Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador

• Born: c. 1478
• Birthplace: Trujillo, Extremadura, Castile (now in Spain)
• Died: June 26, 1541
• Place of death: Lima (now in Peru)

Pizarro experienced many frustrating years in the New World in search of fame and fortune before discovering and conquering the Inca Empire of Peru.

Early Life

The early life of Francisco Pizarro (frahn-CHAY-skoh pee-ZAH-roh) is poorly documented. He was born probably around 1478 in Trujillo, a city in the province of Extremadura, Spain, from which came many of the famous conquistadores. Pizarro was one of several illegitimate sons of Gonzalo Pizarro, an infantry officer. His mother, Francisca Morales, was a woman of plebeian origin about whom little is known. He received little attention from his parents and was, apparently, abandoned in his early years. He could neither read nor write, so he became a swineherd and was so destitute that, like the prodigal son, he was reduced to eating the swill thrown out for the pigs. He probably needed little encouragement to abandon this ignoble profession to go to Seville, gateway to the New World and fame and fortune.

In his thirties, Pizarro was in his prime, yet his most productive years lay ahead. Contemporary portraits depict him as tall and well built with broad shoulders and the characteristic forked beard of the period. He possessed a noble countenance, was an expert swordsman, and had great physical strength.

Life’s Work

The circumstances under which Pizarro made his way across the Atlantic Ocean to the island of Hispaniola in the early years of the sixteenth century are not known. In 1510, he joined Alonso de Ojeda’s expedition to Uraba in Terra Firma, where, at the new colony of San Sebastian, Pizarro gained knowledge of jungle warfare. When the colony foundered and Ojeda was forced to return for supplies to the islands, Pizarro was left in charge. He remained in the doomed colony for two months before death thinned the ranks sufficiently to allow the survivors to make their way back to civilization on the one remaining vessel.

Shortly thereafter, Pizarro entered the service of Vasco Núñez de Balboa and shared in the glory of founding a settlement at Darien and the subsequent discovery of the Pacific Ocean in 1513. Yet when Balboa fell from favor and was accused of treason by the governor of Panama, Pedrarias, Pizarro was the arresting officer. In the service of Pedrarias, there were new adventures, but, approaching fifty, old for that day, Pizarro had only a little land and a few South American Indians to show for his years of labor in the New World.

In 1515, Pizarro crossed the Isthmus and traded with the indigenous peoples on the Pacific coast. There he probably heard tales of a mysterious land to the south rich beyond belief in gold and silver. The subsequent exploits of Hernán Cortés in 1519-1521 and an expedition by Pascual de Andagoya in 1522, which brought news of wealthy kingdoms, gave impetus to further exploration and greatly excited the cupidity of the Spaniards. To finance an expedition, Pizarro formed a business triumvirate with Diego de Almagro, a solider of fortune, and Hernando de Luque, a learned ecclesiastic.

Pizarro’s first foray, launched in December, 1524, took him down the coast of modern Colombia, where he encountered every hardship imaginable and soon returned quietly to Panama. Under the guidance of Bartolomé Ruiz, a famous navigator and explorer, Pizarro’s second expedition set sail in early 1526. The voyage took them beyond modern-day Ecuador into the waters south of the equator, where they found evidence of an advanced South American Indian civilization. An inadequate number of men, dwindling provisions, and resistant Native Americans forced Pizarro and part of the company to take refuge first on the island of Gallo and later on Gorgona while Almagro returned to Panama to seek assistance. The governor, however, refused further help and sent a ship to collect the survivors. Audaciously, Pizarro and thirteen others refused to return. They endured seven months of starvation, foul weather, and ravenous insects until Almagro returned with provisions and the expedition was resumed. At length, they discovered the great and wealthy Incan city of Tumbes on the fringes of the Peruvian Empire. After a cordial stay, Pizarro returned to Panama with some gold, llamas, and Indians to gain support for an even greater expedition. The governor remained uninterested, so the business partners decided to send Pizarro to Spain to plead their case.

Charles V and his queen were sufficiently impressed with Pizarro’s exploits and gifts to underwrite another expedition. In July, 1529, Pizarro was given extensive powers and privileges in the new lands, among them the titles of governor and captain-general with a generous salary. Almagro received substantially less, which caused a rift between the two friends. Before leaving Spain, Pizarro recruited his four brothers from Extremadura for the adventures ahead.

In January, 1531, Pizarro embarked on his third and last expedition to Peru. With no more than 180 men and three vessels, the expedition charted a course to Tumbes, which, because of a great civil war in the country, they found much less hospitable. Even so, the Spaniards’ arrival was fortuitous in that the victor, Atahualpa, had not yet consolidated his conquests and was now recuperating at the ancient city of Cajamarca. In September, 1532, Pizarro began his march into the heart of the Inca Empire. After a difficult trek through the Andes, during which they encountered little resistance, they entered Cajamarca on November 15, 1532. Finding the Incan king at rest with only a portion of his army, Pizarro, pretending friendship, seized Atahualpa after a great slaughter of Indians. Atahualpa struck a bargain with his captors. In return for his release, he promised to fill a large room with gold. A second, smaller room was to be filled with silver. Fearing revolt, however, the captors carried out a summary trial, and the Inca was condemned to death.

Meanwhile, Almagro and his men had arrived in February, 1533, and loudly demanded a share of the wealth. The gold and silver vessels were melted down and distributed among the conquerors, while Almagro’s men received a smaller amount and the promise of riches to come. Hernando Pizarro, Francisco’s only legitimate brother, was sent to Spain with the royal one-fifth portion. From Cajamarca, Pizarro and his company pushed on to Cuzco. After encountering some resistance in the countryside, the conquistadores entered the city on November 15, 1533, where the scenes of rapine were repeated again.

After the conquest of Cuzco, Pizarro settled down to consolidate and rule his new dominion, now given legitimacy and the name of New Castile in royal documents brought back from Spain by Hernando Pizarro. A new Inca, Manco Capac II, was placed on the throne, and a municipal government was organized after the fashion of those in Iberia. Most of Pizarro’s time, however, was consumed with the founding of a new capital, Lima, which was closer to the coast and had greater economic potential. These were difficult years. In 1536, Manco Capac grew tired of his ignominious status as a puppet emperor and led the Peruvians in a great revolt. For more than a year, the Incas besieged Cuzco. After great loss of life and much destruction throughout the country, the siege ended, although the Incas would remain restive for most of the sixteenth century.

In the meantime, a power struggle had developed between Almagro, who had returned from a fruitless expedition into New Toledo, the lands assigned him by the Crown, and Pizarro for control of Cuzco. On April 6, 1538, Almagro’s forces were defeated in a great battle at Las Salinas. Almagro was condemned to death. In the three years that followed, Pizarro became something of a tyrant. On June 26, 1541, the Almagrists broke into Pizarro’s palace in Lima and slew the venturesome conquistador.

Significance

There are, perhaps, two possible ways in which the career of Francisco Pizarro might be evaluated. On the one hand, it is easy to regard him as one of many sixteenth century Spaniards, called conquistadores, whose cupidity sent them in search of fame and fortune, specifically gold and silver, in the New World.

In a relatively short period of time, Incas everywhere were conquered, tortured, murdered, and systematically stripped of their lands, families, and provisions. Pizarro played a major role in the rapacious conduct of the Castilians. Although this view is not without some merit, it must be understood within the context of Pizarro’s world. He was not unlike a medieval Crusader who sallied forth against the enemy with the blessings of Crown and Church. The Crown was interested in precious metals and new territorial possessions, while the Church was concerned about lost souls. When his opportunity for fame and fortune finally presented itself, Pizarro had to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds financial difficulties, hostile indigenous peoples, harsh weather and terrain, and later the enmity of other conquistadores to create a Spanish empire in South America. Although his methods cannot be condoned, the empires of Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, and other conquerors were fashioned in much the same way.

Bibliography

Abercrombie, Thomas A. Pathways of Memory and Power: Ethnography and History Among an Andean People. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1998. Groundbreaking interdisciplinary combination of history and anthropology details the social memory and inherited rituals, hybrids of indigenous and European custom, of the Andean people. Discusses Pizarro’s conquest of the region, and includes an appendix detailing his grant of Acho and Guarache to Hernando de Aldana. Illustrations, maps, bibliographic references, glossary, and index.

Adams, Charles. “How Cortes and Pizarro Found That Taxes Were the Chink in the Armor of the Aztec and Inca Rulers.” In For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization. 2d ed. Lanham, Md.: Madison Books, 1999. Study of one of the factors that enabled Pizarro to defeat the Incas and take control of their civilization. Includes bibliographic references and index.

Beardsell, Peter. Europe and Latin America: Returning the Gaze. New York: Manchester University Press, 2000. Collection of indigenous reactions to Latin American encounters with Europe, including Inca perspectives on Pizarro. Includes illustrations, bibliographic references, and index.

Birney, Hoffman. Brothers of Doom: The Story of the Pizarros of Peru. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1942. A well-written study of Pizarro and his brothers from the opening of the age of exploration to the death of Gonzalo Pizarro in 1548. The author purposely eschews footnotes and lengthy bibliographical references. A good introductory work.

Hemming, John. “Atahualpa and Pizarro.” In The Peru Reader: History, Culture, and Politics, edited by Orin Starn, Carlos Iván Degregori, and Robin Kirk. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1995. Account of the meeting between Pizarro and Atahualpa at Cajamarca, attempting to evaluate the success or failure of attempts at communication and mutual understanding. Illustrations, map, bibliographic references, index.

Hemming, John. The Conquest of the Incas. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1970. A history of the conquest from Balboa’s “discovery” of the Pacific Ocean in 1513 through the disintegration of the Inca Empire, with reference to the life of Pizarro. Includes chronological and genealogical tables plus an excellent bibliography.

Howard, Cecil, and J. H. Perry. Pizarro and the Conquest of Peru. New York: American Heritage, 1968. A well-illustrated history of the conquest and the civil wars that followed. Excellent for younger readers.

Kirkpatrick, F. A. The Spanish Conquistadores. 2d ed. Reprint. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1967. A survey of Spanish exploration, conquest, and settlement of the New World beginning with the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Provides a good overview of Pizarro’s career.

Means, Philip Ainsworth. Fall of the Inca Empire and the Spanish Rule in Peru, 1530-1780. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1932. Reprint. New York: Gordian Press, 1964. A history of the last years of the Inca Empire and Spanish dominion to 1780. Most of the important events of Pizarro’s life are mentioned. Includes a scholarly bibliography plus a helpful index and glossary.

Prescott, William H. History of the Conquest of Peru. Rev. ed. New York: Modern Library, 1998. After more than a century and many editions, still one of the best works on the subject. Prescott’s style will appeal to readers at all levels.

Varón Gabai, Rafael. Francisco Pizarro and His Brothers: The Illusion of Power in Sixteenth-Century Peru. Translated by Javier Flores Espinoza. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997. Study of the short-lived dominance of Pizarro and his family in Peru. Interprets the Pizarros’ project as essentially a private business enterprise, and examines the relationship of the business both to the government and public funds of Spain and to indigenous groups in South America. Includes illustrations, bibliography, and index.