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Timeline. c. 1478 - 1541. Life of the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro . c. 1478. The conquistador Francisco Pizarro is born in Trujillo, Extramadura, Spain. 1502. Francisco Pizarro sails with Nicolás de Ovando to Hispaniola. 1509. Francisco Pizarro joins the expedition led by Alonso de Ojeda to the Gulf of Uraba.
- Mark Cartwright
- Publishing Director
- Overview
- Early life
- Discovery and conquest of Peru
Francisco Pizarro was the illegitimate son of Capt. Gonzalo Pizarro and Francisca González. He lived with his grandparents, and, according to legend, he was for a time a swineherd. During his early adulthood, he voyaged to Hispaniola and was part of Vasco Núñez de Balboa’s expedition credited with the European discovery of the Pacific Ocean.
How did Francisco Pizarro become famous?
In 1523 Francisco Pizarro embarked upon the adventure that was to lead to his lasting fame—the exploration of South America’s west coast. Over the course of several expeditions, Pizarro explored as far as 9° S, obtaining distinct accounts of a great Indian empire in Peru and many Inca artifacts.
What is Francisco Pizarro best known for?
In 1531 Francisco Pizarro’s expedition of 180 men and 37 horses sailed to the Inca empire in Peru. A Spanish priest met with the Inca emperor Atahuallpa, exhorting him to accept Christianity and Charles V. After Atahuallpa refused, Pizarro’s forces attacked, captured, and later executed Atahuallpa, enabling Pizarro to occupy Cuzco, effectively conquering the empire.
How did Francisco Pizarro die?
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.
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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 Núñez 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.
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 Virú, 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 of the province of New Castile for a distance 600 miles (965 km) south of Panama 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.
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.
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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.
Jun 24, 2022 · Francisco Pizarro. Llull (Public Domain) Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) was a conquistador who led the Spanish conquest of the Inca civilization from 1532. With only a small group of men, Pizarro took advantage of his superior weapons and the fact that the Incas were weakened by civil war and the arrival of European diseases to take over the ...
- Mark Cartwright
- What is Francisco Pizarro most famous for?The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro is most famous for conquering the Inca Empire from 1532.
- What did Francisco Pizarro discover?Francisco Pizarro discovered the Incas in South America, an empire that Europeans had no knowledge of before 1532.
- What did Francisco Pizarro do to the Incas?Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incas by military force, executing their ruler and other leaders to establish a new Spanish colony in South America.
- How did Francisco Pizarro change the world?Francisco Pizarro changed the world with his discovery and conquest of the then-unknown Inca Empire in South America. The riches of this empire, pa...
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Francisco Pizarro was born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Spain (then in the Crown of Castile) in modern-day Extremadura, Spain. 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.
- Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui
- Charles I
- 1496–1541
- Inés Huaylas Yupanqui
Aug 21, 2023 · Francisco Pizarro Timeline August 25, 2023 August 21, 2023 by The Historian Francisco Pizarro (c. 1471 – 1541) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who played a pivotal role in the conquest of the Inca Empire, leaving an indelible mark on the history of South America.
Jul 1, 2016 · Francisco Pizarro and his partner Diego de Almagro were both in their mid-50s, from humble backgrounds, and neither had won any renown in their native Spain. Adventurers and treasure-seekers, they led a small group of Spanish adventurers eager to find the golden treasures their compatriots had found in the Aztec world of Mexico a decade earlier.
The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas.After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spanish soldiers under conquistador Francisco Pizarro, along with his brothers in arms and their indigenous allies, captured the Sapa Inca Atahualpa in the 1532 Battle ...
