- Born:
- c. 1475, Trujillo, Extremadura, Castile [Spain]
- Died:
- June 26, 1541, Lima [now in Peru]
- Founder:
- Lima
Francisco Pizarro
Who was Francisco Pizarro?
What motivated Francisco Pizarro and other Spanish conquistadors to pursue conquest in the Americas?
What is Francisco Pizarro best known for?
How did Francisco Pizarro die?
Francisco Pizarro (born c. 1475, Trujillo, Extremadura, Castile [Spain]—died June 26, 1541, Lima [now in Peru]) was a Spanish conqueror of the Inca empire and founder of the city of Lima in Peru. Like other Spanish conquistadors of the early 16th century, Pizarro operated within a broader context of European expansion driven by the pursuit of wealth, imperial competition, and the spread of Christianity. Reports of rich civilizations in the Americas, combined with the recent successes of Hernán Cortés in Mexico, encouraged further expeditions aimed at conquest and incorporation into the Spanish empire.
Early life
Pizarro was born in Trujillo, in the Extremadura region, an area in Spain that produced a notable number of conquistadors of the early 16th century. He was the illegitimate son of Capt. Gonzalo Pizarro and Francisca González, both of whom were from humble backgrounds. Some accounts suggest that he worked for a period of time as a swineherd (one who raises and tends to pigs). His early life is poorly documented, but he appeared to have had little formal education and limited prospects within Spain. Pizarro thus was drawn to opportunities for advancement, so, as a teenager, he joined the Spanish army, where he acquired the skills that would later shape his career in exploration and conquest in the Americas.
As a young soldier, Pizarro spent time in Italy, where he reportedly developed a reputation for being courageous. He came of age at a moment of rapid change: After Christopher Columbus reached the Americas in 1492, Spain soon began expanding its empire across the Caribbean and parts of South America. News of these voyages and the wealth they promised drew many young men seeking opportunity, including Pizarro. About 1502, a decade after Columbus’s first voyage, Pizarro left Spain for Hispaniola, which today comprises Haiti and the Dominican Republic. There he served for several years as part of the colonial military while continuing to look for opportunities to take part in further exploration.
In 1510 Pizarro joined Alonso de Ojeda’s expedition to Urabá in present-day Colombia, an undertaking marked by conflict, disease, and food shortages. He was among those who survived the failed settlement—more than 200 of the roughly 300 participants died—and he helped maintain order under difficult conditions. After the colony was abandoned, Pizarro and the remaining survivors relocated to Darién, in present-day Panama, and established a new settlement. He formed a close association with the colony’s leader, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, who would later gain prominence as an explorer. In 1513 Pizarro served as Balboa’s second-in-command during an expedition across the Isthmus of Panama, which resulted in the first European discovery of the “South Sea,” now known as the Pacific Ocean. In the years that followed, he established himself in Panamá and from 1519 to 1523 served as mayor of the newly founded town. This position allowed him to accumulate wealth and resources, which later supported his expeditions of exploration and conquest.
Discovery and conquest of Peru
It was not until 1523, when he was some 48 years old, that Pizarro embarked upon the adventure that was to lead to his lasting fame. In partnership with a soldier, Diego de Almagro, and a priest, Hernando de Luque, he made preparations for a voyage of discovery and conquest down the west coast of South America. Like other Spanish conquistadors of the early 16th century, Pizarro’s efforts were shaped by the pursuit of wealth, imperial expansion, and the spread of Christianity—all of which drove Spain’s growing presence in the Americas. But many hardships were endured along the Colombian coast during Pizarro’s first (1524–25) and second (1526–28) expeditions. Bartolomé Ruiz, who joined Pizarro and Almagro for the latter, sailed ahead and crossed the Equator, encountering a trading raft carrying embroidered fabrics and precious metals from Peru. He returned and led the expedition as far south as Ecuador.
Pizarro and others remained on coastal islands while Almagro was sent back to Panamá for reinforcements. The new governor of the Spanish province of Panamá, however, sent back orders that the expedition be abandoned in order that no more lives be lost. At this point Pizarro is reputed to have drawn a line on the ground with his sword, inviting those who desired wealth and glory to cross it. The “famous thirteen” who did cross the line continued their exploration of the coast and went southward, gathering further evidence of a powerful Indigenous empire. They christened the new land Peru, probably a corruption of Virú, the name of a river.
Finding the governor of Panamá still opposed to their now promising enterprise, the explorers decided that Pizarro should go to Spain to ask the emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain) for permission to undertake conquest. Sailing in the spring of 1528, Pizarro was in Sevilla (Seville) at the same time as Hernán Cortés, conqueror of Mexico, and was able to win Charles over to his scheme. He was decorated, granted a coat of arms, and, in July 1529, made governor and captain general of the province of New Castile for a distance 600 miles (965 km) south of Panamá along the newly discovered coast. Pizarro was invested with all the authority and prerogatives of a viceroy, and Almagro and Luque were left in subordinate positions. All the “famous thirteen” received substantial rights and privileges in the new territories.
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Joined by four of his brothers, Pizarro sailed for Panama in January 1530 and by January of the following year was ready to set off for Peru. He set sail with one ship, 180 men, and 37 horses, being joined later by two more ships. By April they had made contact with emissaries of Atahuallpa, emperor of the Incas, who was residing near the city of Cajamarca with an army of about 30,000 men. Somewhat scornful of Pizarro’s small force, the Inca accepted a proposal that the two leaders meet in that city.
Arriving on November 15, Pizarro immediately set up his artillery and sent his brother Hernando and another Spaniard to request an interview. After a day of tense waiting, Atahuallpa, borne on a litter, entered the great square of Cajamarca with an escort of between 3,000 and 4,000 men, who were either unarmed or carrying short clubs and slings beneath their tunics. Pizarro sent out a priest, Vicente de Valverde, to exhort the Inca to accept Christianity and Charles V as his master. Atahuallpa disputed both the religion and the sovereignty of the Spaniards and, after examining a Bible offered by the priest, flung the book to the ground. Valverde reported these events to Pizarro, who immediately ordered an attack. The astonished Incas were cut down from all sides, Pizarro himself seizing Atahuallpa.
Atahuallpa was held as hostage and failed to win his release, though he fulfilled a promise to fill the chamber in which he was held with gold and silver. Accused of ordering the execution of his brother Huascar, a rival for the title of Inca, and of plotting to overthrow the Spaniards, Atahuallpa was put to death by strangulation on August 29, 1533. With news of Atahuallpa’s death, the Inca armies surrounding Cajamarca retreated, and Pizarro progressed toward Cuzco, the royal capital, which was occupied without a struggle in November 1533. The Spaniards proclaimed Manco Capac, Huascar’s brother, as the new Inca ruler.
For the remainder of his life, Pizarro was engaged in consolidating the Spanish hold on Peru and in defending his and his brothers’ share of the spoils. A certain enmity and rivalry developed between him and Almagro as a result of Pizarro’s overriding powers from the king of Spain. This contravened a solemn agreement between the original three partners that the spoils of the expedition should be shared equally. Almagro at one stage seized Cuzco but was persuaded by Pizarro to depart for Chile, over which he had been granted extensive powers by the king. Disappointed by the poverty of that country, however, Almagro returned to Peru, where he was made prisoner and later executed by Hernando Pizarro.
Francisco Pizarro, meanwhile, was in Lima, a city that he had founded in 1535 and to which he devoted the last two years of his life. Almagro’s former adherents had grouped around Almagro’s son in Lima, where they were confined and watched. Suspecting that they were to be eliminated, they decided to move first, attacking Pizarro’s palace on June 26, 1541. Pizarro died that day a protracted death, drawing a cross of his own blood on the ground, kissing it, and crying “Jesus” as he fell. The conquest of Peru was central to the establishment of Spain’s empire and contributed to the flow of wealth that reshaped the Atlantic world.