Francisco Pizarro

The Most Excellent The 1st Marqués de la Conquista Order of Santiago (KOS)
Portrait by Amable-Paul Coutan, 1835
1st Governor of New Castile
In office 26 July 1529 – 26 June 1541
Monarch	Charles I
Succeeded by	Cristóbal Vaca de Castro
Captain General of New Castile
In office 26 July 1529 – 26 June 1541
Personal details
Born	Francisco Pizarro y González c. 1478 Trujillo, Crown of Castile
Died	26 June 1541 Government Palace, Lima, New Castile, Spanish empire (present day Peru)
Cause of death	Assassination (stab wounds)
Resting place	Metropolitan Cathedral of Lima, Lima, Peru
Spouse	Inés Huaylas Yupanqui
Children	Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui
Nickname	Apu ('chief' in Quechua) or Machu Capitan ('Old Captain' in Quechua)
Military service
Allegiance	Spanish Empire
Years of service	1496–1541
Battles/wars	Spanish conquest of Peru Battle of Punta Quemada Battle of Puná Battle of Cajamarca Battle of Vilcaconga Battle of Cusco

Francisco Pizarro, 1st Marquess of the Conquest (/pɪˈzɑːroʊ/; Spanish: [fɾanˈθisko piˈθaro]; c. 1478 – 26 June 1541), was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.

Born in Trujillo, Spain, to a poor family of pig farmers, Pizarro chose to pursue fortune and adventure in the New World. He went to the Gulf of Urabá and accompanied Vasco Núñez de Balboa in his crossing of the Isthmus of Panama, where they became the first Europeans to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas. He served as mayor of the newly founded Panama City for a few years and undertook two failed expeditions to Peru. In 1529, Pizarro obtained permission from the Crown of Castile to lead a campaign to conquer Peru and went on his third, and successful, expedition.

When Peru was found in a vulnerable state of civil war, Pizarro moved inland and founded the first Spanish settlement in Peru, San Miguel de Piura. After a series of manoeuvres that heavily relied on the Spanish guns and cavalry, Pizarro captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca in November 1532. A ransom for the emperor's release was demanded and Atahualpa filled a room with gold to the highest point he could reach, but Pizarro charged him with various crimes and executed him by garrotting in July 1533. The same year, Pizarro entered the Inca capital of Cuzco and completed his conquest of Peru. In January 1535, he founded the city of Lima, and in 1537 he was created the 1st Marquess of the Conquest (Spanish: Marqués de la Conquista) by the Crown of Castile. Pizarro eventually fell victim to political power struggles and was assassinated in 1541.

Early life

Francisco Pizarro was born in Trujillo, Spain (then in the Crown of Castile, modern-day Extremadura). He was the illegitimate son of infantry colonel Gonzalo Pizarro (1446–1522) and Francisca González, a woman of poor means. His date of birth is uncertain, but it is believed to be sometime in the 1470s, probably 1475. Little attention was paid to his education and he grew up, and remained, illiterate.

His father served in Navarre and in the Italian campaigns under Córdoba. His mother married late in life and had a son, Francisco Martín de Alcántara, who was at the conquest of Peru with his half-brother from its inception. Through his father, Francisco was a second cousin, once removed, of Hernán Cortés.

Early career as Conquistador

On 10 November 1509, Pizarro sailed from Spain to the New World with Alonso de Ojeda on an expedition to Urabá. Pizarro became a participant in Ojeda's failed colony, commanding the remnants until he abandoned it with the survivors.^{: 93} He sailed to Cartagena and joined the fleet of Martín Fernández de Enciso and, in 1513, accompanied Balboa in his crossing of the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific. The following year, Pedro Arias Dávila became the newly appointed governor of Castilla de Oro and succeeded Balboa. During the next five years, Pizarro became a close associate of Dávila and the governor assigned him a repartimiento of natives and cattle.^{: 93} When 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 beheaded in January 1519. For his loyalty to Dávila, Pizarro was rewarded with the positions 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 South American Indians he encountered told him about a gold-rich territory called Virú, which was on a river called Pirú (from which we get the pronunciation Perú).^{: 24} These reports were relayed by the Spanish-Inca mestizo writer named Garcilaso de la Vega in Comentarios Reales de los Incas (1608).

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 ill and returned to 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 for Cortés' success in Mexico, caught the attention of Pizarro, prompting a series of expeditions to the south.

In 1524, while he was 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 explicitly renewed their compact,^{: 24} agreeing to conquer and divide equally among themselves the empire they hoped to vanquish. While their accord was strictly oral, they dubbed their enterprise the Empresa del Levante and determined that Pizarro would command the expedition, Almagro would provide military and food supplies and Luque would be in charge of finances and additional provisions.^{: 95}

First expedition (1524)

In November 1524, the first of three expeditions left Panama for the conquest of Peru with about 80 men and four horses.^{: 24} Juan de Salcedo was the standard bearer, Nicolás de Ribera was the treasurer and Juan Carvallo was the inspector.^{: 45, 47}

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 the exploration of South America. Pizarro's first expedition, however, turned out to be a failure as his conquistadors, sailing down the Pacific coast, reached no further than Colombia before succumbing to bad weather, lack of food and skirmishes with hostile natives, one of which caused Almagro to lose an eye by arrow-shot. The place names the Spanish bestowed along their route, including Puerto Deseado (desired port), Puerto del Hambre (port of hunger) and Punta Quemado or Puebla Quemado (burned port), confirmed their difficulties. Fearing subsequent hostile encounters like the one the expedition endured at the Battle of Punta Quemada, Pizarro ended his first expedition and returned to Panama.^{: 94–102}

Second expedition (1526)

Two years later Pizarro, Almagro and Luque started the arrangements for a second expedition with permission from Pedro Arias Dávila, Panama's governor. Dávila, who himself was preparing an expedition north to Nicaragua, was reluctant to permit another expedition, having lost confidence in Pizarro. The three associates eventually won his trust and he acquiesced. By this time, a new governor was to arrive and succeed Dávila. Pedro de los Ríos took charge as the new colonial administrator in July 1526 and initially approved Pizarro's expeditions (he would join him several years later in Peru).^{: 103–104}

On 10 March 1526, 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 co-commander, Almagro, returned 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) under sail, with natives from Tumbes. To everyone's surprise, these carried textiles - made of a new plant called cotton, ceramic objects and some pieces of gold, silver and emeralds, making Ruiz's findings the central focus of this second expedition. Some natives were taken aboard Ruiz's ship to serve as interpreters.^{: 105–109: 24–25}

He then set sail north for the San Juan River, arriving to find Pizarro and his men exhausted from the difficulties they had faced exploring the new territory. Soon, Almagro sailed into the port laden with supplies and a reinforcement of at least eighty recruits who had arrived at Panama from Spain with an expeditionary spirit. The findings and excellent news from Ruiz along with Almagro's new reinforcements cheered Pizarro and his tired followers. They decided to sail back to the territory already explored by Ruiz and, after a difficult voyage due to strong winds and currents, reached Atacames on the Ecuadorian coast. Here, they found a large native population recently brought under Inca rule. Unfortunately for the conquistadores, the people they encountered seemed so defiant and numerous that the Spanish decided not to enter the land.^{: 110–112}

The Famous Thirteen

After much wrangling between Pizarro and Almagro, it was decided that Pizarro would stay at a safer place, the Isla de Gallo,^{: 25–26} near the coast, while Almagro would return to Panama with Luque for more reinforcements – this time with proof of the gold they had found and the news of the discovery of the obviously wealthy land they had 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 rejected Almagro's application for continued resources. In addition, he ordered two ships commanded by Juan Tafur to be sent immediately with the intention of bringing Pizarro and his crew back to Panama.^{: 112–115}

Pizarro had no intention of returning and when Tafur arrived at 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. For my part, I go to the south."^{: 116}

Only 13 men stayed with Pizarro. They later became known as "The Famous Thirteen" (Los trece de la fama),^{: 26} while the rest of the expeditioners stayed with Tafur. Ruiz left in one of the ships with the intention of joining Almagro and Luque in their efforts to gather reinforcements. Soon after the ships left, Pizarro and his men constructed a crude boat and journeyed 25 leagues north to La Isla Gorgona, where they would remain for seven months before the arrival of new provisions.^{: 117–118}

Back in Panama, Pedro de los Ríos (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. Almagro and Luque grasped the opportunity and left Panama (this time without new recruits) for La Isla Gorgona to join Pizarro once again. On meeting Pizarro, the associates decided to continue sailing south on the recommendations of Ruiz's Indian interpreters.^{: 118}

By April 1528, they finally reached the northwestern Peruvian Tumbes Region. Tumbes became the first success that the Spanish had so long desired. 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, Alonso de Molina and Pedro de Candia, reconnoitred the territory and both, on separate accounts, reported back the 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,^{: 26} which Pizarro called "little camels". Pizarro continued receiving the same accounts of a powerful monarch who ruled over the land they were exploring. These events served as evidence to convince the expedition that the wealth and power displayed at Tumbes were an example of the riches of the Peruvian territory. 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 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 given two Peruvian boys to learn Spanish, one of whom was later baptised as Felipillo and served as an important interpreter, the equivalent of Cortés' La Malinche of Mexico, and another called Martinillo.^{: 126, 128} Their final stop was at La Isla Gorgona, where two of his invalid men (one had died) had been left behind. After at least 18 months away, Pizarro and his followers anchored off the coasts of Panama to prepare for the final expedition.^{: 119–126}

Capitulation of Toledo

When the new governor of Panama, Pedro de los Ríos, refused permission for a third expedition to the south, the associates resolved that Pizarro should leave for Spain and appeal to the sovereign in person. Pizarro sailed from Panama for Spain in the spring of 1528, accompanied by Pedro de Candia, some natives and llamas, plus samples of fabric, gold and silver.^{: 127–128}

Pizarro reached Seville in early summer. King Charles I, who was at Toledo, had an interview with Pizarro and heard of his expeditions in South America. The conquistador described the territory as rich in gold and silver that 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 his accounts and promised his support for the conquest of Peru. Queen Isabel, though, in the absence of the king, signed the Capitulación de Toledo on 6 July 1529, a licence document that authorised Pizarro to proceed with the conquest of Peru. Pizarro was officially named the Governor, Captain general, Adelantado and Alguacil Mayor, of New Castile for the distance of 200 leagues along the newly discovered coast and invested with all authority and prerogatives, leaving his associates in secondary positions (a fact that later incensed Almagro and would lead to eventual discord). One of the grant conditions was that within six months, Pizarro should raise a sufficiently equipped force of 250 men, of whom 100 might be drawn from the colonies.^{: 132–134, 137}

This gave Pizarro time to leave for his native Trujillo and convince his brother Hernando Pizarro and other close friends to join him on his third expedition.^{: 136} Francisco de Orellana joined the group and would later discover and explore the length of the Amazon River. Two half-brothers on his father's side, Juan Pizarro and Gonzalo Pizarro,^{: 27} and a half-brother from his mother, Francisco Martín de Alcántara,^{: 136} later also decided to join him, as well as his cousin Pedro Pizarro, who served as his page.^{: 13} When the expedition left the following year, it numbered three ships, 180 men and 27 horses.^{: 138}

Pizarro could not raise the number of men the Capitulación required and sailed clandestinely from the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda for the Canary Island of La Gomera in January 1530. He was joined there by his brother Hernando and the remaining men in two vessels that would sail back to Panama.^{: 137} Pizarro's third and final expedition left Panama for Peru on 27 December 1530.^{: 27}

Conquest of Peru (1532)

In 1531, Pizarro once again landed on the coasts near Ecuador, the province of Coaque and the region of esmeraldas, where some gold, silver and emeralds were procured and then dispatched to Almagro. The latter had stayed in Panama to gather more recruits.^{: 139–140} Sebastián de Belalcázar soon arrived with 30 men.^{: 141} Though Pizarro's main objective was then to set sail and dock at Tumbes as during his previous expedition, he was forced to confront the Punian natives in the Battle of Puná, leaving three or four Spaniards dead and many wounded. Soon after, Hernando de Soto, another conquistador who had joined the expedition, arrived with 100 volunteers and horses to aid Pizarro and with him sailed towards Tumbes,^{: 143} only to find the place deserted and destroyed. The two conquistadors suspected that the settlers had disappeared or died under murky circumstances. The chiefs explained that the fierce tribes of Punians had attacked them and ransacked the place.^{: 152–153}

As Tumbes no longer afforded safe accommodations, Pizarro led an excursion into the hinterland in May 1532 and established the first Spanish settlement in Peru, San Miguel de Piura, and a repartimiento.^{: 153–154}

Leaving 50 men back at the settlement under the command of Antonio Navarro, Pizarro proceeded with his conquest accompanied by 200 men on 24 September 1532.^{: 155–156} After arriving at Zaran, de Soto was dispatched to a Peruvian garrison at Caxas. After a week, he returned with an envoy from the Inca himself, with presents and an invitation to visit the Inca ruler's camp.^{: 156–158}

Following the defeat of his brother, Huáscar, in the Inca Civil War, Atahualpa had been resting in the Sierra of northern Peru, near Cajamarca, in the nearby thermal baths known today as the Inca Baths. Arriving at Cajamarca on 15 November 1532, Pizarro had a force of just 110-foot soldiers, 67 cavalry, three arquebuses and two falconets. He sent Hernando Pizarro and de Soto to an audience with Atahualpa in his camp. Atahualpa agreed to meet Pizarro in his Cajamarca plaza fortress the next day. Friar Vincente de Valverde and native interpreter Felipillo approached Atahualpa in Cajamarca's central plaza. After the Dominican friar expounded the "true faith" and the need to pay tribute to the Emperor Charles V, Atahualpa replied, "I shall be no man's tributary." His complacency, because fewer than 200 Spanish remained, as opposed to his 50,000-man army, of which 6,000 accompanied him to Cajamarca, sealed his fate and that of the Inca empire.^{: 157, 161, 166–177}

Atahualpa's refusal led Pizarro and his force to attack the Inca army in what became the Battle of Cajamarca on 16 November 1532. The Spanish were successful. Pizarro executed Atahualpa's 12-man honour guard and took the Inca captive at the so-called Ransom Room. By February 1533, Almagro had joined Pizarro in Cajamarca with an additional 150 men and 50 horses.^{: 186–194}

Despite fulfilling his promise of filling one room (22 by 17 feet or 7 by 5 metres) with gold and two with silver, Atahualpa was convicted of 12 charges, including killing his brother and plotting against Pizarro and his forces. He was executed by garrote on 29 August 1533. Francisco Pizarro and de Soto were opposed to Atahualpa's execution, but Francisco consented to the trial due to the "great agitation among the soldiers", particularly by Almagro. De Soto was on a reconnaissance mission the day of the trial and execution and upon his return expressed his dismay, stating, "he should have been taken to Castile and judged by the emperor."^{: 202–204, 206} King Charles later wrote to Pizarro: "We have been displeased by the death of Atahualpa, since he was a monarch and particularly as it was done in the name of justice."

Pizarro advanced with his army of 500 Spaniards toward Cuzco, accompanied by Chalcuchimac, one of the leading Inca generals of the north and a supporter of Atahualpa, who was subsequently burned at the stake. Manco Inca Yupanqui joined Pizarro after the death of Túpac Huallpa.^{: 191, 210, 216} During the exploration of Cuzco, Pizarro was impressed and through his officers wrote back to Spain to King Charles, 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."

The Spanish sealed the conquest of Peru by entering Cuzco on 15 November 1533.^{: 216} Jauja, in the fertile Mantaro Valley, was established as Peru's provisional capital in April 1534,^{: 286} but it was high up in the mountains and too distant from the sea to serve as the capital. Pizarro founded the city of Lima on Peru's central coast on 6 January 1535, which he considered to be one of the most important things he had created in life.^{: 227–229}

By early 1536, Manco Inca Yupanqui, supported by an army of perhaps 100,000 people, initiated a siege of Cuzco. At the same time, smaller Inca expeditionary forces moved to destroy other European strongholds. In the three years of continuous warfare since the arrival of Pizarro, Inca military leaders had become familiar with Spanish military tactics and developed effective counters. Perhaps the most effective of these military innovations was the one that dealt with the Europeans' greatest advantage on the battlefield: horses. Inca soldiers would offer battle but hold their position until the Spaniards had concentrated their cavalry in order to break the indigenous line. They would then fall back before the cavalry charge and draw the Europeans into a canyon where previously positioned forces could crush them under avalanches of rocks and missile weapons. Instead of charging the numerically inferior Europeans as they had done early on, Inca soldiers used their discipline and knowledge of the terrain in order to draw the armoured cavalry charge into a death trap. Well-documented battlefield deaths show that many more Spaniards died in these battles than in the early days of the war when theoretically the Inca had a much greater advantage. Despite winning the majority of the battles, the inability of the Inca forces to overwhelm Cuzco's fortifications, manned as they were by only 200 fighting men armed with gunpowder weapons, signalled the definitive victory of Spanish forces.

After the final effort of the Inca to recover Cuzco had been defeated by Almagro, a dispute occurred between Pizarro and Almagro regarding the limits of their jurisdiction, as both claimed the city of Cuzco. The king of Spain had awarded the Governorate of New Toledo to Almagro and the Governorate of New Castile to Pizarro. The dispute had originated from a disagreement on how to interpret the limit between the governorates.^{: 254–256} This led to confrontations between the Pizarro brothers and Almagro, who was eventually defeated during the Battle of Las Salinas in 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.

Atahualpa's wife, 10-year-old Cuxirimay Ocllo Yupanqui, was with Atahualpa's army in Cajamarca and had stayed with him while he was imprisoned. Following his execution, she was taken to Cuzco, given the name Doña Angelina and made the concubine of Francisco Pizarro. By 1538, it was known she had borne Pizarro two sons, Juan and Francisco.

Assassination

In Lima, on 26 June 1541 "a group of 20 heavily armed supporters of Diego de Almagro II stormed Pizarro's palace, assassinating him and then forcing the terrified city council to appoint young Almagro as the new governor of Peru". "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 Martín de Alcántara, were killed".^{: 143} Pizarro killed two attackers and ran through a third. A contemporary chronicler, Agustín de Zárate, wrote that Pizarro fought until "he was too exhausted to brandish his sword" before being struck fatally in the throat. When he fell to the ground he reportedly drew a cross on the floor with his blood and kissed it before dying. A modern forensic examination of his remains indicated that Pizarro had been attacked with multiple stab wounds to his head and neck as well as defensive wounds to his hands and arms.

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 Christopher 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 Marquess Don Francisco Pizarro who discovered and conquered the kingdoms of Peru and presented them to the crown of Castile." A team of forensic scientists from the United States, led by William R. Maples, was invited to examine the two bodies and they soon determined that the body which had been honoured 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.

Legacy and honors

By his marriage to Quispe Sisa, 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, Inca princess and 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 Hernando Pizarro in Spain on 10 October 1537; the third son of Pizarro who was never legitimized, Francisco, by Doña Angelina, a wife of Atahualpa that he had taken as a mistress, died shortly after reaching Spain.

After his invasion, Pizarro destroyed the Inca state and whilst ruling the area for almost a decade, initiated the decline of local cultures. The Incas' polytheistic religion was replaced by Christianity and much of the local population was reduced to effective serfdom under the Spanish Encomienda system. The cities of the Inca Empire were transformed into Spanish Catholic cities. Pizarro has been reviled for ordering Atahualpa's death despite the ransom payment (which Pizarro kept, after paying the Spanish king his due). Some Peruvians, particularly those of indigenous descent, may regard him negatively.

Sculptures

In the early 1930s, sculptor Ramsay MacDonald created three copies of an anonymous European foot soldier resembling a conquistador with a helmet, wielding a sword and riding a horse. The first copy was offered to Mexico to represent Cortés, though it was rejected. The statue was taken to Lima in 1934 and re-purposed to represent Pizarro. One other copy of the statue was unveiled in Wisconsin. The mounted statue of Pizarro in the Plaza Mayor in Trujillo, Spain, was created by American sculptor Charles Cary Rumsey. It was presented to the city by his widow in 1926.

In Peru, the statue's original location was the atrium of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Lima.

In 1952 it was moved to the Plaza Pizarro, and in 2003 it was relocated to Parque de La Muralla after 17 months in a warehouse, without the pedestal with which it was inaugurated and that it had throughout its history, being placed on a concrete base. On 15 January 2025, it was again moved to a pedestrian street next to the Plaza Mayor to be inaugurated, with the pedestal, as part of the city's 490th anniversary on the 18th.

Palace of the Conquest

After returning from Peru extremely wealthy, the Pizarro family erected a plateresque-style palace on the corner of the Plaza Mayor in Trujillo. Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui and her uncle/husband Hernando Pizarro ordered the construction of the palace; it features busts of them and others. It instantly became a recognizable symbol of the plaza.

The opulent palace is structured in four stands, giving it the significance of the coat of arms of the Pizarro family, which is situated at one of its corner balconies displaying its iconographic content. The building's decor includes plateresque ornaments and balustrades.

In popular culture

• Pizarro is the title and subject of a dramatic tragedy by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, presented in 1799. Sheridan based his work on the German tragedy by August von Kotzebue, Die Spanier in Peru.
• Pizarro is the main protagonist of the theatre play The Royal Hunt of the Sun and a film of the same name. Rather than an accurate depiction of historical events, its subject is Pizarro's spirituality and personal relationship with Atahualpa. The film mostly stays true to the dialogue-based character of the play and a chamber setting while providing respected actors of the time (1969).
• Francisco Pizarro is depicted as a major supporting character in The Mysterious Cities of Gold, where he is obsessed with locating one of the seven lost cities of gold. In the English version of the series, the character of Pizarro is voiced by Maurice Podbrey.
• The novel "Un puñado de gloria" by Eduardo Sguiglia has Francisco Pizarro as one of the main protagonists and narrates his overthrow and fall.
• Pizarro is also the protagonist in the historical novel The Gold of Caxamalca by Jakob Wassermann.
• Pizarro is a character in "Surya kandle Sona" (The golden tears of the sun), a novella in Bengali, penned by Premendra Mitra. Pizarro is depicted as a scheming fortune-hunter who conquered Peru by dint of treachery and the ruthless application of the Machiavellian policy of putting expediency above morality. The protagonist of the story is Ghanaram (an ancestor of Ghanashyam Das, a teller of tall tales) who wages a heroic struggle against the Spanish conquistadors to emancipate Peru from the fetters of slavery but ultimately fails to fulfil his mission. (Source: Ghanada Samagra, volume 3, Ananda Publishers)
• Randall Garrett, known mainly as a science fiction writer, wrote the novelette Despoilers of the Golden Empire, whose language leads readers to believe they are reading a story about a space invasion in the far future, while in fact it describes Pizarro's conquest of the Incas. As noted by Garrett, every word of the story is historically accurate, but it was written in a deliberately misleading way.
• Pizarro appears in 2025's Civilization VII as a conquistador for the Spanish Empire. He is one of the options for a Great Person during the exploration era.

Works of Pizarro

• Pizarro, Francisco (15 January 2009). "Cartas del Marqués Don Francisco Pizarro (1533–1541)". KUPRIENKO. bloknot.info (A. Skromnitsky).
• Pizarro, Francisco (15 January 2009). "Cédula de encomienda de Francisco Pizarro a Diego Maldonado, Cuzco, 15 de abril de 1539". KUPRIENKO. bloknot.info (A. Skromnitsky, in Russian).
• "Francisco Pizarro response to a petition by Pedro del Barco", 14 April 1539. From the Collections at the Library of Congress

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Francisco Pizarro — Born in Trujillo, Estremadura, Spain, probably in 1471; died at Lima, Peru, 26 June, 1541.

He was the illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro and Francisca González, who paid little attention to his education and he grew up without learning how to read or write. His father was a captain of infantry and had fought in the Neopolitan wars with el Gran Capitán Gonzalo de Córdoba. Filled with enthusiasm at the accounts of the exploits of his countrymen in America, Pizarro set sail (10 November, 1509) with Alonzo de Ojeda from Spain, on the latter's expedition to Urabí, where Ojeda founded the city of San Sebastian, and left it in Pizarro's care when he returned to the ship for provisions. Hardships and the climate having thinned the ranks of his companions, Pizarro sailed to the port of Cartagena. There he joined the fleet of Martin Fernández de Encíso, and later attached himself to the expedition of Nuñez de Balboa, whom he accompanied on his journey across the Isthmus of Panama to discover the Pacific Ocean (29 September, 1513). When Balboa was beheaded by his successor, Pedrarias Dávila, Pizarro followed the fortunes of the latter until 1515 when Dávila sent him to trade with the natives along the Pacific coast. When the capital was transferred to Panama he helped Pedrarias to subjugate the warlike tribes of Veraguas, and in 1520 accompanied Espinosa on his expedition into the territory of the Cacique Urraca, situated in the present Republic of Costa Rica.

In 1522 the accounts of the achievements of Hernán Cortés, and the return of Pascual de Andagoya from his expedition to the southern part of Panama, bringing news of the countries situated along the shore of the ocean to the south, fired him with enthusiasm. With the approbation of Pedrarias he formed together with Diego de Almagro, a soldier of fortune who was at that time in Panama, and Hernando de Luque, a Spanish cleric, a company to conquer the lands situated to the south of Panama. Their project seemed so utterly unattainable that the people of Panama called them the "company of lunatics". Having collected the necessary funds Pizarro placed himself at the head of the expedition; Almagro was entrusted with the equipping and provisioning of the ships; and Luque was to remain behind to look after their mutual interests and to keep in Pedrarias's favour so that he might continue to support the enterprise. In November, 1524, Pizarro set sail from Panama with a party of one hundred and fourteen volunteers and four horses, and Almagro was to follow him in a smaller ship just as soon as it could be made ready. The result of the first expedition was disheartening. Pizarro went no further than Punta Quemada, on the coast of what is now Colombia, and having lost many of his men he went to Chicamá, a short distance from Panama. From here he sent his treasurer, with the small quantity of gold which he had obtained, to the governor to give an account of the expedition. Meanwhile Almagro had followed him, going as far as the Rio de San Juan (Cauca, Colombia), and, not finding him, returned to rejoin him at Chicamá.

A second request to obtain Pedrarias's permission to recruit volunteers for the expedition was met with hostility, because the governor himself was planning an expedition to Nicaragua. Luque, however, contrived to change his attitude, and the new governor, D. Pedro de los Rios, was from the beginning favourably disposed towards the expedition. On 10 March, 1528, the three partners signed a contract, whereby they agreed to divide equally all the territory that should be conquered and all the gold, silver, and precious stones that should be found. They purchased two ships, and Pizarro and Almagro directed their course to the mouth of the San Juan River, where they separated. Pizarro remained with a portion of the soldiers to explore the mainland; Almagro returned to Panama to get re-enlistments; and the other ship under the command of Ruiz set sail for the south. He went as far as Punta de Pasados, half a degree south of the equator, and after making observations and collecting an abundance of information, returned to Pizarro, who in the meantime, together with his companions, had suffered severely. Shortly afterwards Almagro arrived from Panama, bringing soldiers and abundant provisions. Once more re-enforced they started together taking a southerly route until they reached Tacamez, the extreme south of Columbia. They then decided that Almagro should return to Panama, and Pizarro should remain on the Island del Gallo to await further re-enforcements. The arrival of Almagro and the news of the sufferings of the explorers alarmed Pedro de los Rios, who sent two ships to the Island del Gallo with orders to bring back all the members of the expedition. Pizarro and thirteen of his companions refused to return, and the little party was abandoned on the island. Fearful of being molested by the inhabitants on account of their reduced number, they built a raft and sought refuge on the Island of Gorgona on the coasts of Columbia.

Meanwhile Almagro and Luque endeavored to pacify the governor who at last consented that a ship be sent, but only with a sufficient force to man it, and with positive orders to Pizarro to present himself at Panama within six months. When the ship arrived without reinforcements, Pizarro determined, with the aid of a few men that he still had with him, to undertake an expedition southward. Skirting the coast of the present Republic of Ecuador, he directed his course towards the city of Tumbez in the north of what is now Peru. Seeing that the natives were friendly towards him, he continued his voyage as far as Payta, doubled the point of Aguja, and sailed along the coast as far as the point where the city of Trujillo was later founded. He was well received everywhere, for the Spaniards, in obedience to his strict orders, had refrained from any excesses that might have incurred the enmity of the Indians and endangered the ultimate result of the expedition. Finally after an absence of eighteen months, Pizarro returned to Panama. Notwithstanding the gold he brought and the glowing accounts he gave, the governor withdrew his support and permission to continue the explorations. The three partners then determined that Pizarro should go to Spain and lay his plans before Charles V.

Pizzaro landed in Seville in 1528 and was well received by the emperor who, then in Toledo, was won by the account of the proposed expedition, and on June 26, 1529 signed the memorable agreement (capitulacion) in which the privileges and powers of Pizarro and his associates were set forth. On the former, Charles V conferred the order of Knight of St. James, the titles of Adelantado, Governor and Captain General, with absolute authority in all the territories he might discover and subjugate. A government independent of that of Panama was granted to him in perpetuity, extending two hundred leagues to the south of the River Santiago, the boundary between Colombia and Ecuador. He had the privilege of choosing the officers who were to serve under him, of administering justice as chief constable (alguacil), and his orders were revocable only by the Consejo Real. Pizarro agreed to take 250 soldiers and provide the boats and ammunition indispensable for such an expedition. He sailed from Seville 18 January, 1530, taking with him his brothers, Hernando, who was the only legitimate son, Juan, and Gonzalo, all of whom were to play an important part in the history of Peru. Arrived in Panama he had the task of pacifying his two associates who were dissatisfied with the scant attention he had secured for them from the Court. Early in January, 1531, Pizarro set sail from the port of Panama with 3 ships, 180 men, and 27 cavaliers. Almagro and Luque remained behind to procure further assistance and send reinforcements. He landed in the Bay of San Mateo near the mouth of the Santiago River, and started to explore the coast on foot. The three boats were sent back to Panama for reinforcements.

The explorers passed by Puerto Viejo and came as far as the city of Tumbez, where they embarked in some Indian rafts and passed over to the Island of Puna in the Gulf of Guayaquil. Here they were hard pressed by the attacks of the islanders, when relief came in the form of two vessels with a hundred men and some horses commanded by Hernando de Soto. Thus reinforced and knowing that the brothers Atahuallpa and Huascar were at war with each other, Pizarro determined to penetrate into the interior of the empire and left Tumbez early in May, 1532. On 15 November, after a long, distressing journey and without opposition from the Indians, he entered the city of Caxamalca (now Caxamarca). Treacherously invited into the camp of the Spaniards, the Indian prince Atahuallpa presented himself accompanied by his bodyguard but unarmed. At a given signal the Spaniards rushed upon the unsuspecting Indians, massacred them in the most horrible manner, and took possession of their chief. Deprived of its leader the great army that was encamped near Caxamalca, not knowing what to do, retreated into the interior. As the price of his release the Inca monarch offered his captives gold enough to fill the room (22 by 17 feet) in which he was held captive. In a few months the promise was fulfilled. Gold to the amount of 4,605,670 ducats (15,000,000 pesos), according to Garcilaso de la Vega, was accumulated and Atahuallpa claimed his freedom. At this juncture Almagro arrived with soldiers to strengthen their position, and naturally insisted that they too should share in the booty. This was agreed to and after the fifth part, the share of the king, had been set apart an adequate division was made of the remainder, a share of $52,000 falling to the lot of each soldier, even those who had come at the end. Notwithstanding Atahuallpa was accused and executed 24 June, 1534.

From Caxamalca he passed to the capital of the Incas, while his lieutenants were obtaining possession of all the remaining territory. In order to keep the Indians together Pizarro had Manco Capac, an Inca, crowned king, and on 6 January, 1535, founded the city of Lima. He obliged Pedro de Alvarado, who had come from Guatemala in search of adventure, to return to his own territory, and sent his brother Hernando to Spain to give an account to the Court of the new empire he had united to the Crown. He was well received by the emperor, who conferrerd on Pizarro the title of marquess and extended the limits of his territory seventy leagues further along the southern coast. The title of Adelantado, besides that of Governor of Chile, which, however, had not yet been conquered, was conferred on Diego de Almagro. Luque was no longer living. Almagro at once set about the conquest of Chile, taking with him all those who were willing to follow.

Manco Capac was meanwhile trying to foment an uprising in the whole of Peru, actually besieging the cities of Lima and Cuzco. The arrival of Alonso de Alvarado, brother of the companion of Cortés, saved Lima, but Cuzco, where the three brothers of Pizarro were, was only saved by the return of Almagro from his expedition to Chile and his claim that the city of Cuzco was situated in the territory which had been assigned to him in the royal decrees. The Indians were put to flight, Almagro took forcible possession of the city, April, 1537, and made Hernando and Gonzalo prisoners, Juan having died. Troops, however, were hurrying from Lima to the rescue; Almagro was defeated, taken prisoner, and executed, July, 1538. Hernando went to Spain but was not received well at the Court; he was imprisoned until 1560, and died at the age of one hundred almost in dire poverty. Gonzalo launched on his intrepid expedition to explore the Amazon, returning to find that his brother Francisco was no more. The followers of Almagro, offended by the arrogant conduct of Pizarro and his followers after the defeat and execution of Almagro, organized a conspiracy which ended in Pizarro's assassination of the conqueror of Peru in his palace at Lima.

Pizarro had four children: a son whose name and the name of his mother are not known, and who died in 1544; Gonzalo by an Indian girl, Inés Huaillas Yupanqui, who was legitimized in 1537 and died when he was fourteen; by the same woman, a daughter, Francisca, who subsequently married after having been legitimized by imperial decree, together with her uncle Hernando Pizarro, 10 October, 1537; and a son, Francisco, by a relative of Atahuallpa, who was never legitimized, and died shortly after reaching Spain.

Prescott, History of the Conquest of Peru (London, 1889), Spanish tr. by Icazbalceta (Mexico, 1850); Diccionario enciclopédico hispano-americano, XV (Barcelona, 1894); Icazbalceta, Biografía de Atahualpa, Atahuallpa, Atabaliva, ó Atabalipa (Mexico, 1899); Sancho, Relación de la Conquista del Perú, Italian ed. by Ramusio, Spanish tr. by Icazbalceta (Mexico, 1899).

Further reading

• MacQuarrie, Kim (2007). The Last Days of the Incas. ISBN 978-0-7432-6049-7.
• Rowe, John H. (2006). "The Inca civil war and the establishment of Spanish power in Peru". Ñawpa Pacha - Journal of Andean Archaeology. 28 (28): 1–9. doi:10.1179/naw.2006.28.1.002. ISSN 0077-6297. JSTOR 27977824. S2CID 140711175.
• Stirling, Stuart (2005). Pizarro - conqueror of the Inca. Sutton Pub. ISBN 0-7509-3682-7.
• Varón Gabai, Rafael (1997). Francisco Pizarro and His Brothers - The Illusion of Power in Sixteenth-century Peru. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-585-17048-7. OCLC 44963949.
• Conquest of the Incas, John Hemming, 1973, ISBN 0-15-602826-3
• The Discovery and Conquest of Peru by William H. Prescott, ISBN 0-7607-6137-X

Fiction

• Cajamarca o la Leyenda Negra, a tragedy for the theater in Spanish by Santiago Sevilla in Liceus El Portal de las Humanidades
• Pizarro, a tragedy, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, in Google books

External links

• Pizarro & the Fall of the Inca Empire – World History Encyclopedia
• Francisco Pizarro Chronology Archived 28 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Crivelli, Camillus (1913). "Francisco Pizarro". Catholic Encyclopedia.
• "Pizarro, Francisco". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.
• "Pizarro". The American Cyclopædia. 1879.
• PBS Special: Conquistadors – Pizarro and the conquest of the Incas
• The Conquest of the Incas by Pizarro, University of California Press
• The European Voyages of Exploration
• "Francisco Pizarro", February 1992, National Geographic
• Relacion de los primeros descubrimientos de Francisco Pizarro y Diego de Almagro, 1526 Deprecated link archived 18 December 2012 at archive.today BlokNOT (A. Skromnitsky), 9 October 2009, Colleccion de documentos ineditos para la historia de Espana. Tomo V – 1844