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Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) was a conquistador who led the Spanish conquest of the Inca civilization from 1532. With only a small group of men, Pizarro took advantage of his superior weapons and the fact that the Incas were weakened...
Definition
Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro (c. 1475-1538) was a Spanish conquistador who was second-in-command to Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) during his expedition that attacked the Inca civilization from 1531. Almagro then led his own expedition to explore Chile...
Article
The Siege of Cusco in 1536-7
The two sieges of Cusco in 1536-7 were the last great military actions by the Incas as they tried to reclaim their empire from the Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541). The European cavalry proved all but invincible...
Article
Pizarro & the Fall of the Inca Empire
In 1533 CE the Inca Empire was the largest in the world. It extended across western South America from Quito in the north to Santiago in the south. However, the lack of integration of conquered peoples into that empire, combined with a civil...
Definition
Conquistador
The conquistadors, meaning "conquerors", were Iberian military adventurers who operated as the vanguard of empires in the 15th and 16th centuries by exploring areas of the world unknown to Europeans, defeating indigenous armies, and then...
Definition
Atahualpa
Atahualpa (Atawallpa) was the last ruler of the Inca Empire. He reigned from 1532 until his capture and execution by the invading Spanish forces led by Francisco Pizarro in 1533. The troubled Incas had suffered six years of damaging civil...
Article
Pizarro and Atahualpa: The Curse of the Lost Inca Gold
In November 1532 CE, Francisco Pizarro led a group of about 160 conquistadors into the Inca city of Cajamarca. The illiterate and illegitimate son of an Extremaduran nobleman and an impoverished woman, Pizarro had spent his entire life on...
Interview
Interview: The Last Days of the Incas (Kim MacQuarrie)
How did a mere 167 Spaniards conquer an empire of 10 million people? The Spanish were outnumbered 200-to-1 yet they were able to seize the Inca capital, Cuzco, and dispose of the Inca ruler within only a year. Kim MacQuarrie's The Last Days...
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Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro (1475-1541 CE)
Definition
Sacsayhuaman
The Sacsayhuaman (also Saksaywaman or Saqsawaman, meaning 'Royal Eagle') fortress-temple complex lies at the northern edge of the former Inca capital Cuzco. Constructed during the reign of Pachacuti (1438-1471 CE) and his successors, its...