---
node: sa_pizarro
type: person
slug: francisco_pizarro
title: "Francisco Pizarro"
lead: "Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478–1541) was the Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire. He founded Lima and made Spain the master of the Andes."
published: 2026-07-13
updated: 2026-07-13
---

## Who they were

A poor Spaniard who had explored Panama and the Pacific coast, Pizarro led a small expedition into the Inca realm. In 1532 he captured the emperor Atahualpa at Cajamarca and seized Cusco the next year.

## What they did

He exploited the Inca civil war, Indigenous allies, and European weapons to overcome a vast empire with a few hundred men. He founded Lima in 1535 as the capital of Spanish Peru.

## Legacy

Pizarro was assassinated in 1541 amid feuds among the conquistadors. He is remembered as the conqueror of the Inca and, like Cortés, as an agent of a devastating conquest.