Titans of History

One of the greatest Europeans of his age, Pizarro was lean, tall, fit and a superb, kindly, quiet-spoken leader, beloved by his men. He was illiterate, old-fashioned and usually wore a black cassock, white hat and sword and dagger. But he was enormously experienced in the warfare of the conquest of the Indies and prepared to be utterly ruthless and brutal to his enemies. He displayed the same qualities against the Indians to achieve the psychological dominance needed to compensate for his massive numerical inferiority. His achievements—the conquest of an empire with a preposterously small band of men—remain astonishing and Pizarro is still regarded as a hero in his home town of Trujillo in Spain.

Like many other young Europeans of the time, he was lured by the promise of the New World. He was accompanied and assisted by his brothers and by 1502 Pizarro had arrived in the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (modern Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and it was there that his career as a conquistador began. By 1513 he was fighting alongside Vasco Núñez de Balboa. However the following year Balboa was removed from his position as governor of Veragua—the territory he had helped establish for the Spanish crown. His replacement was a man named Pedrarias Dávila and, rather than stand by his comrade, Pizarro immediately professed his loyalty to Dávila. Five years later, on the orders of Dávila, Pizarro arrested Balboa, who was subsequently executed. As a reward for his allegiance to Dávila, Pizarro was made mayor of the recently founded Panama City.

Although Pizarro used his new role to accumulate significant riches, these did not satisfy his ambitions. Rumors of a fabulously wealthy country to the south—Piru—had reached Panama by this time. Inspired by such stories, Pizarro formed a partnership with a soldier-adventurer, Diego de Almagro: they agreed to lead an expedition in search of “Piru,” with all the lands they conquered to be divided equally between them.

An unsuccessful attempt in 1524 was followed by a far more promising expedition in 1526, in which the existence of a wealthy empire to the south was confirmed. With their appetites whetted, the conquistadors resolved on a third trip. However, the governor of Panama had grown impatient with Pizarro’s failure to deliver immediate results and ordered the venture to be abandoned.

When news reached Pizarro of the governor’s decision, he drew a line in the sand with his sword and declared, “There lies Peru with its riches; here, Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a brave Castilian.” Of those present, just thirteen men committed to stay with him. Accompanied by Almagro and Luque, Pizarro now continued on his journey, and in 1528 he first entered the territories of the Inca empire. Originating in the Peruvian highlands in the twelfth century, the Incas by the mid-1500s had grown into a mighty empire encompassing much of the west coast of South America. Under three particularly successful rulers (Pachacuti, r. c. 1438–c.

1471; Topa Inca, r. c. 1471–c.

1493; and Huayna Capac, r. c. 1493–1525) they came to dominate much of what is modern-day Ecuador, Peru, parts of Argentina, and Chile. Shortly before the Spaniards arrived in 1532, however, the empire was fractured by civil war that broke out during the rule of Huayna Capac’s son, Atahualpa, leaving the empire a sitting target, especially given the technical superiority of the Incas’ European assailants.

Pizarro encountered human sacrifice among the Inca people. They practiced it less than their Aztec counterparts in Mexico, but would respond to momentous events (such as a natural disaster, or the death of an emperor—who was worshipped as a god) by engaging in the tradition of capacocha—the sacrifice of children—in an attempt to ensure the gods’ continued blessing.

Anxious to build on this promising initial encounter with a vulnerable and wealthy empire, but short on resources, Pizarro returned briefly to Europe to appeal in person to Charles V, king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, who now agreed to assist him.