Diego de Almagro
Who was Diego de Almagro?
Spanish conquistador
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Diego de Almagro (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Diego de Almagro was born around 1475 in Almagro, in the Castilian part of Spain. Not much is known about his childhood, but he came to the Americas early in the sixteenth century and settled in Panama. There, he became a soldier and merchant. In Panama, he partnered with Francisco Pizarro and the priest Hernando de Luque to fund expeditions down the Pacific coast of South America in search of the riches of the Inca Empire. Almagro played a vital role in organizing these ventures, securing men, supplies, and money when the missions were on the verge of failing.
Almagro took part in the Spanish conquest of Peru starting in the early 1530s. After Pizarro captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa at Cajamarca in 1532, a huge ransom of gold and silver was gathered, and Almagro got a share, though he thought it wasn't enough for what he had done. As the Spanish took control of the Inca Empire, Almagro helped set up Spanish rule in the region. He is credited with starting the development of the cities Quito, in Ecuador, and Trujillo, in Peru, turning former Inca lands into functioning Spanish colonial settlements.
In 1535, Almagro led a large expedition south into what is now Chile, with about five hundred Spaniards and thousands of indigenous allies. His forces crossed the Atacama Desert and the Andes Mountains, facing severe cold, altitude sickness, and starvation. After reaching central Chile and finding no wealth like in Peru, Almagro turned back in 1536, suffering more hardships on the way back. The expedition failed financially and militarily, but it was the first organized European military entry into Chilean territory.
When Almagro returned to Peru, he got into a serious conflict with Francisco Pizarro over who would govern Cusco, the former Inca capital. They had long had tensions over how power and wealth in the conquered areas were divided. These tensions grew into a civil war between their followers, dividing the Spanish settlers in Peru. At the Battle of Las Salinas, near Cusco in April 1538, Almagro’s forces were defeated by the Pizarro brothers. Captured and imprisoned, Diego de Almagro was tried for treason and rebellion. He was strangled in his cell and then beheaded in a public execution in Cusco on July 8, 1538, ending a career marked by bold ambition, strong loyalty from his followers, and a long-standing rivalry with his former partner.
Before Fame
Diego de Almagro was born around 1475 in Almagro, a small town in the La Mancha region of Castile, Spain. He was born out of wedlock and did not have significant wealth or social status, similar to many young men of his time who sought military service and adventures abroad to improve their circumstances. In the late 1400s and early 1500s, Spain was eager to expand its empire after the voyages of Christopher Columbus, and opportunities in the New World drew men from all over the Iberian Peninsula.
Almagro ended up in the Caribbean and later Panama, where the Spanish used the isthmus as a base for more exploration. In Panama, he showed he could organize well and was willing to use his own money on risky expeditions. His partnership with Francisco Pizarro involved him in one of the major ventures of the time. His contributions of money, recruits, and determination were key to keeping the Peru expedition going through several failed attempts before it finally succeeded.
Key Achievements
- Co-organized and helped finance the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire alongside Francisco Pizarro
- Led the first European military expedition into central Chile in 1535–1536
- Contributed to the founding of Spanish colonial cities at Quito and Trujillo
- Commanded thousands of soldiers and indigenous allies across some of the most extreme terrain in South America
- Served as governor of Cusco and held the title of Adelantado of Chile granted by the Spanish Crown
Did You Know?
- 01.Almagro lost his right eye during a skirmish with indigenous fighters while on an early expedition along the Pacific coast, a wound that left him disfigured for the rest of his life.
- 02.The expedition Almagro led to Chile in 1535–1536 crossed the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, and the Andes passes at altitudes exceeding 4,500 meters, causing severe casualties from cold and altitude among both Spanish soldiers and indigenous auxiliaries.
- 03.Almagro's son, Diego de Almagro the Younger, later avenged his father's execution by organizing a group of conspirators who assassinated Francisco Pizarro in Lima in 1541.
- 04.Despite their eventual violent rivalry, Almagro and Pizarro had cooperated for more than a decade and signed formal partnership agreements, known as compañías, that legally bound them to share the profits of conquest.
- 05.Almagro was known among his contemporaries by two nicknames: El Adelantado, referencing his colonial governorship title, and El Viejo, meaning 'the Old One,' to distinguish him from his son.