PIZARRO'S THREE VOYAGES IN THE CONQUEST OF PERU - HISTORY - 2025

The three trips Pizarro were aimed at the conquest and colonization of Peru, then ruled by the Inca Empire or Tahuantinsuyo. The first two, which took place in 1524 and 1526 respectively, ended in failure. The third, which began in 1531, achieved its purpose of defeating the Incas.

After the Spanish conquered the Aztecs in Mexico, new expeditions were made to discover new lands. Francisco Pizarro, who had been in America for several years, was aware of the rumors about the existence of a great empire in the south of the continent and began to organize an expedition of conquest.

Francisco Pizarro. Source: Amable-Paul Coutan, via Wikimedia Commons In order to carry out this project, Pizarro partnered with Diego de Almagro and with the priest Hernando de Luque. With the approval of the Governor of Castilla del Oro, Pedrarias Dávila, they organized everything necessary to discover that mythical indigenous kingdom they had heard about.

The expeditions to Peru lasted for 9 years. The last one ended with the defeat of the Inca Empire and the execution of Atahualpa. The Spanish were able to continue the conquest without encountering much resistance. On November 15, 1533, Pizarro entered Cuzco and completed the conquest of Peru.

First trip

Francisco Pizarro was a native of Trujillo, a Spanish town located in Extremadura. Before moving to America, at the beginning of the 16th century, he had participated in the Naples campaigns against the French.

Already in the New World, Pizarro was part of the expedition that crossed the isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean. Later he settled in the capital of Panama, from where he began to organize his trip to Peru.

Preparations for the trip

Some sources affirm that Pizarro had received some news about the existence of a great kingdom in Peru. Rumors spoke of their great wealth and the conquered set out to attempt their conquest.

Pizarro found two partners to undertake this conquest: Diego de Almagro, another Spanish conqueror, and Hernando de Luque, a clergyman. The three founded the so-called Empresa del Levante and got the support of some wealthy people. Finally, they were able to equip two ships to start the expedition.

Start of the trip

The ships commanded by Pizarro left the port of the Panamanian capital on September 13, 1524. In them they were traveling about 80 men, in addition to 40 horses.

On this first trip, Pizarro's associates did not accompany him: Luque had the mission of seeking more financial support and Almagro dedicated himself to looking for more men for future expeditions. Their plan was to meet on the journey. Their first destinations were the Pearl Islands and, later, the coasts of Colombia.

Port of Hunger

The problems for the expedition started very early. On the Colombian coasts they found that food was starting to run out. According to the previous plan, Almagro had to meet the expedition members there with more food and water, but his arrival was delayed and despair began to appear.

Pizarro ordered one of his officers to return to the Pearl Islands to search for new supplies. This officer took 47 days to go and return, a delay that caused 30 of the expedition members to die of hunger. In memory of this circumstance, Pizarro baptized the site as the Port of Hunger.

Burnt Town

The trip did not improve from that point on. Pizarro and his men continued their journey until they reached the Fort of the Cacique de las Piedras. There they were received by the natives with a shower of stones and arrows. The attack caused five deaths among the Spaniards, in addition to several wounded, among which was Pizarro himself.

Faced with this resistance, the Spanish had to withdraw and head back to Panama. His destination was Chochama, in the south of that country.

Meanwhile, Almagro had practically followed the same route as Pizarro. Upon arriving at Fortín de Cacique, he was also received with great violence by its inhabitants. One of his arrows left the Spanish conqueror one-eyed, who, in retaliation, ordered the entire site to be burned. For that reason, the place is known as Pueblo Quemado.

The return

After his confrontation with the indigenous people of the area, Almagro tried to find Pizarro in the river on the San Juan River, in the mangroves of Colombia. Not finding him, he headed to the Pearl Islands, where he learned that his partner had gone to Chochama.

Finally, the two conquerors met in that town. According to historians, both promised to return to prepare a new expedition to achieve their goal. Later, they returned to their base in the Panamanian capital.

Second trip

Despite the insistence of the two explorers, their first failure made it difficult to convince the governor of Panama to support a new attempt. Two years were necessary to obtain permission to organize a second expedition again.

Meanwhile, the three partners signed a contract in which they made very clear the conditions that should govern their partnership.

Pizarro was the first to leave and set sail for Chochama along with 50 men. In December 1525, Almagro left the capital to meet him. Between both groups there were about 160 expedition members.

Start of the second trip

The second trip began in early 1525. Almagro and Pizarro left Panama and headed for the San Juan River, a route they already knew after their first attempt.

Upon reaching their destination, the explorers parted ways. Almagro returned to Panama to look for more supplies and reinforcements, while Pizarro stayed in the river area. For his part, the pilot Bartolomé Ruiz left for the south to carry out a reconnaissance.

Francisco Pizarro and the Thirteen of Fame, one of them Bartolomé Ruiz. Author: Juan Lepiani

Ruiz met the Tumbes Indians during his route. The pilot snatched gold, merchandise and captured three young men.

Pizarro, on the other hand, was encountering many problems. Disease and alligators had killed several of his men and discontent began to grow.

When Almagro returned, the expedition headed south. During the journey they ran into some groups of Indians and found many pieces of gold. However, spirits were still not calm and a good part of the crew spoke of returning to Panama.

Atacames stubbornness

The accumulated tension exploded on the Atacames beach. Almagro, tired of the complaints of many of his men, showed his anger by calling them cowards. Pizarro came to the defense of the crew and both conquerors began to fight.

The chronicles affirm that the two even drew their swords and that only the intervention of the calmest crew members prevented them from using them. Once calm returned, the expedition continued to the Santiago River.

The Thirteen of the Rooster or the Thirteen of Fame

The tranquility did not last long. Illnesses and other setbacks continued to cause the death of the expedition members and the tension did not stop growing.

Pizarro and Almagro decided to stop to rest in a quiet place, the Gallo Islands. The second set off back to Panama to look for more crew.

Along with Almagro some of the most disgruntled men left and one of them managed to send the following message to the new governor:

"Well, Mr. Governor, take a good look at it completely, that there goes the picker

and here is the butcher ”.

The governor was informed about the problems that the explorers were suffering and proceeded to send a ship that would force Pizarro to return to Panama, even by force. When the ship reached the island, Pizarro's crew greeted it with joy, but the conqueror was enraged.

Pizarro drew his sword and with it drew a line in the sand. Then he went to his men and told them that those who wanted to return to Panama and remain in poverty should stand on one side of the line, while those who wanted to follow him and get rich should be where he was.

Only thirteen decided to stay with Pizarro, known as the thirteen from the island of Gallo.

Discovery of an Inca city

After six months of waiting, the pilot Ruiz met with the thirteen from the island of Gallo and Pizarro, taking the reinforcements sent by Almagro.

The expedition started up again and reached the island of Santa Clara. From there they moved to Tumbes, where the conquerors found the first important city of the Inca Empire. The sight of stone walls, fortresses and temples convinced them that they had found a rich culture.

After this discovery, the expeditionaries descended somewhat further south. Although they found other indigenous peoples, Pizarro decided to return to Panama to report his findings and prepare a new expedition. In addition, the conqueror had in mind to negotiate with the Crown of Castile the rights that would correspond to him if he conquered those lands.

Third travel

Route followed by Pizarro on his third trip. Author: William Robert Shepherd (1871–1934)

Pizarro, before starting to prepare a new trip, went to Spain to negotiate with the Crown of Castile. His intention was to reach an agreement that would guarantee that he and his partners would be able to take advantage of the riches they found. In addition, he wanted them to be able to occupy positions of power in the conquered lands.

Capitulation of Toledo

Capitalizations of Toledo in 1529 for Pizarro and Simón de Alcazaba. Source: Daniel Py / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

The negotiations ended with the signing of the Capitulation of Toledo, an agreement that granted Pizarro the government of Peru when he conquered the territory. In addition, it also collected multiple economic benefits.

The agreement also granted Pizarro's partners wealth and positions, but to a lesser extent than the Extremaduran conqueror. This fact was to cause strong disputes and even wars between the conquerors.

Pizarro speaking with Carlos I of Spain

Once the capitulation was signed, Pizarro began to gather materials and men to begin the campaign of conquest. Later, already in 1530, he returned to America, where the men he had hired received military training for 8 months.

Trip

The third and final voyage began in early 1531. The expedition, made up of two ships and 180 men, left for its destination in Peru. The ships also transported horses, slaves, and various indigenous people who were to serve as translators.

The maritime route of this last trip was shorter, since they decided to go only as far as San Mateo Bay. From there, the rest of the route was done by land, closely followed by boats.

Pizarro's men suffered some setbacks in the first leg of the trip. Many were unable to continue due to the so-called wart disease and were replaced by reinforcements arriving from Panama.

The next destination was Tumbes, the Inca city that had impressed Pizarro on the second of his travels. However, many of the new crew members were disappointed, as they expected more spectacular. In addition, the town had suffered a lot of damage after being attacked by the Inca Atahualpa.

Portrait of Atahualpa

It was at this stage of the trip that Pizarro, on August 15, 1532, founded the first Spanish city in Peru: San Miguel de Piura.

Defeat of the Inca

The arrival of Pizarro occurred at a delicate time for the Inca Empire. After a civil war that faced Atahualpa and his, the forces of the empire were very weakened and could not present a great resistance to the conquerors.

Pizarro received news of the presence of Atahualpa in Cajamarca and went to that town. When he arrived, he requested to meet with the Inca.

At the meeting, the Spanish conqueror demanded that Atahualpa convert to Christianity and agree to pay tribute to the king of Castile. When the Inca refused, the Spanish troops, who were already prepared for it, attacked shouting "Santiago!"

Pizarro catching Atahualpa - Source: John Everett Millais / Public domain

During that attack, on November 16, 1532, Atahualpa was captured. On July 26, 1533 he was executed accused of organizing an uprising. Pizarro named his own Inca as a means of securing power and Spain became the owner of those lands.

References

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2. The popular. The Conquest of the Inca Empire. Obtained from elpopular.pe
3. Original towns. Francisco Pizarro. Obtained from pueblosoriginario.com
4. History.com Editors. Francisco Pizarro. Retrieved from history.com
5. Ballesteros-Gaibrois, Manuel. Francisco Pizarro. Retrieved from britannica.com
6. Biography.com Editors. Francisco Pizarro Biography. Retrieved from biography.com
7. Cartwright, Mark. Pizarro & the Fall of the Inca Empire. Retrieved from ancient.eu