Gonzalo Pizarro

Lore & Background

After learning of Francisco Pizarro's assassination in 1541, Gonzalo offered to help capture the killers but was refused. In 1544, when Viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela introduced the New Laws to protect indigenous peoples, Gonzalo organized an army to suppress them, defeating Núñez in 1546 at Añaquito. However, when King Charles I's new representative Pedro de la Gasca arrived offering pardon and repealing the New Laws, most of Gonzalo's army deserted him. He surrendered and was beheaded on the field of battle at Jaquijahuana near Cuzco, the last of the Pizarro brothers to die a violent death.

Reader's Guide

Gonzalo Pizarro's significance lies in his role as a key figure in the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, where his brutality and corruption directly provoked a major Inca rebellion. His expedition into the Amazon basin, though a failure for him, inadvertently led to Francisco de Orellana's historic discovery of the Amazon River. Later, his rebellion against the Spanish Crown's New Laws represented a major challenge to royal authority in Peru, but his defeat and execution marked the end of the Pizarro brothers' dominance. His legacy is that of a ruthless conquistador whose actions both advanced and destabilized Spanish control in the New World, and his story has been depicted in popular culture, notably in the film 'Aguirre, the Wrath of God.'

Did You Know?

• Gonzalo Pizarro was the younger paternal half brother of Francisco Pizarro and the older full brother of Juan Pizarro.
• He raped Manco Inca Yupanqui's queen and sister-wife Cura Ocllo, contributing to a large-scale Inca rebellion.
• His expedition with Francisco de Orellana led to the European discovery of the Amazon River, though Orellana completed the journey.
• He was beheaded on the field of battle after his army deserted him, being the last of the Pizarro brothers to die a violent death.