What conquered Francisco Pizarro. Francisco Pizarro - geographical discoveries. State structure of the empire

Francisco Pizarro

Francisco Pizarro (between 1470 and 1475-1541), Spanish conquistador. In 1513-1535, he participated in the conquest of Panama and Peru, discovered part of the Pacific coast of South America from the hall. Guayaquil and the Western Cordillera of the Andes, plundered and destroyed the Inca state of Tahuantinsuyu, founded the cities of Lima and Trujillo.

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Pizarro (Pizarro), Francisco (between 1470-1475 - 26.VI.1541) - Spanish conquistador, conqueror of Peru. Participated in the expedition of A. Ojeda to the shores of South America (1509), in the conquest of Panama (1510), accompanied Nunez de Balboa, who discovered the Pacific Ocean (1513). In 1524-1526, together with D. Almagro, he organized two expeditions to the shores of South America in order to conquer the state of the Incas. In 1529 he was appointed ruler of Peru. In 1532-1534, taking advantage of the internecine struggle of the Incas, he plundered and destroyed their state. In 1535 he founded the city of Lima, brutally suppressed the uprising of the Indians (1535-1537). The struggle for power and the division of booty between Pizarro and Almagro ended in the execution of the latter (1538), but his supporters soon killed Pizarro.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 11. PERGAMUM - RENUVEN. 1968.

Literature: Volsky S., Pizarro (1470-1541), M., 1935; Lebrun H., Conquête du Pérau et histoire de Pizarre, 5 ed., Tours, 1852; Quintano M. J., Vida de Fr. Pizarro, 2nd ed., B. Aires, 1945.

Francisco Pizarro.

Francisco Pizarro (1475-1541). A native of Trujillo, Extremadura. One of the sons of Gonzalo Pizarro, a poor hidalgo who became a soldier in Italy. He was raised like peasant child and remained illiterate all his life. My military service he began in Italy, and in 1502 went to India. For almost twenty years, he did not stand out among his associates. Having settled in Panama, he received an encomienda (allotted land with the Indians), took up cattle breeding and, probably, led a comfortable existence. After 1522, marked by the success of Cortes in New Spain, rumors began to circulate again about fabulously wealthy empires in the south of the mainland.

In 1524, Pizarro teamed up with another soldier, Diego de Almagro. They set sail in three small ships with a hundred people. Three years later, his energy and endurance helped him defeat hostile natural elements and people. In 1526-1527. Pizarro reached the city of Tumbes and finally got the opportunity to appreciate the wealth and power of the Inca empire. But he lacked the resources to conquer it. In addition, he faced the hostility of the ruler of the Isthmus of Panama.

He went to Spain and obtained from Charles V the support of his undertaking and the title of governor of the territories that he would be able to conquer. Almagro was honored only with the position of his deputy. In 1531, returning with his brothers to Panama, Pizarro headed south. He had at his disposal three ships and a detachment of 85 people. After the capture of Tumbes, he founded the city of San Miguel de Piura to establish communication with Panama, and began to distribute land plots with the Indians to his people. At the time of Pizarro's arrival, the Inca Empire had just emerged from civil war between the sons of the Supreme Inca Huayna Capac - Huascar and Atahualpa; the last one won. Following the example of Cortes, Pizarro decided to penetrate deep into the Empire, meet with Atahualpa and invite him to recognize the sovereignty of Charles V. He crossed the Cordillera and reached the city of Cajamarca, where the residence of the Inca was located. Pizarro asked him for an audience, and the next day he unexpectedly attacked the palace, defeated the guards and captured him (November 16, 1532). In June 1533, after a staged trial, Atahualpa was executed. November 15, 1533 Pizarro finally returned to Cuzco, the capital of the empire. He delegated authority to one of Atahualpa's brothers, Manco Capac, to exercise his rule through him. Almagro, believing himself to be left out in the division of booty, decided to restore justice and captured the city, capturing Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro: this was the first conflict that ended almost in a draw. The reconciliation attempt was more or less successful, Hernando Pizarro was released (Gonzalo fled), but soon the war resumed. Almagro's supporters were defeated in April 1538, he himself was tried and executed in July 1538. Having settled in Cuzco, Hernando Pizarro set about suppressing the uprising of Manco Capac (1536) and the peaceful development of the country. In 1540 he returned to Lima (founded in 1535). Pizarro was unable to cope with the Almagrists, the "people of Chile" who supported Diego de Almagro the Younger. Without waiting for the arrival of the representative of the king, who was supposed to sort out the conflict and take over the board if necessary, the almagrists moved to action: on June 26, 1541, they attacked Pizarro's house. After fierce resistance, he was killed.

Mazen O. Spanish America XVI - XVIII centuries / Oscar Mazen. - M., Veche, 2015, p. 302-304.

Francisco Pizarro.

Pizarro Francisco - The illegitimate son of a Spanish military man, Francisco Pizarro entered the royal military service in his youth. Information about any education received by him, as well as about the presence combat experience before his arrival from Spain on American soil, has not been preserved.

In 1513, Francisco Pizarro took part in Vasco de Balboa's military expedition to Panama, during which the Spaniards discovered the Pacific Ocean. From 1519 to 1523 he lived in Panama as a colonist, was elected magistrate and mayor of this city and managed to make a small fortune.

Interested in rumors about the Indian civilization still unknown to Europeans and its incalculable riches, the enterprising Pizarro begins to act. The Panamanian mayor, having taken as comrades the same adventurers as he, Diego de Almagro and the priest Hernando de Luca, and having recruited a detachment of Spaniards, organized two military expeditions along the Pacific coast of modern Colombia and Ecuador.

However, both of them did not have the desired success. After the second such military expedition, the Governor of Panama refused to support Francisco Pizarro's costly ventures.

According to legend, Pizarro then drew a line on the sand with his sword and invited all members of the expedition who wished to continue to seek wealth and glory to cross this line and follow him into uncharted lands. Only twelve people remained under his command, including Diego de Almagro, who believed in their leader and his promises to make them rich.

With these twelve adventurers, Francisco Pizarro succeeded in discovering the Inca Empire. It should be noted here that the Incas met white people unknown to them with great cordiality and hospitality. For royal Spain, this was a real landmark discovery. With this news, clearly supported by looted gold items, domestic animals unknown to Europeans - llamas and several treacherously captured Incas, the great adventurer returned victoriously to Panama.

However, there Francisco Pizarro, to his considerable surprise, did not receive support from the local governor. He flatly refused to finance and support the third military expedition to the south. Then the persistent Pizarro sailed to Spain, where he achieved an audience with King Charles V. It was not without difficulty that he managed to convince the Spanish monarch to give him money to organize an aggressive campaign.

Having received the money, Francisco Pizarro returned to Panama in 1530 with the rank of captain general, having the family coat of arms and the right to governor over all the lands for more than six hundred miles south of Panama.

In January 1531, Captain General Francisco Pizarro set out on his third expedition to conquer the Inca Empire.

Headwinds forced the Spanish flotilla to take refuge in the bay, which received from them the name of St. Matthew. Francisco Pizarro did not wait for the weather to improve, and his detachment moved south along the Pacific coast towards modern city Tumbes. Indian villages that came across on the way were plundered.

Francisco Pizarro.

Pizarro learned a lot about the country he wanted to conquer. The capital of the Inca state was the well-fortified city of Cusco, located high in the mountains - the Andes. The capital of the Incas was protected by a fortress in Saxo, which had an impressive defensive rampart 10 meters high.

The Supreme Inca had a huge army, numbering up to 200 thousand people. For military successes, the Incas are called the "Romans of the New World." Warriors devoted a lot of time to their physical perfection, especially long-distance running. However, in armament, the Indian army could not be compared with the Spaniards. The country had big number high mountain stone fortresses.

By the time the Spaniards, led by Francisco Pizarro, appeared in the possessions of the Incas, a bloody internecine war had just ended there, which greatly weakened the country. At the beginning of the century, the supreme leader of Guaina Capac divided the Inca empire into two parts between his two sons - Atagualpa and Guascara. The latter received a large territory and therefore had more warriors. But his brother Atagualpa decided to capture the capital of Cusco and become the supreme Inca.

He managed to outwit Guascara and draw military detachments of leaders loyal to him to Cuzco. Atagualpa himself arrived at the capital under the pretext of expressing obedience, accompanied by strong guards. The deception was discovered too late, and the ruler of Cuzco simply could not muster his army.

When news reached Atagualpa of the appearance of the Spaniards in his possessions, who did evil and sowed death in Indian villages, he began to gather an army of many thousands to march against them. Pizarro, having learned about the military preparations of the supreme Inca, was not afraid and himself moved into the hard-to-reach Andes along a mountain path. The Spaniards were led by Indian guides, and they confidently moved through the mountain gorges to Cuzco. The detachment, which the conquistador led, consisted of only 110 well-armed infantrymen and 67 cavalrymen and had light guns.

To Pizarro's surprise, the Indians did not defend the mountain paths and passes against him. On November 15, 1532, the Spaniards, having overcome the peaks of the Andes, freely entered the city of Caxamarca, abandoned by the locals, and fortified in it. A huge army of Atagualpa was already standing in the field camp in front of the city.

Francisco Pizarro, following the example of Cortés and many other Spanish conquerors, acted with exceptional cunning and decisiveness. He invited Atagualpa to his talks, knowing full well that the Incas considered their Supreme Leader a demigod who could not even be touched with a finger. On November 16, Atagualpa, accompanied by several thousand lightly armed warriors, deprived of protective armor, solemnly arrived at the conquistador's camp. That day, they really weren't afraid of the Spaniards.

Pizarro calculated his actions to the smallest detail. He was not at all going to conduct any negotiations with the Indian emperor. The conquistador ordered the Spaniards to unexpectedly attack the bodyguards of the supreme Inca. The cavalry attack and firing from the arquebus led to the fact that the Spaniards quickly killed the guards of Atagualpa, and he himself was taken prisoner. Francisco Pizarro himself was the only one wounded among the Spaniards in that battle. The news of the capture of the demigod - the supreme Inca led the Indian army, which was standing near Caxamarca, into such horror that it fled and never again gathered in such a multitude.

The capture of the supreme Inca had the most detrimental effect on the fate of his empire. Dissatisfied with the power of the Incas, the Indian tribes rebelled, and the adherents of the executed Guascara reasserted themselves. A huge country was in the arms of anarchy and anarchy. The Spaniards were only on hand.

Francisco Pizarro demanded a ransom from the supreme Inca for his release from captivity. He promised the conquistador and his soldiers to fill a room of 35 square meters with gold to the height of a raised hand, and fill a somewhat smaller room twice with silver. The Incas paid the full ransom for their leader. However, Pizarro, having received fabulous treasures, did not keep his word and ordered the execution of Atagualpa.

In just a few years, a small army of the Spanish conquerors conquered a vast territory inhabited by the Incas and Indian tribes subject to them. Francisco Pizarro became the royal governor of vast possessions in South America - most of modern Peru and Ecuador, northern Chile and parts of Bolivia.

However, the conquerors were expected by far from cloudless rule in the conquered Indian state. The puppet supreme Inca, who fled from Cuzco, acted successfully. Within a few months, he managed to gather an army of many thousands and in February 1536 laid siege to the capital. The siege of Cuzco lasted six months. The small Spanish garrison was exhausted by the fight against fires, which the Inca warriors carried out by throwing white-hot stones wrapped in tarred cotton wool.

Manco rode a Spanish horse, in steel knightly armor, and his warriors had several muskets. It is possible that all this was purchased from the Spanish soldiers greedy for jewelry for gold. The Indian army, not accustomed to conducting long sieges, began to gradually disperse to their homes. Manco, who never managed to take Cusco by attack or a long siege, was forced to retreat to the mountains with the remnants of his soldiers. He continued to raid the conquerors from there, but Francisco Pizarro, with the help of the Indians - the enemies of the Incas, managed to kill Manco. Having lost their last demigod leader, the Incas stopped organized resistance to the Spaniards.

Soon, open armed confrontation began in the very camp of the Spanish conquerors. Diego de Almagro openly accused Francisco Pizarro of cheating his soldiers in the division of the vast treasures of the Incas. Most likely, it was. Almagro's supporters rebelled.

In 1537, Pizarro, having received reinforcements from Spain, defeated Almagro's detachment in the battle near Las Salinas, and captured him himself. The victory was largely due to the fact that the royal soldiers were armed with new muskets that fired several bullets linked one to one. Diego de Almagro was executed in the name of the King of Spain.

In retaliation, supporters of the executed Diego de Almagro broke into the governor's palace of the great conquistador in June 1541 and massacred the aged conqueror of the Inca empire. By the will of fate, Francisco Pizarro died not at the hands of Indian warriors, but at the hands of his own soldiers, whom he made rich. However, their greed knew no bounds.

Compared to other Spanish conquerors, Francisco Pizarro achieved the best results in the conquest of Indian peoples and civilizations. Latin America. With the smallest number of warriors, he managed to conquer vast and densely populated lands, which kept untold riches, especially gold and silver. Soon immigrants from Spain came here, and the Catholic Church began to baptize millions of pagan Indians with a cross and a sword.

Royal Spain was fabulously enriched by precious metals, which began to flow into the metropolis from the Inca Empire that had gone down in history. The great conqueror himself almost did not have to use the treasures he had stolen and be satisfied with the honors due to him. However, in world history Francisco Pizarro entered his name forever, as in the history of several states of South America. The largest monument to the great conquistador was the Peruvian capital city of Lima.

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Francisco Pizarro.

One of the side sons of a Castilian nobleman, captain Gonzalo Pizarro and a simple peasant woman, Francisco Gonzalez. He spent his childhood in the house of his mother's parents, according to legend, she grazed pigs. He enlisted as a soldier early. Perhaps in his early youth he took part in campaigns in Italy. In 1502 he went to New World on about. Hispaniola (Haiti). Member of the voyage of A. Ojeda (1509) to Uraba Bay, the capture of Panama (1510). In 1513, Pizarro, already with the rank of captain, participated in the expedition of V. Nunez de Balboa, which opened a passage to the Pacific Ocean (South Sea). In 1519-23 he was mayor and alcalde of a town founded by the Spaniards in Panama, but his material affairs were generally not brilliant.

Influenced by rumors about a mysterious country, Eldorado decided to try his luck and, together with his soldier Diego Almagro and chaplain Hernando Luque, gathered a detachment. At first, his expedition enjoyed wide support; it was possible to equip many ships that set off to conquer the western coast of Colombia (1524-25). The next campaign (1526-28) was sent to Ecuador. After an unsuccessful search for gold, Pizarro, along with some adherents, stayed to explore the offshore islands, while Almagro returned to Panama for reinforcements. But the new governor of Panama appointed at that time refused to support the expedition members. Having received this information, Pizarro drew a line on the ground with his sword, calling on those who seek wealth and glory to cross this line. Those who decided to do this, Pizarro called the "glorious thirty." Moving forward, the brave men reached the lands of the Inca empire, which they called Peru. Pizarro did not dare to go on a conquest with such small forces and returned to Panama, where the governor still refused to support his enterprise. Pizarro departed for Spain to win the favor of the emperor. At the same time (in the spring of 1528), E. Cortes was also at court, presenting to Charles V clear evidence of the riches of the New World. The king favorably reacted to Pizarro's plans, appointed him captain-general (governor) of Peru and adelantado (leader of the conquistador detachment), and also promoted him to the marquis.

Pizarro returned from Spain with his four brothers, and the members of the "glorious thirty" were not forgotten: they all received new titles and promises of all kinds of privileges in new lands. In January 1531 he launched a new campaign of conquest in Peru. He had one ship, 180 men and 37 horses. Subsequently, two more ships joined the expedition. In April of the same year, they met with the envoys of the supreme Inca Atahualpa, who, to repulse the conquerors, gathered an army of 30 thousand Indians. Inca was in the city of Cajamarca, where he invited Pizarro to meet. Arriving in November 1531, Pizarro landed his artillery and sent his brother Hernando along with a group of other Spaniards to reconnoiter. Ataulapa left the fortress to meet the Spaniards with small forces (about 3-4 thousand Indians), practically without weapons. The priest Vicente de Valverde met the Inca and began to persuade him to accept Christianity and recognize himself as a vassal of the Spanish king. Atahualpa did not agree, began to argue with the Spaniards and threw away the bible. The priest reported this to Pizarro, who ordered to begin immediately fighting. As always, the Indians were afraid of horses, the Inca was surrounded on all sides and captured (according to legend, by Pizarro personally). In exchange for his freedom, he promised the Spaniards a ransom - a room completely filled with gold and silver. However, the Spaniards found fault with the fact that Atahualpa had executed his rival Huascar (allegedly who wanted to convert to Christianity) in an internecine war and organized a mock trial, during which Atahualpa was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out on August 29, 1533. At the news of the execution of the Supreme Inca, the entire Indian army fled, and Pizarro freely reached Cuzco, the capital of the empire. Having occupied it, the Spaniards proclaimed Manco Capac, Huascar's brother, the legitimate Supreme Inca.

Pizarro appropriated the lion's share of the booty to himself and his brothers. Almagro began to protest against this inequality, bringing to light the old agreement on equal shares of the three partners who wanted to win the Eldorado. Pizarro sent a former friend to conquer Chile, but, disappointed by the poverty of these lands, Almagro arbitrarily returned to Peru. Here he was arrested and executed by Hernando Pizarro, one of Francisco's brothers.

Francisco Pizarro at this time continued the conquest of Peru. In 1535 he founded the cities of Lima and Trujillo. He also sent detachments to conquer Ecuador, Bolivia, part of Argentina (the expedition of S. Belalcazar). At the end of December, he began a new military campaign against the Incas, occupied the main territory of the country; in 1535–1537 he crushed an Indian uprising. Dissatisfied Pizarro united around Almagro's son, Diego Jr. They broke into Pizarro's palace in Lima and killed him. According to legend, before his death, he drew a cross with his blood, kissed it and died crying "Jesus".

Conqueror of the Inca Empire Francisco Pizarro

Francisco Pizarro (born c. 1471 or 1476 - death June 26, 1541) - the great conquistador of Spain. Conqueror of the Inca Empire. Founder of the city of Lima. He was killed by his own soldiers.

The illegitimate son of a Spanish military man, born around 1471-76, Francisco Pizarro entered the royal service in his youth. In the New World (America), he appeared in 1502, served in the military detachment of the governor of Hispaniola (Santo Domingo).

1513 - Francisco participated in the military expedition of Vasco de Balboa to Panama, during which the Spaniards discovered the Pacific Ocean. From 1519 to 1523 he lived in Panama as a colonist, was elected master and mayor of this city.

Having learned about the unknown civilization of the Indians and its riches, the enterprising Pizarro began to act. Taking as companions the same adventurers as he - Diego de Almagro and the priest Hernando de Luca - and recruiting a detachment of Spaniards, he organized two military expeditions along the Pacific coast of modern Colombia and Ecuador.

The first expedition 1524 - 1525

As can be seen from the report of Juan de Samano, secretary of Charles V, the name of Peru was first mentioned in 1525 in connection with the completion of the first Southern expedition of Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. The expedition left Panama on November 14, 1524, but was forced to return in 1525.

The second expedition 1526 - 1528

Francisco sailed again in 1526 with Almagro and Bartolome Ruiz, visiting Tumbes and then returning to Panama. The Inca ruler Atahualpa personally met the Europeans in 1527, when two people of Pizarro, Rodrigo Sanchez and Juan Martin, were brought to him, landed near Tumbes to reconnoiter the territory. They were ordered to be delivered to Quito within four days, after which they were sacrificed to the god Viracocha in the Lomas Valley.

After a second such military expedition, the governor of Panama refused to support Pizarro's costly ventures. The governor ordered the Spaniards to return to Panama.

As the legend says, Pizarro then drew a line on the sand with his sword and invited all the members of the expedition, who wish to continue to seek wealth and glory, to cross this line and go with him to uncharted lands. Only 12 people remained under his command, including Diego de Almagro.

With these 12 adventurers, Pizarro was able to find the Inca empire. Francisco returned victoriously to Panama. But there he did not receive support from the local governor. He categorically refused to finance and support the third military expedition to the south. Then the great adventurer sailed to Spain, where he was able to get an audience with King Charles V. He was able to convince the king to give him money to organize an aggressive campaign.

Having received the money, Francisco Pizarro returned to Panama in 1530 with the rank of captain-general, having the family coat of arms and the right to governor over all the lands more than 600 miles south of Panama. However, he still had to win these lands for the Spanish crown.

Third expedition - 1531

Expedition route of Francisco Pizarro

January 1531 - Captain-General Francisco Pizarro sets sail on his third expedition to conquer the Inca Empire. He set off from Panama on 3 small sailing ships to the south, having under his command 180 infantrymen, 37 cavalrymen (according to other sources, there were 65 horses in the detachment) and 2 small guns.

There were 4 of his brothers in the detachment, his faithful comrades-in-arms on the second expedition and the Catholic missionary priest Hernando de Luca. Only three soldiers had arquebuses. Another 20 were armed with long-range crossbows. The rest of the Spaniards armed themselves with swords and spears and dressed in steel helmets and cuirasses.

Headwinds forced the Spaniards flotilla to take refuge in the bay, which received from them the name of St. Matthew. Francisco did not wait for the weather to improve, and his detachment moved south along the Pacific coast towards the modern city of Tumbes. Indian villages were robbed along the way: the Spaniards found gold in each of them.

But the great adventurer understood that he had very little strength. With the gold he stole at the beginning of the expedition, he recruited more Spanish soldiers and bought more arquebuses and charges for them. Pizarro sent two ships north, one to Panama and the other to Nicaragua.

He himself, with those who remained, went on the third sailboat to the island of Puno south of Tumbes. So by June 1552, the first Spanish base arose in South America, which was called San Miguel de Piura. About 100 reinforcements arrived on a ship sent to Nicaragua.

On the way to the conquest of the Inca Empire

Now Captain-General Pizarro could continue his campaign of conquest. Once again on the mainland, the Spaniards ran into the fruits of their first atrocities in the land of the Indians. Hospitality was out of the question now.

The adventurer already knew a lot about the country he wanted to conquer. The Incas called themselves "children of the Sun", their vast state with a population of approximately 10 million people stretched along the Pacific coast of South America.

The capital of the Inca state was the well-fortified city of Cusco (the territory of modern Peru), located high in the mountains - the Andes. The capital of the Incas was protected by a fortress in Saxo, which has an impressive defensive rampart 10 m high. The Supreme Inca had a huge army, numbering up to 200,000 soldiers.

By the time the Spaniards, led by Francisco Pizarro, appeared on the lands of the Incas, a bloody battle had recently ended there. internecine war which greatly weakened the country. At the beginning of the century, the supreme leader of Guaina Capac divided the Inca empire between his sons - Atagualpa and Guascara. The first of them went to war against his brother and defeated him through cunning and cruelty. At this time, the conquistador Francisco Pizarro appeared on the scene.

When news reached Atagualpa of the appearance in his possessions of the Spaniards, who did evil and sowed death, he began to gather an army of many thousands. Francisco, having learned about this, was not afraid and he himself moved into the hard-to-reach Andes along the mountain path to Cuzco. The detachment led by the conquistador consisted of only 110 well-armed infantry and 67 cavalry and had light cannons.

To the surprise of Pizarro, the Indians did not defend the mountain paths and passes. 1532, November 15 - the Spaniards, having overcome the peaks of the Andes, were able to freely enter the city of Caxamarca left by the locals and fortified in it.

A huge army of Atagualpa was already standing in the field camp in front of the city. The supreme leader of the Incas was absolutely sure of his superiority over the few foreigners. To match their ruler, his soldiers also believed in this, who had not yet seen or heard the shots of arquebuses and cannons.

Capture of Atahualpa

Francisco Pizarro, following the example of many Spanish conquerors, acted extremely cunningly and decisively. He invited Atagualpa to his negotiations, knowing full well that the Incas considered their supreme leader a demigod, which could not even be touched with a finger. On November 16, Atagualpa, accompanied by several thousand lightly armed warriors, deprived of protective armor, solemnly arrived at the conquistador's camp. On that day, the Incas were not really afraid of the Spaniards.

The conquistador calculated his actions to the smallest detail. Pizarro ordered the soldiers to suddenly attack the bodyguards of the High Inca. The cavalry attack and firing from the arquebus led to the fact that the Spaniards were able to quickly kill the guards of Atagualpa, and he himself was taken prisoner. The only wounded among the Spaniards in that battle was the great adventurer himself.

The news of the capture of the demigod - the supreme Inca - led the Indian army, which was under Caxamarca, into such horror that it fled and never again gathered in such a multitude.

Francisco Pizarro began to demand a ransom from the Inca leader for his release from captivity. He promised the conquistador to fill a room of 35 square meters with gold to the height of a raised hand, and fill a somewhat smaller room twice with silver. The Incas fully paid the ransom for the supreme Inca. But Pizarro, having received fabulous treasures, did not keep his promise and gave the order to execute Atagualpa.

Conquest of the Inca Empire

First uprising against Spanish rule

Then the Spaniards freely entered the capital Cuzco. The captain-general of the Spanish king acted like an experienced conqueror. He immediately placed at the head of the conquered country the puppet Manco, the brother of Guascara. A little time will pass, and Manco, having fled to the mountains in 1535, will begin to raise the Incas for an armed struggle against the conquerors.

A small Spanish army in just a few years could conquer vast territory, inhabited by the Incas and the tribes subject to them. Francisco Pizarro became the royal governor of vast possessions in South America - most of Peru and Ecuador, northern Chile and parts of Bolivia.

The huge country of the Incas came for the time being in complete obedience to the captain-general of the king of Spain. 1535 - Francisco Pizarro, leaving his brother Juan as manager in the Inca capital of Cuzco, marched with part of his army to the Pacific coast. There he founded the city of Limu - "the city of kings."

But far from cloudless rule in the conquered Indian empire awaited the conquerors. Manco was successful. In a few months, he was able to gather an army of many thousands and in February 1536 besieged his capital. The siege of Cuzco lasted for six months. The small Spanish garrison was exhausted by fighting the fires that the Inca warriors produced by throwing white-hot stones wrapped in tarred cotton.

But the Indian army, not accustomed to conducting a long siege, began to gradually disperse from Cuzco to their homes. The great Inca was forced to retreat to the mountains with the last warriors. He continued to raid the conquerors from there. Francisco Pizarro, with the help of the Indians - the enemies of the Incas - was able to kill Manco. Having lost their last demigod leader, the Incas stopped organized armed resistance to the Spaniards.

Death of Francisco Pizarro

Soon, open confrontation began in the camp of the conquistadors. Diego de Almagro openly accused Francisco Pizarro of cheating his soldiers in the division of the vast treasures of the Incas. Most likely, it was. Almagro's supporters rebelled.

1537 - Pizarro, having received reinforcements from Spain, defeated Almagro's detachment in the battle near Las Salinas, and captured him himself. The victory was largely due to the fact that the royal soldiers were armed with new muskets that fired several bullets linked one with the other. Diego de Almagro was executed in the name of the Spanish king.

In retaliation, supporters of the executed rebel in June 1541 broke into the governor's palace of the great conquistador and dealt with the aged conqueror of the Inca empire. By the will of fate, Francisco Pizarro died not at the hands of Indian warriors, but at the hands of his own soldiers, whom he made rich.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador. In 1513-1535, he participated in the conquest of Panama and Peru, discovered part of the Pacific coast of South America with the Gulf of Guayaquil and the Western Cordillera of the Andes, plundered and destroyed the Inca state of Tahuantinsuyu, founded the cities of Lima and Trujillo.

Eldorado ... Among the conquistadors in the second half of the 16th century, a legend spread that among the Indian "kings" (leaders) of South America there is one who rules such a gold-rich country that he covers his body every morning (after smearing it with liquid clay) golden sand, and every evening washes away the gold in the waters of the sacred lake. This legend is based on the actual religious ceremonies held by certain Indian tribes in the Magdalena river basin. Search richest country Eldorado (translated from Spanish - "gilded man") played a decisive role in the history of the discovery of the basins of the Magdalena and Orinoco rivers and the Guiana Highlands, that is, the entire northern part of South America.

Francisco Pizarro was born in Trujillo, in the province of Extremadura, 150 kilometers southwest of Madrid. He was the illegitimate son of Don Gonzalo Pizarro, nicknamed "The Tall", an excellent soldier who received a noble title for his bravery in battles against the Moors. His mother, Francisco Gonzalez, was the daughter of a commoner. The boy was never taught to read, he played with his peers in the vicinity of Trujillo, sometimes looking after sheep or pigs. From an early age, he dreamed of adventure.

In all likelihood, Pizarro left Trujillo at the age of 19 and joined the Spanish army in Italy. This hardened him and prepared him for difficult expeditions to South America. It is authentically known that in 1502 he went to America as an experienced soldier. Young Pizarro participated in a bloody campaign against the Indians on the island of Hispaniola (present-day Haiti).

From 1507, for fifteen years, Francisco Pizarro tried to get rich in the Western Indies. During this time, he served various seniors in Hispaniola and Cuba, made campaigns on the Isthmus of Panama both together with Balboa and against Balboa. Fate pursued him both on the islands and on the mainland: the campaigns against the Panamanian Indians, in which he participated, often ended in failure, and if there were good luck, then Pedrarias Avila took almost all the booty. Pizarro was deprived, like almost all soldiers and junior officers of the conquistadors, and when dividing land holdings: for his service, he received only a small estate near the city of Panama.

Then there lived in Panama another conquistador, Diego Almagro, who arrived on the isthmus in 1514, like Pizarro, a foundling offended by fate and a loser, illiterate and a beggar. The news of the "empire" of Peru awakened in both the hope of quick enrichment. Only they had neither the means to open, nor, moreover, to conquer Peru.

Meanwhile, people lived in Panama at that time who had the necessary funds for the first time and were willing to take risks in the hope of getting richer: priests and crown officials - treasurers, controllers, etc. And now in Panama a kind of "society on shares" is being organized , which included the influential and wealthy Catholic priest Hernan de Luque and two conquistadors with extensive experience in military operations against the Indians - Francisco Pizarro and Diego Almagro. Of course, Pedrarias Avila was also brought in as a companion, since without his "patronage" it was mortally dangerous to embark on a "voyage of discovery." And the fearless Pizarro, who arrested his son-in-law Balboa in the service of Avila, understood this better than others. But the governor, as always, agreed to participate only in the profits, and by no means in the expenses of the expedition.

Not having large funds, the company could only recruit a hundred soldiers and equip two ships. In 1524, Pizarro and Almagro undertook the first voyage to the coast of Peru, but only reached the delta of the San Juan River. They explored part of the San Juan Basin, but found nothing of value in this hot and humid forested area with a sparse roaming population. Due to the lack of food, the Spaniards had to return to Panama with nothing.

In 1526, the conquistadors tried again and landed again near the mouth of San Juan, and sent one ship south to reconnaissance under the command of helmsman Bartolome Ruiz. He advanced along the coast for about another 800 km, discovered the delta of the Patia River (Viru) and Tumako Bay, and then crossed the equator. Sailors saw in the distance the giant snowy peak of Chimborazo (6272 meters). Ruiz captured several Peruvians sailing on an oncoming balsa raft. The captives confirmed the stories of the vast size and wealth of the country lying to the south, and the power of the Incas, to whom it belonged. Ruiz delivered several valuable examples of Peruvian products to Pizarro.

The Incas - one of the tribes of the numerous Quechua people - about a hundred years before the arrival of the Spaniards, led the union of several tribes, subjugated other Quechua tribes and conquered neighboring peoples, of which the Aymara people in the Central Andes were the most numerous. By 1438, the Incas had formed the largest of all the Indian states that ever existed. This early slave state extended south from the Patia River to the Maule River for more than 4,000 kilometers and covered an area of about 2,000,000 square kilometers with a population of about 6 million people. The power there belonged to the supreme Inca, who relied on the dominant group of his fellow tribesmen. The capital of the state was the city of Cusco, lying in the highland valley of the Urubamba River, in the upper reaches of the Ucayali - Amazon.

Pizarro and Almagro next, in 1527, set off for the shores of Peru for the third time, but this time they did not reach the equator either. Due to the lack of food supplies, the companions decided to split up. The stubborn Pizarro remained on the coastal island, where he considered himself safe from the raids of the coastal Indians, embittered by the robberies and violence that the Spaniards perpetrated both in the area of Buenaventura Bay and north of it. Almagro went back to Panama for reinforcements and new supplies.

Pedrarias Avila had by this time been removed from power. His successor decided to put an end to the "mad" attempts that had begun before his arrival, and moreover, a man of such "dark origin" as Pizarro. The governor sent a ship for Pizarro and his men with categorical orders to return immediately to Panama. And on the island there was a scene that some historians consider theatrical and therefore implausible. It, however, fully corresponds to the character of Pizarro, as portrayed by the most reliable historical documents.

Many of Pizarro's companions rejoiced at the opportunity to return to Panama, to their estates. Then Pizarro stepped forward, drew his sword from its scabbard, drew a line in the sand with it, stepped over the line and said, addressing his timid comrades: "Castilians! This path (to the south) leads to Peru and wealth, that path (to the north) - to Panama and poverty. Choose!" Only a dozen people followed him, including the helmsman Ruiz and Francisco Jerez, who became the historiographer of the expedition that conquered Peru. The captain of the Panamanian ship took the rest on board and set sail, leaving the "rebels" without supplies to their fate.

Pizarro and his comrades, now not feeling safe on the coastal island, built a balsa raft and crossed to the Gorgon Island lying 50 kilometers from the coast. They spent more than half a year there in voluntary exile, obtaining food for themselves by hunting birds and collecting edible shellfish. During this time, Pizarro's companions equipped another ship, but the governor did not allow him to send either soldiers or military supplies on it. The team was only to deliver Pizarro and his men to Panama.

However, Pizarro used the ship for further reconnaissance in a southerly direction. When the coast turned sharply to the southeast, the Spaniards entered the vast Guayaquil Bay, which goes far into the land, the largest on the entire Pacific coast of South America. On land, they saw well-cultivated fields, on the southern shore of the bay lay the large and rich city of Tumbes.

To see for himself the wealth and vast size of the "empire" of Peru, Pizarro continued sailing further south. The nature of the coast has changed dramatically: instead of the humid equatorial forest, characteristic of the entire coastal strip from the Gulf of Panama, south of the Gulf of Guayaquil, areas covered with sparse vegetation alternated with completely barren ones. High mountains (Western Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes) were visible at first in the distance, but in the south they almost came close to the coast. The ship passed to approximately 8° south latitude (S). But even in this very arid zone, agricultural oases that arose in the valleys stood out. There were artificially irrigated fields located in terraces, there were small and large villages connected by paved roads. And in the vicinity of the villages llamas grazed - the only type of cattle in the New World.

The Spaniards obtained two living llamas, thin fabrics of vigoni wool, gold and silver vessels on this stretch of the Peruvian coast, and captured several young Peruvians. With such trophies, Pizarro could return with honor not only to Panama, but also to Spain. No one now could doubt the existence of the golden country of Peru, which he, Pizarro, discovered and proposed to conquer. But the creditors were the first to "welcome" the conquistador in his homeland, who immediately put him in jail for non-payment of debts.

Pizarro's stories, supported by such convincing evidence, made a very strong impression in Spain. He was released from prison by royal order. He received from Charles I a patent for the conquest of Peru and was appointed governor of the country. Large sums of money were also released to him, but not real, but future ones - from the income of that country that still had to be conquered, but the period for equipping the expedition was set short - six months. Of course, there were people, including Hernando Cortes, who financed an enterprise that promised huge profits. Francisco Pizarro immediately began recruiting volunteers in his native region of Extremadura. First of all, he attracted, of course, his relatives, including three half-brothers: the eldest, Hernando, and the younger, Juan and Gonzalo.

Almagro did not receive a high appointment. He saw that Pizarro surrounded himself with relatives who pushed him into the background. But he still counted on an agreement on the division of booty and did not completely lose confidence in his partner. And when he arrived in Panama with a small detachment, seemingly insufficient to conquer a huge country, Almagro agreed to temporarily stay in the rear and organize the sending of reinforcements, hoping to arrive in Peru with a large detachment at a decisive moment.

In 1531, Francisco Pizarro and his brothers left Panama on three ships with a detachment of 180 people, including several dozen riders: he, like Cortes in Mexico, had high hopes for horses. He landed at the equator and moved from there to the south by land. In 1532, he approached the Gulf of Guayaquil and captured the island of Puna, off the northern shore of the Gulf. But the local Indians defended themselves so courageously that Pizarro, six months later, with a greatly depleted detachment, moved to the southern shore of the bay, to the harbor, which is still called Puerto Pizarro, near Tumbes. Here he stood for another three months, but this time he did not waste time: he collected accurate information about the internal situation in the state of the Incas and waited for reinforcements from Panama, including several dozen more horses, which were of the greatest value to him.

The country has just ended a three-year internecine war. Huascar, the supreme Inca, was defeated and captured by his brother Atahualpa. In September 1532, the "usurper" with a detachment of 5,000 Indians was in the mountain town of Cajamarca, on one of the upper tributaries of the Marañona River.

The Pizarro brothers, among whom the "husband of the council" was the old man Hernando, considered the moment favorable for their purposes. Having received reinforcements from Panama, they set out on a campaign at the end of September, marched south along the coastal lowlands, then crossed the Western Cordillera and reached Cajamarca. Their advance was facilitated by the fact that the Incas built roads on their territory, paved with stone, in some places carved into the rocks, with suspension bridges thrown over deep gorges in which mountain rivers made their way. Pizarro's detachment consisted of 62 cavalrymen and 102 infantrymen, of which only 23 had firearms (arquebuses and muskets).

Atahualpa did not obstruct the Spaniards. In mid-November 1532, the Spaniards entered Cajamarca and camped there; Atahualpa's five thousandth detachment was two miles from the city. Francisco Pizarro sent officer Hernando Soto with two or three dozen horsemen to Atahualpa's camp with an invitation to meet the next day in the square in Cajamarca. The Supreme Inca refused. Then Hernando Pizarro, with only one translator, came to Atahualpa, and he, seeing how the strangers trusted him, agreed to a meeting.

According to the traditional version, on the night after inspecting the Atahualpa camp, the brothers Pizarro, Soto, Sevastian Moyano de Belalcazar and the monk Vicente Valverde drew up a daring plan, which Francisco Pizarro carried out with unprecedented impudence even for that time.

The Spanish soldiers and cavalry, divided into three groups, were hidden in an ambush (apparently, Pizarro and Atahualpa agreed that they would meet away from their troops). The supreme Inca arrived at the square in a golden palanquin, which was carried on their shoulders by noble people. Three hundred unarmed Indians went ahead, removing stones and rubbish from the road; the sovereign was followed on stretchers and in hammocks by leaders and elders.

When the procession stopped, Valverde approached Atahualpa and read out a long recerimiento (notice) - a document about the Inca's voluntary recognition of the power of the Spanish king. Atahualpa asked how he could be sure that everything he was told was true. The monk referred to the Gospel, which he held in his hands. "And Atahualpa asked him for this book, turned it over, turned the pages and said that this book does not speak and does not utter any words, and threw it away." Then Valverde shouted to the Spaniards: "At them, at them!" Francisco Pizarro ordered a volley to be fired, the riders hidden in ambush rushed to Atahualpa from three sides, and at the same time the foot soldiers appeared. “And the governor [Pizarro] ... in a furious impulse rushed to the stretcher, grabbed Atahualpa by the hair (and he had very long hair), pulled him towards him, pulled him out of the stretcher ... knocked Atahualpa to the ground and tied him. The Indians saw their master defeated and bound just when the horsemen, whom they were so afraid of, attacked them from different sides ... and rushed to run ... so swiftly that they knocked each other down ... And the horsemen pursued the fleeing, until the darkness of the night compelled them to return." Seeing the stampede of Atahualpa's retinue, a large Indian detachment, which was at a great distance, went north, towards the city of Quito, without a fight.

The supreme Inca realized that the conquistadors value gold most of all in the world. On the wall of the dungeon in which the Spaniards imprisoned him, he drew a line as high as he could reach with his hand, and offered an unheard-of ransom for himself - so much gold that it would fill the room to the indicated line. Francisco Pizarro accepted the offer. Then Atahualpa sent messengers in all directions to collect the golden vessels and other temple ornaments.

At the beginning of 1533, Almagro arrived in Peru with a detachment of 200 people, of which about 50 horsemen, but the Pizarro brothers no longer needed them. It was then, apparently, that a feud broke out between the companions, which later led to the death of almost all the leader-captains of the Peruvian expedition.

Until the middle of 1533, the Incas had collected piles of gold, but not all of the ransom had yet been delivered. Francisco Pizarro lost his patience, especially since the resources of the Incas seemed to have already been exhausted. He accused the Inca of conspiring against the Spaniards, of killing his rival Huascar, of idolatry, polygamy, etc. Atahualpa was sentenced to be burned. But since he agreed to be baptized, he was "only" strangled. The gold collected on his orders, after the eviction of the royal fifth, was divided among the conquistadors. Since Almagro had a strong detachment, he received his share.

Pizarro declared the supreme Inca Manco Capac, son of Huascar, the sovereign of Peru, and entered with him into the capital of the country, Cusco, easily breaking the resistance of the Indians on the way.

He hurried to send to Spain the royal fifth - a large cargo of gold (some authors estimate the entire production at 150 million gold rubles). New crowds of adventurers rushed to South America. The ships made frequent voyages between Panama and Peru. Pizarro then decided to move the administrative center of the country to the sea and founded the "City of Kings" (1535), which later became known as Lima.

In the decline of his life, Pizarro felt satisfaction, laying the streets of cities, giving away houses to his friends. The Indians also built his personal residence in the Spanish style, with their usual patio - a patio planted with imported olive and orange trees.

But the quiet time did not last long. younger brothers Pizarro and other Spaniards in Cuzco violated the treaty and insulted the ruler Manco. Enraged, he secretly prepared an uprising. In April 1536, Manco disappeared from Cuzco and called his leaders to a meeting where they vowed to expel the hated conquerors from Peru. And already in May, 190 Spaniards in Cuzco were surrounded by Indians.

Manco's rebellion continued until December. Four expeditions sent by Pizarro in support of his brothers were defeated in the mountains, still on the approaches to Cuzco. About 500 Spaniards were killed. And yet the Peruvians failed to liberate their country. Reinforcement ships arrived from Central America and the blockade of Cuzco was broken. Manco fled to the Amazonian jungle, to the sacred city of Machu Picchu, where he ruled the remnants of his empire with his three sons for 35 years.

But even greater difficulties than with the Indians experienced Pizarro with his old colleague and even once friend Diego de Almagro. He always organized the supply and replenished Pizarro's expedition with people. And he was cruelly wounded by the fact that the king approved for him only the title of governor of Peru. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, he accused Pizarro of conferring all the titles.

Then Pizarro made a diplomatic move: as a reward for diligence, Almagro received land in southern Peru. But when Diego arrived there, he was disappointed - there was nothing to profit from. He did not know that Potosi was located on the territory subject to him, where later the Spaniards would discover the richest silver deposits in the world. Almagro laid claim to Cuzco. The fight between the Spaniards was not long in coming, and it was no less fierce than the battles with the Indians.

Civil strife ended in Cuzco in 1538, when Almagro was defeated by Pizarro's brother Hernando. Furious and bloodthirsty Hernando executed 120 people, and killed Almagro himself as a traitor. But that was his mistake. Returning to Spain, he was imprisoned for this act of revenge.

Having defeated Manco and Almagro, Pizarro finally established himself in the new city of Lima. He fixed up his house, tended his garden, walked the streets visiting old soldiers, wore an old-fashioned black robe with a red knight's cross on his chest, cheap buckskin shoes, and a hat. The only expensive thing he had was a fur coat made of marten fur, sent by his cousin Cortez.

Pizarro loved to play with his four young sons, although he never married their Indian mother or any other woman. He was indifferent to good wines, food, horses. Aged and unspeakably rich, this most successful of all the conquistadors, it seemed, simply did not know what to do with the wealth that suddenly fell on him. He made several wills. His main concern was to continue the family tree and glorify the name of Pizarro. He ordered all his heirs, both male and female, to bear this surname.

But the execution of Almagro entailed retribution On Sunday morning, July 26, 1541, when Pizarro was hosting guests, 20 conspirators broke into the house under the command of Almagro Jr. The guests fled, some jumped right out of the windows. 63-year-old Pizarro defended himself in the bedroom with a sword and dagger. He fought desperately, killed one of the attackers, but the forces were not equal, and soon he fell dead from the many wounds inflicted.

The place where he was killed in the presidential palace is now covered with marble slabs. On Armas Square in Lima there is a cathedral, also associated with the name of Pizarro. In 1977, during repair work, coffins and a lead box were found in the brickwork of the cathedral vaults. It contained a skull and a sword hilt. The inscription was engraved outside: "This is the head of the Marquis Don Francisco Pizarro, who discovered and conquered the Peruvian Empire, placing it under the rule of the King of Castile."

Francisco Pizarro

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Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 11. PERGAMUM - RENUVEN. 1968.

Literature: Volsky S., Pizarro (1470-1541), M., 1935; Lebrun H., Conquête du Pérau et histoire de Pizarre, 5 ed., Tours, 1852; Quintano M. J., Vida de Fr. Pizarro, 2nd ed., B. Aires, 1945.

Francisco Pizarro.

Francisco Pizarro (1475-1541). A native of Trujillo, Extremadura. One of the sons of Gonzalo Pizarro, a poor hidalgo who became a soldier in Italy. He was brought up like a peasant child, and remained illiterate all his life. He began his military service in Italy, and in 1502 went to India. For almost twenty years, he did not stand out among his associates. Having settled in Panama, he received an encomienda (allotted land with the Indians), took up cattle breeding and, probably, led a comfortable existence. After 1522, marked by the success of Cortes in New Spain, rumors began to circulate again about fabulously wealthy empires in the south of the mainland.

He went to Spain and obtained from Charles V the support of his undertaking and the title of governor of the territories that he would be able to conquer. Almagro was honored only with the position of his deputy. In 1531, returning with his brothers to Panama, Pizarro headed south. He had at his disposal three ships and a detachment of 85 people. After the capture of Tumbes, he founded the city of San Miguel de Piura to establish communication with Panama, and began to distribute land plots with the Indians to his people. At the time of Pizarro's arrival, the Inca Empire had just emerged from the civil war between the sons of the Supreme Inca Huayna Capac - Huascar and Atahualpa; the last one won. Following the example of Cortes, Pizarro decided to penetrate deep into the Empire, meet with Atahualpa and invite him to recognize the sovereignty of Charles V. He crossed the Cordillera and reached the city of Cajamarca, where the residence of the Inca was located. Pizarro asked him for an audience, and the next day he unexpectedly attacked the palace, defeated the guards and captured him (November 16, 1532). In June 1533, after a staged trial, Atahualpa was executed. November 15, 1533 Pizarro finally returned to Cuzco, the capital of the empire. He delegated authority to one of Atahualpa's brothers, Manco Capac, to exercise his rule through him. Almagro, believing himself to be left out in the division of booty, decided to restore justice and captured the city, capturing Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro: this was the first conflict that ended almost in a draw. The reconciliation attempt was more or less successful, Hernando Pizarro was released (Gonzalo fled), but soon the war resumed. Almagro's supporters were defeated in April 1538, he himself was tried and executed in July 1538. Having settled in Cuzco, Hernando Pizarro set about suppressing the uprising of Manco Capac (1536) and the peaceful development of the country. In 1540 he returned to Lima (founded in 1535). Pizarro was unable to cope with the Almagrists, the "people of Chile" who supported Diego de Almagro the Younger. Without waiting for the arrival of the representative of the king, who was supposed to sort out the conflict and take over the board if necessary, the almagrists moved to action: on June 26, 1541, they attacked Pizarro's house. After fierce resistance, he was killed.

Mazen O. Spanish America XVI - XVIII centuries / Oscar Mazen. - M., Veche, 2015, p. 302-304.

Francisco Pizarro.

Pizarro Francisco - The illegitimate son of a Spanish military man, Francisco Pizarro entered the royal military service in his youth. Information about any education he received, as well as about the presence of combat experience before his arrival from Spain on American soil, has not been preserved.

However, both of them did not have the desired success. After the second such military expedition, the Governor of Panama refused to support Francisco Pizarro's costly ventures.

In January 1531, Captain General Francisco Pizarro set out on his third expedition to conquer the Inca Empire.

Headwinds forced the Spanish flotilla to take refuge in the bay, which received from them the name of St. Matthew. Francisco Pizarro did not wait for the weather to improve, and his detachment moved south along the Pacific coast towards the modern city of Tumbes. Indian villages that came across on the way were plundered.

Francisco Pizarro.

The Supreme Inca had a huge army, numbering up to 200 thousand people. For military successes, the Incas are called the "Romans of the New World." Warriors devoted a lot of time to their physical perfection, especially long-distance running. However, in armament, the Indian army could not be compared with the Spaniards. There were a large number of high-altitude stone fortresses in the country.

Compared to other Spanish conquerors, Francisco Pizarro achieved the best results in conquering the Indian peoples and civilizations of Latin America. With the smallest number of warriors, he managed to conquer vast and densely populated lands, which kept untold riches, especially gold and silver. Soon immigrants from Spain came here, and the Catholic Church began to baptize millions of pagan Indians with a cross and a sword.

Royal Spain was fabulously enriched by precious metals, which began to flow into the metropolis from the Inca Empire that had gone down in history. The great conqueror himself almost did not have to use the treasures he had stolen and be satisfied with the honors due to him. However, Francisco Pizarro inscribed his name forever in world history, as well as in the history of several states of South America. The largest monument to the great conquistador was the Peruvian capital city of Lima.

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Francisco Pizarro.