Marco Conceptual

The conquest expedition followed the political guidelines set by, and under the economic control of, the metropolis, both during the first acts of war and when the alien government began to settle in Peru. Control was first based upon the menace of the juicio de residencia of the Governor of Tierra Firme, under whose jurisdiction the Peruvian adventure fell, assembling information from the expeditionaries themselves and other persons who corresponded with the Court. The command to carry out an enquiry, or bring the presumed guilty to justice, depended on comparing the information received, and on the reliability and influence the correspondent had; the charges usually made concerned the ill-treatment given to Indians, or the illicit use of funds from the Royal Treasury. Pizarro and Almagro initially had to render accounts to Pedrarias, Governor of Tierra Firme and foremost participant in all expeditions leaving Panama; after the Capitulacion they would be directly accountable to the metropolitan authorities through the Council of the Indies.

At first, perhaps until 1540, the Pizarros could in fact act almost autonomously, seldom having to face the Crown's representatives and then usually reaching mutually convenient, live-and-let-live agreements. To have its presence felt in the Peruvian adventure the Crown used different tactics. Governor Pizarro's authority was pitted by the Crown against that of the officials of the Royal Treasury. An attempt was made to limit that of both through the presence of clergymen, sent to Peru with specific missions related to the Royal Exchequer, the native population or other governmental matters. Finally, the officials established in lands previously conquered also took a hand in the government of Peru.

This age of early controls, i.e. the weakest ones, came to a close towards 1540, when the murders of Diego de Almagro and Francisco Pizarro carried violence past a point of no return, which would soon bring to an end the undisputed control the family of the conquistador had over Peru. These events coincided with the arrival of Licenciado Cristobal Vaca de Castro, President of the Audiencia of Lima, who had been fully empowered to reorganize government, limit Pizarro's authority, and redistribute the encomiendas of Indians. Although Vaca de Castro was not overly concerned with his official mission, he undoubtedly did succeed in separating the Pizarros from their Peruvian estates, exploiting them to his advantage and that of his followers. Now we shall turn to some of the devices used by the Crown to

impose its control over the conquest and government of Peru. The Capitulacion explicitly forced Pizarro to take the officials of the Royal Treasury with him right from the moment he left Spain. To this end, the cedulas appointing the three officials who were to travel with the conquistadores had been issued two months before the Capitulacion itself was signed; their mission would be to ensure the conditions agreed upon with Pizarro were duly fulfilled.^ The officials were favoured with many advantages such as exemption from paying the almojarifazgo, and a licence to take manufactured silver and slaves duty free.^ They were also made regidores of the future cabildo of Tumbes,^ thus extending the direct presence of the Crown into an institution capable of producing laws and allegiances, at a moment when alliances played a first-rate role in the distribution of offices and

53. RR.CC. de Toledo, 24 de marzo de 1529, appointing Alonso Riquelme as treasurer of the province of Tumbes, Antonio Navarro as accountant, and Garcia de Salcedo as veedor de fundiciones. These decrees begin the "Registre de Reales ordenes dirigidas a las autoridades del distrito de la Audiencia de Lima," AGI, Lima 565; the first two books were published in full in Porras, Cedulario del Peru, The cedulas mentioned are in 1:3-7.

54. Ibid., 1:10-13. 55. Ibid., 1:13-14.

lands. Meanwhile, more important was the permission given to interest these officials in leaving for the Indies, to "tratar y contratar*\ by themselves or in a company, so long as it was with ^'productos de la tierra'^ and not Spanish

ones. '

Of the three officials, it would be Alonso Riquelme who would gain the greatest notoriety through his deeds in Peru, the first of which happened even before he left Spain. Some kind of disagreement with Pizarro made the party depart before the three officials had embarked; they in turn had the royal factor of the Casa de Contratacion send warrants to the authorities in Tierra Firme, ordering Pizarro's arrest.^ The Crown, however, decided to back the conquistador despite the evident misdemeanors. Using all possible caution, the Queen approved the attitude taken by the factor but revoked the warrants sent to Tierra Firme by his zealous colleague, and reprimanded the officials, who should board the first ship possible or face the royal menace of being replaced.^ By a cedula issued in Madrid on 18 January 153 0, Pizarro was simply asked to name, with the prelate of the Dominicans travelling with him, three persons who would provisionally take charge of the Royal Treasury until the designated officials joined the expedition.^

Not long after, a new appointment was made in the officials travelling with Pizarro: Antonio Navarro was requesting his transfer to Nicaragua, and in his stead the Crown named Pedro de los Rios,^ the man who had succeeded Pedrarias as Governor of Tierra Firme and who, curiously enough, was now being sent as the royal accountant to

56. The three cedulas are in ibid., 60, 83-84, 85.

57. Although there had been problems due to the small number of expeditionaries, less than the 150 the Capitulacion specified should leave Spain, we should not discount the presence of a minor incident related to the personal belongings or merchandise of these enterprising officials. See ibid., 23, 83, 87, 89-90.

58. Ibid., 87-88. 59. Ibid., 86. 60. Ibid., 94-96.

Pizarro's lands. De los Rlos placed no objection to becoming more closely acquainted with the interesting possibilities Peru offered, but Navarro abandoned his plans and informed he was alright in the province of Tumbes, so he recovered his post.**' Officials were also betting on the high expectations raised by the new lands to the south, as opposed to the well known, but diminishing riches of Nicaragua.

Like in many others, the practice of royal control in this expedition consisted in having officials and governors send detailed information on the events and relevant personalities, for the conquest and government of the land.

It was on these usually conflicting accounts that the Crown based the orders and communications that made its presence felt by its officials and European settlers of America. Except for moments of great conflict between imperial policies and local power groups, the guidelines proposed by the Crown served to keep a certain balance within colonial society, despite great internal stresses. Royal officials had a significant role in this order, even though like the governors, their fidelity to the Crown was by no means ensured. During the first years of the Peruvian expedition the Crown favoured Pizarro almost permanently, and by extension the governing group mainly constituted by his brothers and fellow countrymen, minimizing decisions the metropolitan officials found inadequate, such as the use Pizarro made of funds from the Royal Treasury to defend Cuzco in 1536 and 1537, or even the executions of Inca Atahuallpa or Almagro.^

61. Ibid., 101-2.

62. Although Pizarro did receive a communication informing him of the royal displeasure over the death of Atahuallpa, "por ser senor", it ended saying that "pues a vos os parecio que convenia esta bien por el presente, hasta que ynformados del negocio mandemos proveer lo que convenga" (ibid., 191). This moderate reprimand probably sought to quiet the pressures exerted by the religious orders, the Dominicans in particular, rather than have the guilty punished. The use of funds from the Royal Treasury, in turn, was initially accepted on condition they were later reimbursed (Levillier, Gobernantes del Peru, 2:52), but was then included as one

The Crown's condescending attitude was certainly the best, because for as long as the Pizarros ruled Peru there hardly existed any real threat to their power, as Almagro himself realised when he tried to find a space for himself in Chile. Even less likely was a direct imperial presence through officials more interested in becoming rich pillaging, than in performing their bureaucratic mission. But this in no way means no royal influence was exerted over the government;

it developed, instead, in relation to the gradual strengthening of Spanish power in Peru, in a double play which would use the Pizarros right until the moment the Crown was strong enough to eliminate them from the Americas. Thus, when Pizarro requested that the royal officials should not take a hand in government matters, the Crown commanded them to limit themselves to their office.^ However, in an attempt to gauge how far the Europeans had advanced, a royal Instruccion of that same date ordered him to meet with the royal officials, the two longest serving regidores and a representative of each of the Spanish cities and prepare a comprehensive Informacion of the land, covering aspects of geography, politics, demography, and production concerning the Indians, plus a detailed presentation of the conduct followed by the conquistadores, the criteria that should be used to distribute offices and titles, and the compensations received, including a list of the repartimientos given out.^ Amongst other possible reasons, this Informacion was

more charge in the lawsuit brought against the heirs of Pizarro.

63. For instance, a R.C., 8 de marzo de 1533, commanded the royal officials in Peru to "entendais tan solamente en lo que tocare a vuestros oficios... y no os entremetais en las cosas de la gobernacion desa dicha tierra porque de lo contrario sere derservida..." (Porras, Cedulario del Peru, 1:120-21). It can be surmised this order was given in reply to a complaint made by Pizarro.

64. Instruccion in ibid., 1:126-29. There is no indication whatsoever that this order, the necessary reconnaissance or the report itself were ever carried out. Even worse, some years passed by before the conquistadores had the data requested.

evidently requested to widen the ruling group in Peru, in an attempt to place limits upon the power of the Pizarros.

One of the Crown's immediate concerns was the collection of its revenues from Peruvian treasures, and to hasten the flow of precious metals to Spain. During Hernando's stay in Spain, the metropolitan officials must have decided it would be beneficial if they granted the privileges the conquistador sought, using him in return to convey the royal treasure. Mutual dependence between the Crown and the Pizarros was thus reinforced and extended in time, but Hernando in fact would never again convey them. By this time, however, it had been decided to send a fourth Treasury official to Peru, a factor; Yllan Suarez de Carvajal was chosen for this position, and given instructions saying he should deliberate important matters with Pizarro and the other officials. From the Instrucciones given we can conclude the Crown did not want to oppose him to the Governor, but did want to extend the direct metropolitan presence in the lands of the Pizarros.^