PIZARRO, pi-za'ro (Sp. pe-thar'ro), Fran cisco, Spanish adventurer, the discoverer and conqueror of Peru : b. Truxillo, Estremadura, about 1471; d. Lima, Peru, 26 June 1541. The spirit of adventure which in his time pervaded Spain induced him to seek his fortune in the newly-found continent of America. He was in Darien in 1509 and afterward was connected with Balboa when the latter discovered the Pacific (1513). Subsequently he became asso ciated with Hernando Luque a priest possessed of some money, and Diego de Almagro, an ad venturer like himself, and having jointly fitted out an expedition the associates set sail from Panama on a voyage of exploration and con quest along the coast to the southward (1524). Their first voyage was unsuccessful, but learn ing the existence of the rich empire of Peru they were not long in making a second voyage, with the intention of conquering this country. Their forces were too few, however, for this object, and Pizarro determined to seek assist ance in Spain. After encountering tedious de lays and obstacles he obtained from the queen a commission bestowing on him the right of discovery and conquest in Peru, with the rank and title of governor and captain-general of the province. Raising a.small force in Spain, he re crossed the Atlantic (in 1530), and January 1531 sailed from Panama with three vessels and a force of 185. Taking advantage of a civil war then raging in that country, the Spaniards became the allies and eventually the enslavers of Atahualpa, the successful contestant for power. What has been ascribed to treachery on the part of Pizarro in dealing with Ma hualpa has proved, in the light of recent his torical research, to have been a justifiable and necessary policy in the Spaniards' defense against the Indian chief's fully planned con spiracy against their lives. The ransom offered
and paid by Atahualpa for his release amounted to some 8,000,000 and not to $17,000,000 as commonly and erroneously stated. The news of their success brought a considerable acces sion of strength from Europe to the invaders. The Inca Manco was allowed to reign as a do nothing monarch. Pizarro was made a mar quis and in order to consolidate his empire founded, in 1535, the city of Lima, which he in tended as the capital of his possessions. But the discord which had long existed between Almagro and Pizarro at last broke out into open violence, and in the struggle which ensued Almagro was defeated, taken prisoner and killed. This catastrophe, which took place in 1538, was avenged by partisans of Almagro, who conspired against Pizarro and murdered him in his palace at Lima. The character of Pizarro has been largely rehabilitated by the new school of the historians of the Spanish conquests. He is now acknowledged to have been not only a man of remarkable military genius, but of great integrity and high moral purpose. Consult Prescott,