|
Dromo's Den
|
|
[Up] [Dromo's Den] Almagro Biography ALMAGRO, DIEGO DE (1475-1538). A Spanish adventurer, said to have been a foundling in the Spanish town whose name he bore. He came to America with Pedro Arias de Avilla in 1514 and settled at Darien, whence he removed to Panama in 1519, when that town was founded. In 1524 he formed a partnership with Pizarro for the conquest of a region on the Pacific coast to the south, which was reported to contain gold. The first voyage was a failure. The second voyage, undertaken in 1526, began with a succession of reverses, and Pizarro wished to abandon the enterprise, but Almagro persuaded him to continue, and eventually they were rewarded with the wealth of the Incas' Empire. Pizarro secured to himself and his brothers most of the fruits of victory and deprived Almagro of his fair share of plunder and power. In 1535 Almagro obtained from Charles V the title of Adelantado, or Governor, of "New Toledo," a territory extending 200 leagues along the coast, beginning at the southern limit of Pizarro's grant. A dispute immediately arose as to the boundary between the two grants, Almagro claiming that Cuzco lay within his territory. He returned from an expedition which he had undertaken, without much success, into the snowy plateau region of the southern Andes, to enforce this claim, and entered Cuzco, asserting that he was its legitimate governor. The Marquis Pizzaro at once dispatched Espinosa to effect, if possible, an amicable settlement; but Almagro was elated by his recent successes and refused to entertain any compromises. Further negotiations led to a personal conference between Pizarro and Almagro, Nov. 13, 1537, which ended in an altercation, and the two old friends parted, for the last time, in very angry mood. Pizarro's forces gradually forced Almagro back toward Cuzco, near which place he made a stand. A furious battle was fought, April 26, 1538. Almagro was captured, and garroted in the following July. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. I (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 451. |