| |
 (Portrait and signature of Francisco Pizarro)
Conquest
In 1532, the Inca or Tahuantisuyo empire, as it was then called, fell before the Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro. The state, in fact, had already been weakened by a civil war which had broken out in 1529 as two rival brothers, Huascar and Atahualpa , contended for power.
Pizarro captured Atahualpa in November 1532, and had him executed in July 1533 after accusing him of ordering the murder of his own brother Huascar . Comparatively feeble resistance by several Inca generals was swiftly crushed and Spanish rule established over the former empire of the Incas – a dominion that soon became the most powerful viceroyalty Spain was ever to possess overseas.
The Discovery of the Amazon
In 1540 Gonzalo Pizarro, the Conquistador's brother, set out on an expedition to the fabled Cinnamon Country, thought to lie somewhere to the east of Quito.
The party that set off from Cuzco comprised 180 soldiers, 3000 local Indians, a contingent of African slaves, 100 horses and 600 war dogs. After passing through Huanuco, the expedition entered San Francisco de Quito, where Gonzalo Pizarro recruited Francisco de Orellana as his lieutenant.
The party marched on to Quitzos, the outermost of the Inca provinces. Having penetrated deep into the jungle, Pizarro had his men build a brig, which he christened the " San Pedro " and placed under the command of Francisco de Orellana . The ship proceeded down the Santa Ana river as other troops advanced along the bank. While difficulties encountered on the way forced Pizarro to camp by the Santa Ana (previously known as the Coca river), Orellana descended the Napo river and on February 12, 1542 came upon a vast expanse of water, which turned out to be the confluence of the Amazon river and the Napo 's two branches. The discovery of the mighty Amazon - the world's most copious river - was thus the crowning achievement of a memorable expedition that had set out from Cuzco , capital of ancient Peru .
The Viceroyalty
The first viceroy, Blasco Núñez de Vela (1544-1546), inaugurated the Colonial Period - an interval that was to last almost 300 years.
Spanish rule brought Catholic evangelisation and the introduction of the Spanish language. A royal decree enacted May 12, 1551 sanctioned the foundation of the Greater University of San Marcos, acknowledged today as the oldest such institution in the Americas .
Peruvian religious sentiment found consistent and remarkable expression in works of art. A major example from the colonial period is the Cuzco School of painting. In blending the Spanish baroque style with native art themes and sensitivities, the followers of this movement – many of them Peruvians – produced what art historians have termed the Latin American Baroque. Diego Quispe Tito is the school's best known representative.
The Catholic faith was embraced in Peru thanks to the untiring evangelising work of priests and (above all) missionaries, and has revealed itself in the exceptional holiness of a few individuals.
Five Peruvians actually attained sainthood. Rose of Lima, Patron Saint of the Americas and the Philippines, was born in Lima in 1586. The others are Martin de Porres, the first saint of African descent, and the Spanish-born evangelisers Toribio de Mogrovejo, Juan Macías and Francisco Solano, whom the Church considers Peruvians because their holiness emerged during their apostolate in Peru (where their relics are also preserved).
All symbolise the miscegenation which took place between the Spanish and the native cultures.
The profound religious faith that so distinguished these saints is also discernible in the fervour with which Peruvians take part in the procession of the Lord of Miracles each October.
Attended by more than a million faithful, the procession is the biggest and most pious religious event in Spanish America .
Works by prominent artists from Europe were also created in Peru during this time. Especially noteworthy are the canvasses at the church of La Merced by Mattia Preti from Calabria, an artist whose baroque style had emerged in works for St. John's Cathedral at La Valletta (Malta), and those by the Spaniard Francisco de Zurbaran, whose copious production may be viewed at the Convent of San Francisco and the Church of the Good Death (Iglesia de la Buena Muerte) in Lima, among other places.
Spain 's extraordinary power in these times can only be explained by the vast quantities of gold and silver that were extracted from the lands of the former Inca empire and enabled the monarchy to sustain the cost of deploying armies throughout much of the European continent.
Of the forty viceroys who governed Peru during the colonial period, three had exceptional stature.
Francisco de Toledo, the fifth viceroy (1569-1581), set up the colonial administration, enacted the laws governing native tributes and labour, and founded the Mint ( Casa de la Moneda). The Inquisition and a college for the scions of the old Inca aristocracy were also established in Peru under his rule.
Manuel de Amat y Juniet, the thirty-first viceroy (1761-1776), founded the royal college of San Carlos and oversaw the construction of the fortress known as the Real Felipe. His administration built the royal customs houses, remodeled two large avenues (Alameda de Acho and Alameda de los Descalzos), opened a third (Paseo de Aguas) and built Plaza de Toros de Acho, the world's fourth bullring. Expeditions to Tahiti preceding the voyages of Captain Cook were organised by Amat y Juniet . The viceroy is also remembered for his passionate liaison with Micaela Villegas ("La Perricholi"), a mestizo woman from Huanuco whose life inspired painters, writers and musicians – including Offenbach , who named one of his operas after this celebrated Peruvian beauty.
Confronted by mounting independence movements throughout the continent, the thirty-eighth viceroy Fernando de Abascal y Sousa (1806-1816) ensured that Peru remained the bastion of Spanish rule in the Americas. Revolts led by Francisco de Zela, Juan Jose Crespo, Enrique Paillardelli, the Angulo brothers and Mateo Pumacahua were all crushed by his government.
In 1824 Spam's last viceroy in Peru, La Serna, surrendered to General Antonio Jose de Sucre after being defeated in the battle of Ayacucho. Nearly three centuries of Spanish dominion had come to an end on that day.
|
|
