Francisco Pizarro

c. 1478 – 26 June 1541

Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) was a Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Inca Empire in the 1530s. After capturing and executing the Inca emperor Atahualpa, he took the Inca capital Cusco and founded the city of Lima, which became the capital of Spanish Peru. He was assassinated in Lima in 1541 by supporters of his rival Diego de Almagro; his conquest devastated Andean societies and his legacy remains contested.

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Life events

Born in Trujillo, Castile
c. 1478

Pizarro was born around 1478 in Trujillo, Extremadura, the illegitimate son of an infantry colonel, and grew up poor and illiterate.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Sailed to the New World
1502

Pizarro traveled to Hispaniola in the fleet that carried the new governor Nicolás de Ovando.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Accompanied Balboa on the expedition that sighted the Pacific
1513

Pizarro was a member of Vasco Núñez de Balboa's 1513 crossing of the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Led his first expedition toward Peru
1524

With Diego de Almagro and Hernando de Luque, Pizarro launched a first, largely unsuccessful voyage down the Pacific coast of South America.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Second expedition reached the Inca town of Tumbes
1526 – 1528

Pizarro's second voyage confirmed the existence of the wealthy Inca Empire on the Peruvian coast.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Granted the Capitulación de Toledo to conquer Peru
6 July 1529

The Spanish crown authorized Pizarro to conquer Peru and named him its governor and captain-general.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa at Cajamarca
16 November 1532

In a surprise attack at Cajamarca, Pizarro's small force seized Atahualpa, who was executed the following year despite paying an enormous ransom in gold and silver.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Entered and occupied Cusco, capital of the Inca Empire
15 November 1533

Pizarro's forces took the Inca capital of Cusco, consolidating Spanish control over the empire.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Founded the city of Lima
18 January 1535

Pizarro founded the Ciudad de los Reyes, present-day Lima, which became the capital of Spanish Peru.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Assassinated in Lima
26 June 1541

Supporters of his executed rival Diego de Almagro stormed Pizarro's palace in Lima and killed him.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓