Francisco
Pizarro
(1475
– 1541
Conquistador
of the Inca Empire in Perú
|
1475 Francisco
Pizarro González was born in the town of
He
was the illegitimate son of a soldier, a profession he practiced from a young
age.
His
mother, Francisca González
Mateos, was from a poor
family from
Hernán
Cortés was his second cousin.
Later
he was given the noble title of marqués de los Atabillos by King Carlos V.
1479-1516
1502 He
sailed to
1509 He
traveled to
1513 Next
he went on the expedition led by Vasco Núñez de Balboa on which Spaniards saw
the
1517-1556
1519 Pizarro
was charged with arresting Balboa, who was tried, convicted, and beheaded.
Pizarro
was rewarded with the position of mayor of
1519-1521 Pizarro
joined Cortés' conquest of México as a common soldier.
1522 Pizarro
lived in Panamá, where he heard about Perú (Pirú) and the Incas from Pascual de
Andagoya, who is considered the "discoverer" (not the conquistador)
of Perú.
1522-1524 Pizarro
joined Diego de Almagro to plan the conquest of Perú with 80 men and 40 horses.
1524-1525 Their
first attempt to conquer Perú failed.
1526-1528 The
second attempt—this time with 160 men—to conquer Perú also failed;
however, Pizarro returned to Panamá with gold, llamas, and native pre-conquest
Peruvians.
1528 Pizarro
went to
1530 December:
he returned to Panamá with his brothers Hernando, Gonzalo, and Juan.
1531 Pizarro
recruited 200 men to go to Perú.
Pizarro
is already a pretty old man; he is ambitious; and he is known to use brutality.
In
the Inca Empire, meantime, there was a civil war raging between Atahualpa and
his half-brother Huáscar.
1532 Pizarro
established his expedition's base in Perú.
With
only 106 soldiers and 62
horses Pizarro meets Atahualpa
in Cajamarca (November 16, 1532: the Battle of Cajamarca).
Atahualpa
has an army of 80,000 Inca soldiers. Pizarro had fewer than 200 men.
He
seizes Atahualpa as his prisoner; the Spanish conquistadors attack the Incas at
the meeting, massacring the Inca soldiers.
1533 August
29: Pizarro executes Atahualpa after receiving the ransom (a room filled with
gold and two rooms filled with silver) that he had demanded from the Incas.
Fall:
The Spaniards under Pizarro occupy the Inca capital at
Manco
Cápac becomes the de facto Incan emperor.
1533-1541 Pizarro
distributes encomiendas throughout
Perú to his soldiers.
1535 Pizarro
founds the city of
1536 Manco
Cápac leads a rebellion against the Spaniards.
1537 Almagro
returns to Perú from his own expedition to
Almagro
and his allies (Spanish and native Peruvians) fight against Pizarro and his
faction.
1538 Pizarro
captures Almagro and has him executed for insubordination.
1541 Almagro's
followers capture and kill Pizarro.
Pizarro's
remains are buried in the Catedral de Lima.
NOTES:
1. The conquest of Perú was marked by the
worst kind of atrocities perpetrated by Pizarro and his men: rape, mutilation,
torture, etc.
2. From the Spanish conquest of Perú and,
actually, the entire Inca Empire, until the end of the 20th century,
generally speaking, Pizarro was glorified as one of greatest of all the
conquistadors. However, recently Peruvians and many others have moved toward a
critical evaluation of Pizarro. What he accomplished, of course, is the first
implantation of the full array of Spanish civilization in Perú: culture,
language, religion, politics, urban planning, and the like. In other words, the
first approach to Perú as a Latin American nation dominated thinking about this
issue for four centuries. Now, however, a new approach to the Latin American
nature of Perú is taking shape, one which balances Spanish-American innovations
alongside native-American characteristics, which, in fact, were never
completely eliminated.
3. For a photo tour of some historical
monuments in downtown Lima, including the now-removed statue of Pizarro, please
click on the following image: