{"id":8854,"date":"2025-05-29T06:04:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T13:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/?p=8854"},"modified":"2025-05-29T06:06:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T13:06:00","slug":"the-conquest-of-peru-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/the-conquest-of-peru-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"The Conquest of Peru – Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by Georges Fery\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Pizarro\u2019s arrival was the most significant event since the city’s foundation. Everybody gathered at the port to see the gold and silver, the colorful fabrics, the ceramics, and the horse-like animals (llamas). The crew members who had returned with Tafur bitterly deplored their lack of resolve. The name Per\u00fa, instead of Bir\u00fa, was officially recognized and spread from mouth to mouth and from streets to taverns. The \u201cEastern Enterprise\u201d was renamed the \u201cPer\u00fa Enterprise.\u201d Not so happy was Governor Pedro de los R\u00ecos, for he was concerned that should many people leave for the new land, it would depopulate the government of Tierra Firme.<\/p>\n

The partners realized they needed their discovery to be recognized by the Crown in Madrid. After arguing about the terms of a potential contract, they agreed that Pizarro should go to Spain, where he would ask for titles for each of them: governor of Per\u00fa, for Pizarro; \u201cadelantado\u201d or military commander, for Almagro; and the bishopric of Tumbes for Luque. Ruiz de Estrada would get the title of \u201calguacil mayor,<\/em>\u201d an ancient title meaning bailiff and a high office charge. The thirteen crew members of the last expedition would receive bonuses in addition to paid functions.<\/p>\n

In early September 1528, when all was agreed, Pizarro boarded a ship from the port of Nombre de Dios on Tierra Firme\u2019s Caribbean coast. With him were the young boys Felipillo, Yacan\u00e9 and Martinillo whom he had captured off the Island of Salango; the ship also carried half a dozen llamas, fine painted ceramics and embroideries, and much gold and silver. Pizarro landed at the Spanish port of Sanl\u00facar and went on to Seville. There, the lawyer Martin Fern\u00e1ndez de Enciso recognized Pizarro as Alonso de Ojeda\u2019s former lieutenant, accused him of having connived with Pedrarias D\u00e1vila in Balboa\u2019s trial and execution, and demanded that he be jailed.<\/p>\n

Someone at Court in Madrid, probably Pizarro\u2019s brother Hern\u00e1n demanded, through the Council\u2019s office, that he be released on grounds of unsustainable facts and falsehood. In Madrid, Pizarro met with members of the Royal Supreme Council of the Indies, where he presented his written accounts and the maps of his voyages of discovery to Queen Isabela.I (1451-1504). He presented the tumbisinos<\/em> Felipillo, Yacan\u00e9, Martinillo and showed the llamas, the finely embroidered fabrics, and the gold and silver. The Royal Council was stunned by the news of this unknown world they named Nueva Castilla. A formal agreement or capitulaci\u00f3n<\/em> was then drawn giving Pizarro the titles of Captain General, Governor, Administrator (Adelantado), and Constable (Alguacil Mayor) over New Castille\u2019s 200 leagues (700 miles). This area would henceforth be called Per\u00fa. Pizarro would receive an annual remittance of 725,000 gold maravedis (+\/-$240K); Almagro was named Mayor and Constable of Tumbes, renamed Nueva Valencia de la Mar del Sur, with 300,000 maravedis and the honorific title of \u201chidalgo\u201d or gentleman; Bartolom\u00e9 Ruiz was named first navigator of the South Seas with 60,000 maravedis; Pedro de Candia, was elevated to the rank of artillery major of Per\u00fa and councilor of Tumbes, while the thirteen sailors were granted the status of knights of the Golden Spur with related benefits.<\/p>\n

Under the terms of the agreement, Pizarro was authorized to set up towns with good soil and clear running water to grow food; name town mayors; mine gold and silver; build forts and organize military forces of 250 men; import horses and slaves; protect and evangelize the natives. Queen Isabela.I signed this Capitulaci\u00f3n de Toledo or Agreement of Toledo, on 6 of July 1529. Once the nominations and agreement were signed, Pizarro, now with the title of governor of Per\u00fa rode to Trujillo, his birthplace in the province of Extremadura. He enjoyed his extended family there for a few weeks, many of whom would follow him to the New World. They included his illegitimate brothers Juan and Gonzalo Pizarro, a half-brother, Francisco Mart\u00edn de Alc\u00e1ntara, and several childhood friends. In early 1530, they all met in Seville with Crown officials assigned to follow Pizarro, who planned to sail from the port of Sanl\u00facar de Barameda, instead of the traditional port of C\u00e1diz. His last-minute port change was to bypass the terms of his agreement and exit license, which required him to take 250 soldiers.<\/p>\n

Pizarro\u2019s brother Hernando smartly suggested that, with his family and friends, the number of men met the exit license requirements. Meanwhile, the partners in Panama, Almagro and Luque, anxiously awaited Pizarro\u2019s arrival in Nombre de Dios. Almagro was angry because, in past correspondences, he believed that his partner had hoarded Per\u00fa\u2019s three most important Crown titles. He was enraged that he wanted to break the \u201cPer\u00fa Enterprise.\u201d Luque told him that there had to be reasons that would be explained upon their partner\u2019s arrival. Almagro tepidly welcomed Pizarro, who, perceiving his partner\u2019s antagonism, told him that he had to accept the three titles because the Crown did not want to split the agreement between two or more holders. Therefore, he had to bow to the Crown\u2019s demands or lose the deal. Pizarro then underlined that the \u201cPer\u00fa Enterprise\u201d terms of association of equal partnership remained unchanged. Almagro was mollified, and the partners started to organize the third expedition to Per\u00fa. As expected, arguments quickly arose between Almagro and Pizarro\u2019s brothers, Juan, Gonz\u00e1lez, and Hernando, with whom Almagro never got along. The antagonism was again threatening to break the enterprise, but thanks to Pizarro\u2019s authority and Luque\u2019s conciliatory approach, Almagro remained.<\/p>\n

In the following weeks, two ships arrived from Nicaragua loaded with Indian slaves, under the command of Juan Ponce de Leon and his partner Captain Hernando de Soto. For his support in the Per\u00fa venture, de Soto demanded the position of lieutenant governor. He further demanded, for Ponce de Le\u00f3n discoverer of Florida (1513), a large portion of land with natives to conquer. Once Pizarro, Almagro, Luque and the others agreed on the terms of their association, they prepared the third expedition.<\/p>\n

On December 27, 1530, the flags were blessed in Panama\u2019s main church. The following day, Pizarro called for sailing within the next few weeks, and on January 20, 1531, they sailed to the Pearl Islands and then headed south with a good sea and winds. Besides its crew, there were 180 soldiers, support personnel, 36 horses, and war dogs. The second ship under Captain Crist\u00f3bal de Mena\u2019s command was ordered to follow in early February.<\/p>\n

Pizarro and his army landed on February 17 in a bay called San Mateo. While the second ship sailed further south, Pizarro, on horseback, accompanied by riders, headed inland along the coast. They entered the town of Atacames, where locals wore fine dresses. In the fishing town of Cancebi they met nobles wearing jewels of gold and saw precious ceramics and fishing nets. Tired, hungry, and under clouds of mosquitoes, they crossed the Quiximes Delta and, battling Coaque natives, found more gold and emeralds. Still heading south, and suffering from painful warts that crippled many, they stopped at a small village where they stayed from April 19 to September 11 to recover. In mid-September, a boat from Nicaragua arrived with reinforcements. The captain, Sebasti\u00e1n de Belalc\u00e1zar, agreed to bring his men to join Pizarro\u2019s troops, together with two of his friends, on condition that one be named aide-de-camp to Pizarro and the other the town’s mayor. With his sick army, Pizarro had no choice but to agree to the demands. With reinforcement, he proceeded south on a desert-like landscape of vast arid and sandy coastal plains interspaced by valleys and rivers of low water flow, seasonally fed by the snow melts from the snow melts of the Andes mountains.<\/p>\n

In early October, after passing through Anta, Odon, and other small towns, and a place named Punta de Santa Elena, Pizarro rested his tired, thirsty, and hungry troopers. On Christmas Day of 1531, they met the Puna Island\u2019s chief, Tumbal\u00e1, who brought them water and food, and invited them to visit his island. From past experiences of natives’ tricks hidden by smiles, Pizarro insisted he would only board the boat with the local chief, who was taken aback but accepted.<\/p>\n

At this point, it is suitable to clarify who the people of Per\u00fa were in the sixteenth century. Today, the country is home to fifty-eight indigenous groups speaking forty-seven languages. The largest is Quechua, with Aymara a second but essential group, that together make up about a quarter of the country\u2019s indigenous population. When the Spaniards arrived in the sixteenth century, there were more ethnic groups, each with their dialect, beliefs, customs, and antagonisms. Quechua was spoken in the kingdom\u2019s capital, Cusco, called \u201cLand of Four Parts\u201d or Tahuantinsuyo. It spanned a territory from today\u2019s Ecuador to most of the northern part of Chile and the northwestern part of Argentina in the south. This mosaic of cultures and languages strained under the Incas\u2019 iron-fisted authority, which fueled sporadic rebellions.<\/p>\n

Pizarro understood the latent antagonisms but did not realize then the immensity, complexity, and cultural fragmentation of the Inca empire. His persistent distrust of unknown people was grounded in his experiences in sixteenth-century European wars, where defiance was the norm. On Puna Island, captive young men from other tribes confirmed his suspicions. Pizarro learned about an agreement between recent enemies, Tumbal\u00e1 of Puna and Chilimaza of Tumbes. The latter secretly arrived at night with warriors to capture or kill the white bearded men who fought back savagely for their lives. The Spaniards were saved by the arrival of two ships and soldiers under the command of Hernando de Soto, who turned the tide.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The \u201cwar of succession\u201d that had gone on in the mountains over the last few years indirectly affected the people of the coast, but they knew what was happening from families and friends. Inca officials seconded the chiefs of towns and cities to assist them in administering and overseeing the local political order. That is why it was found later that the Inca governor of Tumbes knew about Tumbal\u00e1 and Chilimaza\u2019s deep-seated antagonism. Under threat from the Inca, they were forced to cooperate and capture or kill the Europeans, who were unaware of the raging war in the country. In April 1532, with de Soto in Chilimaza\u2019s light boats, the Spaniards boarded their ship and left the island, which they had renamed Isla de Santiago. They then sailed to Tumbes on the coast and left that city on May 16 of that year, leaving behind a squadron of soldiers, a Crown official and a priest. A week later, Pizarro and his men reached the town of Poechos, where its chief Maizavilca welcomed them. Over a few weeks, Pizarro\u2019s informed him of his plan to build a city and a port on the coast a few leagues away at the mouth of the R\u00edo Ch\u00edra. This plan soured the chief\u2019s welcome because he realized he would lose authority. Like other chiefdoms in the region, however, he wanted to shake off the heavy hand of the Sapa Inca in his affairs but realized that he might have welcomed a heavier hand that would weaken his kinglet powers. Maizavilca shared his concerns with other principals of townships in the R\u00edo Chira\u2019s Valley, who agreed to persuade Pizarro to move up the mountains, where bigger prizes and gold awaited. The Indian chiefs\u2019 double aim was to get the Spaniards out of their lands and hand them over to Inca Atahualpa\u2019s army, encamped near Cajamarca, nine thousand feet up in the Andes Mountain range.<\/p>\n

The Inca was informed of the progress of Pizarro\u2019s army on the coast and sent a spy to ascertain that they were men and not, as Maizavilaca claimed, huiracochas<\/em>, the messengers of Huiracocha, the foremost god in the Inca religious pantheon. The spy met Hernando Pizarro and understood he was Francisco Pizarro\u2019s brother. He was fascinated by the barber who shaved men’s faces, and the tamer who, at will, managed horses and war dogs. He also found out that horses only ate grass, not meat, while war dogs ate meat, not grass. His most significant discovery was that the Spaniards were men, not huiracochas<\/em>, and he reported his findings to the Inca Atahualpa, who understood Maizavilca\u2019s duplicity and kept it in mind for later retribution.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pizarro was still focused on building a town to settle European migrants. So, on July 15, 1532, he built the village of Tangarar\u00e1 on a promontory South of Poechos in the Rio Chira Delta, whose shores were covered with trees and grass. It would not be his last attempt at a permanent settlement. Pizarro\u2019s thirst for gold had not dimmed despite his venture’s trials, hardships, and growing costs. At that time, he knew the riches were not on the coast but up the mountains in Cusco, where he said the city was covered with gold.<\/p>\n

Persistent rumors by natives about war up in the mountains would not stop him. He promised the rope to warn would-be deserters in his crew, demanding to return to Tierra Firme. Unbeknownst to the Spaniards, over the last two years, the war of succession for the crown of the Tahuantinsuyo or \u201cLand of Four Parts\u201d had raged between Huayna Capac Inca Yupanqui\u2019s two sons, Atahualpa and Huascar. This tragic chapter of Per\u00fa\u2019s history will be narrated in \u201cThe Fall of Cusco.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is the second of a two-part article – Read Part One Here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Photo credits:
\nPh.5 \u2013 Queen Isabela.I of Castille Museo del Prado<\/a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
\nPh.6 \u2013 Francisco Pizarro Ph.Amable-Paul Coutan<\/a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
\nPh. 7 \u2013 Hernando de Soto Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

Contributor\u2019s Bio:
\n<\/strong>Freelance writer, researcher and photographer georgefery.com<\/a> addresses topics, from history, culture, and beliefs to daily living of ancient and today\u2019s communities of Mesoamerica and South America. His articles are published online at travelthruhistory.com, ancient-origins.net and popular-archaeology.com, in the quarterly magazine Ancient American (ancientamerican.com), as well as in the U.K. at mexicolore.co.uk.<\/p>\n

The author is a fellow of the Institute of Maya Studies in Miami, FL instituteofmayastudies.org<\/a>\u00a0 and The Royal Geographical Society, London, U.K. rgs.org<\/a>. Also a member in good standing of the Maya Exploration Center, Austin, TX mayaexploration.org<\/a>, the Archaeological Institute of America, Boston, MA archaeological.org<\/a>, the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC. americanindian.si.edu, <\/u>and the NFAA – Non-Fiction Authors Association nonfictionauthrosassociation.com.<\/p>\n

Contact:<\/strong>
\nGeorges Fery \u2013 5200 Keller Springs Road, # 1511, Dallas, Texas 75248 \u2013 T. (786) 501 9692 \u2013 gfery.43@gmail.com<\/a>\u00a0 and www.georgefery.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Georges Fery\u00a0 Pizarro\u2019s arrival was the most significant event since the city’s foundation. Everybody gathered at the port to see the gold and silver, the colorful fabrics, the ceramics, and the horse-like animals (llamas). The crew members who had returned with Tafur bitterly deplored their lack of resolve. The name Per\u00fa, instead of Bir\u00fa, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-america-travel","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8854\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelthruhistory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}