Diego de Almagro II (1520 – September 16, 1542), called ''El Mozo'' (the lad), was the son of Spanish conquistador

Diego de Almagro Diego de Almagro (; – July 8, 1538), also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador known for his exploits in western South America. He participated with Francisco Pizarro in the Spanish conquest of Peru. While subduing ...

and Ana Martínez, a native Panamanian woman.Alvarez Gómez, Oriel
Sor Imelda y la primera mujer foránea que vino a Chile
/ref> He was however raised, at least partly, by

Malgarida Malgarida or Margarita (born 1488) was a 16th-century African conquistadora and the concubine and servant of Diego de Almagro. She was the former slave of Almagro who freed her on the condition of she becoming his servant-for-life. Biography Kno ...

who was an emancipated African slave in service of Diego de Almagro.

Peru

In 1531 El Mozo accompanied his father on the expedition to

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, which encompassed the north of the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

. Together with his father, they led about 100 Spanish soldiers while

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...

, the leader of the expedition, went south, capturing the

Sapa Inca The Sapa Inca (from ; ) was the monarch of the Inca Empire (''Tawantinsuyu'' "the region of the four rovinces), as well as ruler of the earlier Kingdom of Cusco and the later Neo-Inca State at Vilcabamba, Peru, Vilcabamba. While the origins ...

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

in a surprise attack, the so-called

Battle of Cajamarca The Battle of Cajamarca, also spelled Cajamalca (though many contemporary scholars prefer to call it the Cajamarca massacre), was the ambush and seizure of the Incan ruler Atahualpa by a small Spanish force led by Francisco Pizarro, on November ...

. El Mozo and his father, Diego, went to

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Per ...

in 1533, but they received no gold for the capture and pressed to get the Incas

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, which finally happened on July 26. Almagro then accompanied Pizarro to

Cuzco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous province and department. The city was the capital of the Inca Empire unti ...

and conquered the Inca

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

. In 1535, he then went south while Pizarro founded Ciudad de los Reyes (City of the Kings, today

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

). In 1536,

Manco Inca Manco Inca Yupanqui (1544) was the founder and first Sapa Inca of the independent Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, Peru, Vilcabamba, although he was originally a Puppet government, puppet Inca Emperor installed by the Spaniards. He was also known ...

besieged Cuzco with 100,000 Inca warriors. Almagro returned from the south, drove them away, and seized power in Cuzco in 1537. Almagro imprisoned Hernando Pizarro and his younger brother, Gonzalo, but aware that Francisco Pizarro was organizing an army to march on Cuzco, he released Hernando in an effort to resolve the conflict. Gonzalo, meanwhile, managed to escape. Together, the brothers returned with an army and defeated the Almagrists. Diego Almagro (the elder) was summarily executed by Hernando, an act that would later have significant repercussions for Hernando when he returned to Spain, being thrown into a Spanish prison for 20 years for executing a noble without royal consent.

Revenge

El Mozo swore to avenge his father and on June 26, 1541, his followers managed to get into Pizarro's palace in Lima and established a ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

'' in which Francisco Pizarro died in battle. Francisco had woken up and killed two of the assassins, but while struggling to get his breastplate on, was stabbed in the throat. Francisco fell to the floor, made a cross with his own blood, and cried out for help from Jesus Christ. After Pizarro's death, El Mozo was named governor by the conspirators but after failing to be accepted as such he fled to Cuzco with his supporters. He was eventually defeated and captured on September 16, 1542 in the Battle of Chupas by the troops of

Cristóbal Vaca de Castro Cristóbal Vaca de Castro (c. 1492, Izagre, León (province), León, Spain – 1566, Valladolid, Spain) was a Spanish people, Spanish colonial administrator in Peru. Background Vaca de Castro's parents were Garci Diez de Castro and Guiomar Cabez ...

, who had succeeded Pizarro as governor; El Mozo was executed at the city square after a brief trial.

References

1520 births 1542 deaths Mestizo conquistadors Spanish conquistadors Executed Panamanian people People executed by New Spain People of colonial Peru Executed Spanish people 16th-century executions by Spain Panamanian people of Indigenous peoples descent 16th-century Peruvian people Leaders who took power by coup {{Panama-bio-stub