Francisco Pizarro González, 1st Marqués de los Atabillos (c. 1471 or 1476
– June 26, 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, conqueror of the Inca Empire and
founder of Lima, La Ciudad de los Reyes, capital of Peru.
Francisco Pizarro González, 1st Marqués
de los Atabillos (c. 1471 or 1476 – June 26, 1541) was a Spanish conquistador,
conqueror of the Inca Empire and founder of Lima, La Ciudad de los Reyes,
capital of Peru. Pizarro was born in Trujillo, Extremadura, Spain. Sources
differ in the birth year they assign to him: 1471, 1475–1478, or unknown. He was
an illegitimate son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro Rodríguez de Aguilar (senior)
(1446-1522) who as colonel of infantry served in the Italian campaigns under
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, and in Navarre, with some distinction. His mother
was Francisca González Mateos, a woman of slender means from Trujillo, daughter
of Juan Mateos, of the family called Los Roperos, and wife María Alonso,
labradores pecheros from Trujillo. His mother married lately and had a son
Francisco Martín de Alcántara, married to Inés Muñoz, who was since the
beginning at the Conquest of Perú, where he then lived, always at his brother's
side, who had him always as one of his most trustfull men. Through his father,
Francisco was second cousin once removed to Hernán Cortés, the famed
conquistador of Mexico, and distantly related to Francisco de Orellana and
Beltrán de la Cueva.
Expedition to the Americas
On February 13, 1502, he sailed from Spain with Nicolás de Ovando, the newly
appointed Governor of Hispaniola, on a fleet of thirty ships. It was the largest
fleet that had ever sailed to the New World, carrying 2,500 colonists.
Pizarro in Panama
In 1513, he accompanied Vasco Núñez de Balboa in his crossing of the Isthmus of
Panama and they became the first Europeans to view the Pacific coast of the New
World. The following year, in 1514, Pedro Arias de Avila (Pedrarias) became the
newly appointed governor of Castilla de Oro and succeeded Balboa. The next five
years Pizarro became a close associate of Pedrarias Dávila and the governor
assigned him a repartimiento of natives and cattle. When Pedrarias Dávila
decided to get rid of Balboa out of distrust, he instructed Pizarro to
personally arrest him and bring him to stand trial. Balboa was duly convicted
and beheaded in January of 1519. For his loyalty to Pedrarias Dávila, Pizarro
was bestowed the important political position of mayor (Alcalde) and magistrate
of the then recently founded Panama City from 1519 to 1523.
Expeditions to South America
The first attempt to explore western South America was undertaken in 1522 by
Pascual de Andagoya. The native South Americans he encountered told him about a
gold-rich territory called Virú, which was on a river called Pirú (later
corrupted to Perú) and from which they came. These reports were related by the
Spanish-Inca mestizo writer Garcilaso de la Vega in his famous Comentarios
Reales de los Incas (1609).
Andagoya eventually established contact with several Native American curacas
(chiefs), some of whom he later claimed were sorcerers and witches. Having
reached as far as the San Juan River (part of the present boundary between
Ecuador and Colombia), Andagoya fell very ill and decided to return. Back in
Panama, he spread the news and stories about "Pirú" –- a great land to the south
rich with gold (the legendary El Dorado). These revelations, along with the
accounts of success of Hernán Cortés in Mexico years before, caught the
immediate attention of Pizarro, prompting a new series of expeditions to the
south in search of the riches of the Incan Empire.
In 1524, while still in Panama, Pizarro formed a partnership with a priest,
Hernando de Luque, and a soldier, Diego de Almagro, to explore and conquer the
south. Pizarro, Almagro, and Luque later renewed their compact more explicitly,
agreeing to conquer and divide equally among themselves the opulent empire they
hoped to discover. While historians agree their accord was strictly verbal (no
written document exists to prove otherwise), they are known to have dubbed their
enterprise the "Empresa del Levante" and determined that Pizarro would command
the expedition, Almagro would provide the military and food supplies, and Luque
would be in charge of finances and any additional provisions they might need.
First expedition (1524)
On September 13, 1524, the first of three expeditions left from Panama for the
conquest of Peru with about 80 men and 40 horses. Diego de Almagro was left
behind because he was to recruit men, gather additional supplies, and join
Pizarro later. The governor of Panama, Pedro Arias Dávila, at first approved in
principle of exploring South America. Pizarro's first expedition, however,
turned out to be a failure as his conquistadors, sailing down the Pacific coast,
reached no farther than Colombia before succumbing to such hardships as bad
weather, lack of food, and skirmishes with hostile natives -- one of which
caused Almagro to lose an eye by arrow-shot. Moreover, the place names the
Spanish bestowed along their route, including Puerto deseado (desired port),
Puerto del hambre (port of hunger) and Puerto quemado (burned port), only
confirm their straits. Fearing subsequent hostile encounters like the one the
expedition endured at the Battle of Punta Quemada, Pizarro chose to end his
tentative first expedition and return to Panama.
Second expedition (1526)
Two years after the first very unsuccessful expedition, Pizarro, Almagro, and
Luque started the arrangements for a second expedition with permission from
Pedrarias Dávila. The governor, who himself was preparing an expedition north to
Nicaragua, was reluctant to permit another expedition, having lost confidence in
the outcome of Pizarro's expeditions. The three associates, however, eventually
won his trust and he acquiesced. Also by this time, a new governor was to arrive
and succeed Pedrarias Dávila. This was Pedro de los Ríos, who took charge of the
post in July of 1526 and had manifested his initial approval of Pizarro's
expeditions (he would later join him several years later in Peru). In August
1526, after all preparations were ready, Pizarro left Panama with two ships with
160 men and several horses, reaching as far as the Colombian San Juan River.
Soon after arriving the party separated, with Pizarro staying to explore the new
and often perilous territory off the swampy Colombian coasts, while the
expedition's second-in-command, Almagro, was sent back to Panama for
reinforcements. Pizarro's Piloto Mayor (main pilot), Bartolomé Ruiz, continued
sailing south and, after crossing the equator, found and captured a balsa (raft)
of natives from Tumbes who were supervising the area. To everyone's surprise,
these carried a load of textiles, ceramic objects, and some much-desired pieces
of gold, silver, and emeralds, making Ruiz's findings the central focus of this
second expedition which only served to pique the conquistadors' interests for
more gold and land. Some of the natives were also taken aboard Ruiz's ship to
serve later as interpreters. He then set sail north for the San Juan river,
arriving to find Pizarro and his men exhausted from the serious difficulties
they had faced exploring the new territory. Soon Almagro also sailed into the
port with his vessel laden with supplies, and a considerable reinforcement of at
least eighty recruited men who had arrived at Panama from Spain with the same
expeditionary spirit. The findings and excellent news from Ruiz along with
Almagro's new reinforcements cheered Pizarro and his tired followers. They then
decided to sail back to the territory already explored by Ruiz and, after a
difficult voyage due to strong winds and currents, reached Atacames in the
Ecuadorian coast. Here they found a very large native population recently
brought under Inca rule. Unfortunately for the conquistadors, the warlike spirit
of the people they had just encountered seemed so defiant and dangerous in
numbers that the Spanish decided not to enter the land.
After much wrangling between Pizarro and Almagro, it was decided that Pizarro
would stay at a safer place, the Isla de Gallo, near the coast, while Almagro
would return yet again to Panama with Luque for more reinforcements — this time
with proof of the gold they had just found and the news of the discovery of an
obvious wealthy land they had just explored. The new governor of Panama, Pedro
de los Ríos, had learned of the mishaps of Pizarro's expeditions and the deaths
of various settlers who had gone with him. Fearing an unsuccessful outcome, he
outright rejected Almagro's application for a third expedition in 1527. In
addition, he ordered two ships commanded by Juan Tafur to be sent immediately
with the intention of bringing Pizarro and everyone back to Panama. The leader
of the expedition had no intention of returning, and when Tafur arrived at the
now famous Isla de Gallo, Pizarro drew a line in the sand, saying: "There lies
Peru with its riches; Here, Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best
becomes a brave Castilian." Only thirteen men decided to stay with Pizarro and
later became known as The thirteen of the fame ("Los trece de la fama"), while
the rest of the expeditioners left back with Tafur aboard his ships. Ruiz also
left in one of the ships with the intention of joining Almagro and Luque in
their efforts to gather more reinforcements and eventually return to aid
Pizarro. Soon after the ships left, the thirteen men and Pizarro constructed a
crude boat and sailed nine miles (14 km) north for La Isla Gorgona, where they
would remain for seven months before the arrival of new provisions. Back in
Panama, Pedro de los Rios (after much convincing by Luque) had finally
acquiesced to the requests for another ship, but only to bring Pizarro back
within six months and completely abandon the expedition. Both Almagro and Luque
quickly grasped the opportunity and left Panama (this time without new recruits)
for la Isla Gorgona to once again join Pizarro. On meeting with Pizarro, the
associates decided to continue sailing south on the recommendations of Ruiz's
Indian interpreters. By April 1528, they finally reached the northwestern
Peruvian Tumbes Region. Tumbes became the territory of the first fruits of
success the Spanish had so long desired, as they were received with a warm
welcome of hospitality and provisions from the Tumpis, the local inhabitants. On
subsequent days two of Pizarro's men reconnoitered the territory and both, on
separate accounts, reported back the incredible riches of the land, including
the decorations of silver and gold around the chief's residence and the
hospitable attentions with which they were received by everyone. The Spanish
also saw, for the first time, the Peruvian llama which Pizarro called the
"little camels". The natives also began calling the Spanish the "Children of the
Sun" due to their fair complexion and brilliant armor. Pizarro, meanwhile,
continued receiving the same accounts of a powerful monarch who ruled over the
land they were exploring. These events only served as evidence to convince the
expedition that the wealth and power displayed at Tumbes was just an example of
the riches of the Peruvian territory waiting to be plundered. The conquistadors
decided to return to Panama to prepare the final expedition of conquest with
more recruits and provisions. Before leaving, however, Pizarro and his followers
sailed south not so far along the coast to see if anything of interest could be
found. Historian William H. Prescott recounts that after passing through
territories they named such as Cabo Blanco, port of Payta, Sechura, Punta de
Aguja, Santa Cruz, and Trujillo (founded by Almagro years later), they finally
reached for the first time the ninth degree of the southern latitude in South
America. On their return towards Panama, Pizarro briefly stopped at Tumbes,
where two of his men had decided to stay to learn the customs and language of
the natives. Pizarro was also offered a native or two himself, one of which was
later baptized as Felipillo and served as an important interpreter, the
equivalent of Cortés' La Malinche of Mexico. Their final stop was at La Isla
Gorgona, where two of his sick men (one had died) had stayed before. After at
least eighteen months away, Pizarro and his followers anchored off the coast of
Panama to prepare for the final expedition.
Capitulación de Toledo
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Aragon and Castile.When the new
governor of Panama, Pedro de los Ríos, had refused to allow for a third
expedition to the south, the associates resolved for Pizarro to leave for Spain
and appeal to the sovereign in person. Pizarro sailed from Panama for Spain in
the spring of 1528, reaching Seville in early summer. King Charles I, who was at
Toledo, had an interview with Pizarro and heard of his expeditions in South
America, a territory the conquistador described as very rich in gold and silver
which he and his followers had bravely explored "to extend the empire of
Castile." The King, who was soon to leave for Italy, was impressed at the
accounts of Pizarro and promised to give his support for the conquest of Peru.
It would be Queen Isabel, however, who, in the absence of the King, would sign
the Capitulación de Toledo, a license document which authorized Francisco
Pizarro to proceed with the conquest of Peru. Pizarro was officially named the
Governor, Captain General, and the "Adelantado" of the New Castile for the
distance of 200 leagues along the newly discovered coast, and invested with all
the authority and prerogatives, his associates being left in wholly secondary
positions (a fact which later incensed Almagro and would lead to eventual
discords with Pizarro). One of the conditions of the grant was that within six
months Pizarro should raise a sufficiently equipped force of two hundred and
fifty men, of whom one hundred might be drawn from the colonies.
Recreation of Pizarro's 16th century home. A room in the upstairs elucidates on
the conquest of the Americas; Trujillo, Spain.This gave Pizarro time to leave
for his native Trujillo and convince his brother Hernándo Pizarro and other
close friends to join him on his third expedition. Along with him also came
Francisco de Orellana, who would later discover and explore the entire length of
the Amazon River. Two more of his brothers, Juan Pizarro II and Gonzalo Pizarro,
would later decide to also join him. When the expedition was ready and left the
following year, it numbered three ships, one hundred and eighty men, and
twenty-seven horses.
Since Pizarro could not meet the number of men the Capitulación had required, he
sailed clandestinely from the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda for the Canary
Island of La Gomera in January 1530. He was there to be joined by his brother
Hernando and the remaining men in two vessels that would sail back to Panama.
Pizarro's third and final expedition left Panama for Peru on December 27, 1530.
Conquest of Peru (1532)
In 1532 Pizarro once again landed in the coasts near Ecuador, where some gold,
silver, and emeralds were procured and then dispatched to Almagro, who had
stayed in Panama to gather more recruits. Though Pizarro's main objective was to
then set sail and dock at Tumbes like his previous expedition, he was forced to
confront the Punian natives in the Battle of Puná, leaving three Spaniards dead
and 400 dead or wounded Punians. Soon after, Hernando de Soto, another
conquistador that had joined the expedition, arrived to aid Pizarro and with him
sailed towards Tumbes, only to find the place deserted and destroyed. Their two
fellow conquistadors expected they had disappeared or died under murky
circumstances. The chiefs explained the fierce tribes of Punians had attacked
them and ransacked the place.
As Tumbes no longer afforded the safe accommodations Pizarro sought, he decided
to lead an excursion into the interior of the land and established the first
Spanish settlement in Peru (third in South America after Santa Marta, Colombia
in 1526), calling it San Miguel de Piura in July 1532. The first repartimiento
in Peru was established here. After these events, Hernando de Soto was
dispatched to explore the new lands and, after various days away, returned with
an envoy from the Inca himself and a few presents with an invitation for a
meeting with the Spaniards.
Pizarro and his followers in Lima in 1535Following the defeat of his brother,
Huascar, Atahualpa had been resting in the Sierra of northern Peru, near
Cajamarca, in the nearby thermal baths known today as the Baños del Inca (Incan
Baths). After marching for almost two months towards Cajamarca, Pizarro and his
force of just 106 foot-soldiers and 62 horsemen arrived and initiated
proceedings for a meeting with Atahualpa. Pizarro sent Hernando de Soto, friar
Vicente de Valverde and native interpreter Felipillo to approach Atahualpa at
Cajamarca's central plaza. Atahualpa, however, refused the Spanish presence in
his land by saying he would "be no man's tributary." His complacency, because
there were less than 200 Spanish as opposed to his 80,000 soldiers,unfortunately
sealed his fate and that of the Incan empire. According to a leading Peruvian
historian as told to Michael Wood in the BBC documentary The Conquistadors,
"Atahualpa was planning to have Pizarro for lunch, but Pizarro had him for
breakfast."
Atahualpa's refusal led Pizarro and his force to attack the Incan army in what
became the Battle of Cajamarca on November 16, 1532. The Spanish were successful
and Pizarro executed Atahualpa's 12-man honor guard and took the Inca captive at
the so-called ransom room. Despite fulfilling his promise of filling one room
(22 feet (7 m) by 17 feet (5 m) [1]) with gold and two with silver, Atahualpa
was convicted of killing his brother and plotting against Pizarro and his
forces, and was executed by garrote on August 29, 1533. Pizarro's general
Ruminahui is thought to have buried much of the remaning gold upon hearing that
Pizarro was executed, thus creating the legend of The Treasure of the
Llanganatis. Pizarro wished to find a reason for executing Atahualpa without
angering the people he was attempting to subdue.
Since Pizarro could not write like many of his contemporaries, he used his
curlicue signature ("rubrica") on the left and on the right of his name. Then a
writer set the name between them.A year later, Pizarro invaded Cuzco with
indigenous troops and with it sealed the conquest of Peru. It is argued by some
historians that the growing resistance from the new Inca, Manco Inca Yupanqui,
prolonged the conquest. Manco Inca Yupanqui was the brother of the puppet ruler,
Tupac Huallpa.
During the exploration of Cuzco, Pizarro was impressed and through his officers
wrote back to King Charles of Spain, saying:
"This city is the greatest and the finest ever seen in this country or anywhere
in the Indies... We can assure your Majesty that it is so beautiful and has such
fine buildings that it would be remarkable even in Spain."
After the Spanish had sealed the conquest of Peru by taking Cuzco in 1533, Jauja
in the fertile Mantaro Valley was established as Peru's provisional capital in
April 1534. But it was too far up in the mountains and far from the sea to serve
as the Spanish capital of Peru. Pizarro thus founded the city of Lima in Peru's
central coast on January 18, 1535, a foundation that he considered as one of the
most important things he had created in life.
After the final effort of the Inca to recover Cuzco had been defeated by Almagro,
a dispute occurred between him and Pizarro respecting the limits of their
jurisdiction. This led to confrontations between the Pizarro brothers and
Almagro, who was eventually defeated during the Battle of Las Salinas (1538) and
executed. Almagro's son, also named Diego and known as "El Mozo", was later
stripped of his lands and left bankrupt by Pizarro.
Pizarro's death
Pizarro's coffin in the Lima Cathedral
Detail of Pizarro's tombIn Lima, Peru on June 26, 1541 "a group of twenty
heavily armed supporters of young Almagro stormed Pizarro's palace, assassinated
him, and then forced the terrified city council to appoint young Almagro as the
new governor of Peru", according to Burkholder and Johnson.[2] "Most of
Pizarro's guests fled, but a few fought the intruders, numbered variously
between seven and 25. While Pizarro struggled to buckle on his breastplate, his
defenders, including his half-brother de Alcántara, were killed. For his part
Pizarro killed two attackers and ran through a third. While trying to pull out
his sword, he was stabbed in the throat, then fell to the floor where he was
stabbed many times."[3] Pizarro (who now was maybe as old as 70 years, and at
least 62), collapsed on the floor, alone, cried: Come to me my faithfull sword,
companion of all my deeds., painted a cross in his own blood and cried for Jesus
Christ. He died moments after. Diego de Almagro the younger was caught and
executed the following year.
Pizarro's remains were briefly interred in the cathedral courtyard; at some
later time his head and body were separated and buried in separate boxes
underneath the floor of the cathedral. In 1892, in preparation for the
anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the Americas, a body believed to be that
of Pizarro was exhumed and put on display in a glass coffin. However, in 1977
men working on the cathedral's foundation discovered a lead box in a sealed
niche, which bore the inscription "Here is the head of Don Francisco Pizarro
Demarkes, Don Francisco Pizarro who discovered Peru and presented it to the
crown of Castile." A team of forensic scientists from the United States, led by
Dr. William Maples, was invited to examine the two bodies, and they soon
determined that the body which had been honored in the glass case for nearly a
century had been incorrectly identified. The skull within the lead box not only
bore the marks of multiple sword blows, but the features bore a remarkable
resemblance to portraits made of the man in life.[4] [5]
Pizarro's legacy
Pizarro's Statue in Trujillo, SpainBy his marriage to N de Trujillo, Pizarro had
a son also named Francisco, who married his relative Inés Pizarro, without
issue. After Pizarro's death, Inés Yupanqui, whom he took as a mistress,
favourite sister of Atahualpa, who had been given to Francisco in marriage by
her brother, married a Spanish cavalier named Ampuero and left for Spain, taking
her daughter who would later be legitimized by imperial decree. Francisca
Pizarro Yupanqui eventually married her uncle Hernándo Pizarro in Spain, on
October 10, 1537-with her Hernándo had a son: Francisco Pizarro y Pizarro. This
son, in turn, married twice and had offspring, the Marqueses de La Conquista; as
a result, the Pizarro line survived Hernando's death, though currently extinct
in male line; a third son of Pizarro, Francisco, by a relative of Atahualpa
renamed Angelina, who was never legitimized, died shortly after reaching Spain.
[6]
Historians have often compared Pizarro's and Cortés's conquests in North and
South America as very similar in style and career. Pizarro, however, faced the
Incas with a smaller army and fewer resources than Cortés at a much greater
distance from the Spanish Caribbean outposts that could easily support him,
which has led some to rank Pizarro slightly ahead of Cortés in their battles for
conquest.
Though Pizarro is well known in Peru for being the leader behind the Spanish
conquest of the Inca Empire, a growing number of Peruvians regard him as a kind
of criminal. By taking advantage of the natives, Pizarro ruled Peru for almost a
decade and initiated the decline of Inca culture. The Incas’ polytheistic
religion was replaced by Christianity and both Quechua and Aymara — the main
Inca languages — were reduced to a marginal role in society for centuries, while
Spanish became the official language of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile. The
cities of the Inca Empire were transformed into Spanish, Catholic cities.
Pizarro is also vilified for having ordered Atahualpa's death despite his paid
ransom of filling a room with gold and two with silver which was later split
among all his closest Spanish associates.
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