Francisco Pizarro biography

Synopsis

Profile

Explorer, soldier, conquistador. Born around 1474 in Trujillo, Spain. As a soldier, he served on the 1513 expedition of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, during which he discovered the Pacific Ocean. Desirous of making his own discoveries and his own fortune, Pizarro formed a partnership with Diego de Almagro. They travel to Peru in 1526 and then returned to get permission to claim the land for Spain. In 1531, their expedition—which included Pizarro's three half-brothers—sailed from Panama. The next fall Pizarro entered the city of Cajamarca and took the Inca leader Atahuapla hostage. Despite having paid a ransom to spare his life, Atahuapla was killed in 1533. Pizarro then conquered Cuzco, another important Inca city, and founded the city of Lima, now the capital of Peru.

Pizarro's rivalry with Almagro led to conflict in 1537. Almagro had taken over Cuzco after one of Pizarro's half-brothers, Juan Pizarro, was killed during a revolt. Pizarro did not want Almagro to have the city, but was too old to fight himself so he sent his brothers to Cuzco to fight. They defeated Almagro and killed him afterward. In retaliation, Pizarro was assassinated in June of 1541 by one of Almagro's followers.

Early life

Pizarro was the illegitimate son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro and Francisca González, a young girl of humble birth. He spent much of his early life in the home of his grandparents. According to legend he was for a time a swineherd, a not unlikely possibility since this was a common occupation of boys in that region. He doubtless participated in local manorial wars and, when these were ended, very probably went to fight in Italy. Certainly in 1502 he went to Hispaniola (modern Haiti and Dominican Republic) with the new governor of the Spanish colony.

Pizarro had little inclination toward the settled life of the colonizer, and in 1510 he enrolled in an expedition of the explorer Alonso de Ojeda to Urabá in Colombia. He appears to have been marked out as a hard, silent, and apparently unambitious man who could be trusted in difficult situations. Three years later, acting as captain, he participated in an expedition led by the explorer Vasco Nez de Balboa that was credited with the European discovery of the Pacific. From 1519 to 1523 he was mayor and magistrate of the newly founded town of Panamá, accumulating a small fortune.

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. Many hardships were endured along the Colombian coast during the 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 Panama for reinforcements. The new governor of Panama, 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 as far as 9 S, obtaining distinct accounts of a great Indian empire as well as many Inca artifacts. They christened the new land Peru, probably a corruption of Vir, the name of a river.

Finding the governor of Panama 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