- Hernando Pizarro
Hernando Pizarro y de Vargas (born between 1478 and 1508, died 1578 or 1608) was a Spanish
conquistador and one of thePizarro brothers who ruled overPeru . He ultimately died in Spain of severly extended age, contrary to his brothers who all suffered a violent fate.Hernando was born in Trujillo, (
Extremadura ),Spain , son ofCaptain Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodríguez de Aguilar (senior) (1446-1522) - who ascolonel ofinfantry served in the Italian campaigns underGonzalo Fernández de Córdoba , and inNavarre , with some distinction - and wife Isabel de Vargas.As one of the
Pizarro brothers , he was related to Francisco, Juan, andGonzalo Pizarro . He had two full sisters, Inés Pizarro y de Vargas, who married but did not have children with Francisco's only legitimate son, and Isabel Pizarro y de Vargas, married to Gonzalo de Tapia. Through his father, he was second cousins withHernán Cortés .Machado, J. T. Montalvão, "Dos Pizarros de Espanha aos de Portugal e Brasil", Author's Edition, 1st Edition, Lisbon, 1970.]Unlike his other brothers, his birth was legitimate, and he was educated and gained influence in the Spanish court. In 1530 Hernando departed for the
New World with his half-brotherFrancisco Pizarro , and accompanied him during his conquests inPeru . In 1533 Hernando was sent back to advance the Pizarro interests against Francisco's uneasy partnerDiego de Almagro , as Hernando had the best connections in the Spanish court. When he returned to Peru, he ruled with his other half-brothers (Juan andGonzalo Pizarro ) over the prizedInca capital of Cuzco. Governing with an iron fist, he helped with the eventual suppression of Inca uprisings led byManco Capac .After
Diego de Almagro returned fromChile on a fruitless gold-seeking expedition, he found that Hernando and his brothers were in control of Cuzco. However, as he had not obtained any credit for having been Francisco Pizarro's main partner in discovering Peru, he decided to claim Cuzco as part of his share. Almagro seized the city in 1537, capturing Hernando and Juan. Hernando was eventually released after negotiations between Almagro and Francisco, and in 1538 he and Gonzalo returned with an army to confront Almagro. In the ensuingBattle of Las Salinas , the Pizarros won a decisive victory, capturing Almagro and the city.The execution of Almagro later that year and the general disorder caused by the Spanish infighting caused substantial fallout in the Spanish court. Hernando was again called upon to leverage his royal contacts: in 1539 he returned to Spain to lobby in favor of the Pizarros. Their perceived treachery was too great, however, and despite Hernando's bribery, he was imprisoned for the next twenty years. He left prison in 1560 and generally dropped out of sight, reportedly dying at the age of 100 in the year 1608. Other sources suggest he died in 1578, and some that he was 72 at the time of death, which would make the year of his birth 1505 or 1506. If he in fact was 100 years old the year of his birth would be 1478 or 1508.
On
October 10 ,1537 in Spain, Hernando had married his niece, Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui (she was the daughter of Francisco Pizarro and his Incamistress Inés Yupanqui ; although born illegitimately, she was legitimized by Imperial Decree). With her Hernando had a son: Francisco Pizarro y Pizarro. This son, in turn, married twice and had offspring, the Marqueses de La Conquista; as a result, the Pizarro line survived Hernando's death, though currently extinct in male line.His father was a son of Fernando Alonso Pizarro and wife Isabel de Vargas Rodríguez de Aguilar, paternal grandson of Fernando or Hernando Alonso de Hinojosa and wife Teresa Martínez Pizarro, and brother of Juan Pizarro, who died without issue in 1521, and Diego Fernández Pizarro, who married Marina López and had a son Fernando Pizarro López, who had a natural son named Diego Pizarro de Vargas, married to Juana Rodríguez de Bobadilla, with female issue in
Portugal .Ancestors
Ancestors of Hernando Pizarro de Vargas [ [http://www.geneall.net/H/per_page.php?id=195367 GeneAll.net - Fernando Pizarro ] ]References
External links
* [http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Pizarro.html Letter from Hernando Pizarro to the Royal Audience of Santo Domingo, in Reports on the Discovery of Peru]
* [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0839249.html "Hernando Pizarro"] , "The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia."
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