Francisco Pizarro & His Conquest of the Incas

Biography Spanish explorer and conquistador Born on circa 1476 in Trujillo, Spain, Illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro, an infantry colonel, and Francisca González Grew up in area of poor and illiterate farm workers Followed in his father's footsteps to the battlefields of Italy for a time before hearing of the riches of the Americas. He first went to the New World in 1502 as part of a colonization expedition led by Nicolás de Ovando.

Conquest of the Incas Atahuallpa 13th and last emperor of the Incas Died by strangulation at the hands of Francisco Pizarro's conquistadors His death marked the end of a 300 year old empire. Spanish arrival A devastating war of succession between Atahuallpa and his half brother gripped the empire in the five years before Spanish arrival Atahuallpa was consolidating his rule when Pizarro and his 180 soldiers arrived Hearing legends of the great wealth of an Indian civilization in South America, Pizarro formed an alliance with fellow conquistador Diego de Almagro in 1524 and sailed down the west coast of South America from Panama. In 1531, he sailed down to Peru, landing at Tumbes. He led his army up the Andes Mountains and on November 15, 1532, reached the Inca town of Cajamarca.

Taking Over Pizarro tricked Attahualpa into attending a “feast of honor” Attahualpa believed he had nothing to fear and arrived at the meeting place with an escort of unarmed men Pizarro sent out a priest to exhort the emperor to accept the sovereignty of Christianity and Emperor Charles V. Atahuallpa refused, flinging a Bible handed to him to the ground in disgust. Pizarro immediately ordered an attack. Thousands of Incas were slaughtered, and the emperor was captured.

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