Pizarro, Francisco c.1478-1541
Spanish soldier and conqueror of Peru

Born in Trujillo, he served under Gonsalvo di Cordova in Italy, and under Vasco N��ez de Balboa, discoverer of the Pacific Ocean. In 1526 Pizarro and Diego de Almagro sailed for Peru where they collected information about the Incas. He returned to Spain for authority to undertake the conquest, which he received in 1529. He sailed again from Panama in 1531, Almagro following with reinforcements. The Spaniards began the march inland in May 1532, and in November entered Cajamarca. Pizarro captured the Inca Atahualpa by treachery, and after extorting an enormous ransom, (�3,500,000) put him to death (1533). He then marched to Cuzco, and was founding Lima and other cities on the coast when a Native American insurrection broke out. Both Cuzco and Lima were besieged, and his half-brother Juan Pizarro (1505-36), Governor of Cuzco, was killed, but in spring 1537 Almagro returned from Chile, raised the Siege of Cuzco, and took possession of the city. Pizarro had no intention of allowing his rival to retain Cuzco. Too old to fight himself, he entrusted the command of his forces to his brothers, who defeated Almagro soon afterwards. One of Almagro's followers formed a conspiracy to assassinate Pizarro. The conspirators attacked his house in Lima and murdered him. His brother, Hernando Pizarro, was imprisoned for having beheaded Almagro at Cuzco.

Bibliography: Manuel Ballesteros Gaibrois, Francisco Pizarro (1940)