Felipillo (or Felipe) was a 16th-century

Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

interpreter who accompanied

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

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 ...

and Diego de Almagro on their various expeditions to Peru during their conquest of the Inca Empire. His real name is not known.

Biography

There is discrepancy between Spanish contemporary sources about Felipillo's place of birth. According to some of them, he was a native of Tumbez, but according to others, he was born in the region of Poechos, and was of Tallán ethnicity. An isolated version claims he was from the island of Puná. Felipillo learned Quechua in Tumbes from natives who spoke it as a second language, and he also learned basic Spanish from Pizarro's soldiers. He was later taken back to

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

by Pizarro.Prescott, W. H., 2011, The History of the Conquest of Peru, Digireads.com Publishing, Leon, P., 1998, The Discovery and Conquest of Peru, Chronicles of the New World Encounter, edited and translated by Cook and Cook, Durham: Duke University Press, On his return to Peru, Felipillo continued serving as a translator for the Spaniards as the conquest of the country carried its course, although historians agree that the interpretation provided by Felipillo was far from faithful or even helpful for the Spaniards. After Pizarro captured the Inca ruler

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 ...

during the

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 ...

in 1532, Felipillo served as the main translator for Pizarro and Atahualpa during their first meeting. According to

Pedro Cieza de León Pedro Cieza de León ( Llerena, Spain c. 1518 or 1520 – Seville, Spain July 2, 1554) was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of Peru and Popayán. He is known primarily for his extensive work, ''Crónicas del Perú'' (The Chronicle of Peru), ...

, since Felipillo belonged to a rival tribe and was having an affair with one of Atahualpa's concubines, he deliberately translated Pizarro's messages inaccurately to the Inca king, and spread false rumors: Felipillo later betrayed Almagro during his expedition to Quito. In another incident, Felipillo betrayed Almagro again during his expedition to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

by secretly telling the local natives to attack the Spaniards since they only wanted their gold and urged them to attack them or run away. Some accounts say that when Almagro discovered Felipillo's treacherous motives and his confession about purposely misinterpreting Pizarro's message to Atahualpa, he ordered his soldiers to capture Felipillo and tear his body apart with horses in front of the region's

Curaca A ''kuraka'' ( Quechua for the principal governor of a province or a communal authority in the Tawantinsuyu), or curaca (Hispanicized spelling), was an official of the Andean civilizations, unified by the Inca Empire in 1438, who held the role of ...

. Among Peruvians today, the word "Felipillo" has taken a meaning similar to "traitor." Felpillo is a significant character in

Rafael Dumett Rafael Dumett (born 1963 in Lima) is a Peruvian writer, author of ''El espía del Inca'' (2019) and ''El camarada Jorge y el Dragón'' (2023). For the latter book, he was awarded Peru's National Prize for Literature. ''El espía del Inca'' is des ...

's novel, ''El espía del Inca''.

References

External links

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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 ...

Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spaniards, ...

{{authority control Colonial Peru Peruvian people of indigenous peoples descent Indigenous people of South America Peruvian translators 16th-century Peruvian people Spanish Indian auxiliaries

Biography

See also

References

External links