What is francisco pizarro famous for

Pedro de Valdivia went on to be the first governor of Chile. The Inca Empire was rich in gold and silver , and Pizarro and his conquistadors all became very rich.

Francisco Pizarro made out best of all. His share from Atahualpa's ransom alone was pounds of gold, 1, pounds of silver, and odds-and-ends such as Atahualpa's throne — a chair made of 15 karat gold which weighed pounds.

Most of the conquistadors were cruel, violent men who did not flinch from torture, mayhem, murder, and rape and Francisco Pizarro was no exception. Although he did not fall into the sadist category — as some other conquistadors did — Pizarro had his moments of great cruelty. After his puppet Emperor Manco Inca went into open rebellion , Pizarro ordered that Manco's wife Cura Ocllo be tied to a stake and shot with arrows: her body was floated down a river where Manco would find it.

Later, Pizarro ordered the murder of 16 captured Inca chieftains. One of them was burned alive. In the s, Francisco and fellow conquistador Diego de Almagro had a partnership and twice explored the Pacific coast of South America. In , Pizarro went to Spain to get royal permission for a third trip.

The crown granted Pizarro a title, a position of governor of the lands he discovered, and other lucrative positions: Almagro was given the governorship of the small town of Tumbes. Back in Panama, Almagro was furious and was only convinced to participate after given the promise of the governorship of as-yet undiscovered lands.

Almagro never forgave Pizarro for this double-cross. As an investor, Almagro became very wealthy after the sacking of the Inca Empire, but he never quite shook the feeling most likely correct that the Pizarro brothers were ripping him off.

A vague royal decree on the subject gave the northern half of the Inca Empire to Pizarro and the southern half to Almagro, but it was unclear in which half the city of Cuzco belonged.

In , Almagro seized the city, leading to a civil war among the conquistadors. Francisco sent his brother Hernando at the head of an army which defeated Almagro at the Battle of Salinas. During the civil wars, Diego de Almagro had the support of most of the recent arrivals to Peru. These men had missed out on the astronomical payoffs of the first part of the conquest and arrived to find the Inca Empire nearly picked clean of gold.

Almagro was executed, but these men were still disgruntled, above all with the Pizarro brothers. Almagro the younger was later defeated in battle, captured, and executed. Peruvians all know who he was, but most of them consider him ancient history, and those who do think about him generally don't hold him in very high regard. Peruvian Indians, in particular, see him as a brutal invader who massacred their forebears.

In , Pizarro and his brothers conquered Peru. Three years later, Pizarro founded the nation's new capital, Lima. Pizarro was assassinated on June 26, , in Lima, Peru, by vengeful members of an enemy faction of conquistadors.

Pizarro was born an illegitimate child circa , in Trujillo, Spain — an area stricken by poverty. His father, Captain Gonzalo Pizarro, was a poor farmer.

Pizarro grew up without learning how to read. Instead, he herded his father's pigs. As a young man, Pizarro heard tales of the New World and was seized by a lust for fortune and adventure. Although the expedition was unfruitful, Pizarro proved he could be relied on in a bind.

During their journey, Balboa and Pizarro discovered what is now known as the Pacific Ocean, although Balboa allegedly spied it first, and was therefore credited with the ocean's first European discovery. A decade later, he was serving as governor of the eastern province of Hispaniola when he decided to explore a nearby island, which became Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian-born merchant and explorer who took part in early voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain around the late 15th century.

By that time, the Vikings had established settlements in present-day North America as early as 1, A. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. Francisco Pizarro. Exploration of North America The story of North American exploration spans an entire millennium and involves a wide array of European powers and uniquely American characters.

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