor but of a noble family I was sent to serve as a page in a wealthy household. At the age of six I was answering to a nobleman by the name of Don Pedro Puertocarrero. The stories of he newly discovered lands sparked great interest in my young and ambitious mind.