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BooK
v~
·Royal
Commentarieii.
Barco
his 6ornpan~ion, ·wich many othér Gerltkmen of the F.amilies.
of
All dr,iJ.q
and
Chaves;
ahd ocher pérfons of Q!alicy engaged i~ _che Conqueíl: of chofe King~
dorns, who were .
alL,
·or che moft .of them., Nauves of
Eftremadura; ,
and for
that reafon. many Sou!diers bom in that Proyince, follo:wing their Countrey-men
bf note; were employed in thac Emerpri-ze : wherefore, in honour thereumo,s we
oughcnot.tocover che names offuch Soh.5jn obícuricy;, who have íigrialízed cbem–
felv~ to chl?World ~yfuch Beroick AétiQns,
Gon9_alo Pi 1 arro
was of che rtame
of rhe
P.i~arro's;
which js
a
.Family of anoient_ bfoud, i!lufüious and well known
over all
Spain
;
Don Hernando Corte~,
\Jl.'ho was ·Mar.quis
Pe.l
Valk ,
was by:tbe Moa:
ther-fide óf that Family, called
Donna,Cataliná Pifarro;
Jo that this,Lineage is
worchy ofhonour, béing encitled to (he Cqnqueíl: of two Ernpires,
.
· .
.
Befides che Antiquicy of chis Family,
Gon
1
alo
Pi 1
arro
and his Brc,thers werethe
Sons of
Gon
1
alo
Pi 1
arro,
a Captain of che Guards in che Kingdom of
Na'l(am;
which
is
an Office ofgreat reputation in that Councrey, for that ali che Souldiers
cbereof are to be Gentlemen ,of ancient Families, or fuch as have obtained
chis
Honour
by
fome great and heroick Aétion: che which Office is of
fo
gréat.
eíl:eem; thac, to my knowledge; a Grandée of
Spain,
éalled
.bon Alonfo P#rnttndei.
de
Cordoua,
and
Figue'mt,
Marquis
De Priego,
Chief
of
the Houfe of
Aguilar,
avai–
led himfelf much ou tht Honour of being Captain
QÍ
_t{orfe _in th_e :Kingdom
of
Navarre,
which Office he continued umill che day of his death; and
was
rnuch
hqnoured by
all
the Souldiers of thoíe pare~,
.
. _.
•
.
,. . .
. ..
Gon
1
alo
Pi 1
arro
wa'S a very comely perfon
m
che íhape of hIS Body, of a pleáfing
couotenance, of a confirmed health, and one who could endure
ali
hardíhips, as
hath been proved by chis Hiftory : He was an excellent Horfernan in both
Saddles, eicher riding íhort , or with long Stirrups; he was an excellenc Markef–
man, eicher wich Gun or Croís-bow: with a black-lead Pencil he could
dmv
aoy ching in the Wall which he defired; aod wa~ the moíl: dexteróus wich
bis
Lance of any man chac ever paífed iñto che h_ew World,
'OÍ
which many famou~
men of chofe times give teíl:imony. He was a great lover of good Horfes, aod
kepc many of them in his Scables. At che beginning of che Conqueíl: he had cwo
of a Chefl-nut colour, one of which he called che Clown ) becaufe he was
not
well íhaped, bue very good for fervice, che oche. he called
Zaynil!o.
Sorne Gentle!
men of that time being in converfation togecher, one of them who had been
á
<;ompanion wich
Gon_salo
Pi 1
arro
~av~ chis ~haraéter of him, which_
I
heard from
his
own mouch. When
Gonfalo Pifarro,
íaid he, was mounced on h1s
Zaynillo
he
no,more.valued a Squadron of
Jndians
,
chao if chey had been a fwapn oLFlies :
he was of
a
noble nacure, clear and fincere, without malice, fraud or deíigns : he
wás
a
man of truth, confident of his friend and of chofe whórn he choilght
ro
be
fo,
which preved bis ruine. And becauíe he was a man wichouc chears o.r fraud, he
was judged by
W
riters to be wealéin hís underíl:anding: bue chey doe him wrong~
for cercainly he was of a clear head , and nacurally inclined
tu
verme and lionour -
he was of
an
affable difpofition, and generally beloved borh by friends and en¿
mies ; and, in íhort, \was endued witlí all che noble Q!alicies, which becomé a
great Perfo~. As to riche~ gained by bis own induílry; we.may properly
fay ,
that he
was
Maíl:er of ali ene wealch of
Peru,
which he poffeíled and governeá
for a·long time, and with
fo
much juíl:ice and equicy, d-¡at the Prefi9enc did hirrt
the right
tp
praife and commend his Governmen~, as we have before declare&
He
conferred upon others great and large propomons of Land, and jurifdiétion
·over
Indians,
that many of chem amounted unto ten, ochers éo twency and thirty
thoufand pieces of Eighc ofyearly revenue : he was a very good Chrifüan, ahd zea–
lou{ly devoted to our Lady che Virgin
Mary,
Mother of God, as che Prelidenc gave
teíl:imony in che Letter which he wrote. He never denyed any ching which was
asked
for
che fake of our Lady, though
of
never
fo
great án importante: which
being
known to
francifco de Carvtt.j;¡l
and his Officers.; when they had a mind
to
puc
any man
to
death, they would never fuffer his Pecition
to
come to che ears
of
Pi 1
arro,
lefl chey íhould ask a thing in the name of our Lady, for whoíe fake
he was refolved
to
deny nothing. He was rnuch beloved for his moral Vermes
;md military Exploits: And though
it
was convehienc for the Servicé of his
Ma–
jefty to cake away
bis
life; yec generally bis deach was lamenced for the
many
Ex-:
cellencies with which he was endued
5
fo
cha~
l
never
h,eard any chat fpake
ill
of
him ,
bue
-ail
well and with greac reípeét, as beca
me.
a
Superio.tmAnd
whereas
Pa/rnrino
faith ,
that many gave their opimon, and
di
d earneíllyinfüt , that
he
·
Q;q q q
t¡
fhoüld