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Lope de Aguirre was a Spanish conquistador in South America.
He was a megalomaniac and paranoid soldier who murdered the leaders of the
largest Spanish expedition searching for El Dorado; descended the Marañón,
Amazon, and Orinoco rivers and conquered the Isla Margarita from the Spanish
settlers. Aguirre rebelled against the Emperor Phillip II and sent letters
that contained rebellious language to the Emperor. He set off to conquer
Peru before being finally killed by his own men near Barquisimeto,
Venezuela.
Aguirre probably enlisted himself in an expedition of 250 men chosen under
Rodrigo Buran. He arrived in Peru in 1536 or 1537. In Cuzco, among other
activities, Aguirre was responsible for the training of stallions. As a
conquistador, however, he soon became renowned for violence, cruelty and
sedition.
In 1544, Aguirre was at the side of Peru's first viceroy, Blasco Nunez Vela,
who had arrived from Spain with orders to implement the New Laws and
suppress the Encomiendas and liberate the natives. The conquistadors did not
like these laws, in particular because they prohibited them from exploiting
the Indians. Lope de Aguirre, however, took part in the plot with Melchor
Verdugo to free the viceroy, and thus turned against Gonzalo Pizarro. After
the failed attempt, they escaped from Lima to Cajamarca, and started to
gather men to help the viceroy. In the mean time, the viceroy had escaped,
thanks to oidor Alvarez, by sea to Tumbes and had formed a little army
thinking that all the country was going to awake under the royal flag. The
viceroy's resistance to Gonzalo Pizarro and his deputy Francisco de Carvajal,
the infamous "demon of the Andes," would last for two years until he was
defeated in Añaquito on January 18 1546.
Melchor Verdugo and Lope de Aguirre had gone to Nicaragua sailing to
Trujillo with thirty-three men. Melchor Verdugo had conferred captain's rank
on Rodrigo de Esquivel and Nuño de Guzmán, sergeant major rank on Aguirre
and contador status to P. Henao. Henao would later participate in the
expedition of Ursua to Omagua and El Dorado. However, in 1551, Lope de
Aguirre returned to Potosí (then still part of Peru and now part of
Bolivia). The judge Francisco de Esquivel arrested him and charged him with
infraction of the laws for the protection of the Indians. The judge
discounted Aguirre's reasons and his claims of gentry and sentenced him to a
public flogging. His pride wounded, Aguirre waited until the end of the
judge's mandate. Fearing Aguirre's vengeance, the judge fled, changing his
residence constantly.
Aguirre pursued Esquivel by foot to Lima, Quito and then on to Cuzco. In
three years he ran 6,000 km by foot, unshod, on the trail of Esquivel. The
soldiers followed this obstinate pursuit with interest. Finally, Aguirre
found him in Cuzco, in the mansion of the magistrate; while Esquivel was
taking a nap in the library, wearing a coat of mail he always wore on for
fear of Aguirre. Aguirre cut his temples. (Supposedly Aguirre later returned
to search for a sombrero he had left behind.) Protected by friends who had
hidden him, he fled from Cuzco, taking refuge with a relative in Guamanga.
In 1554, needing to put down the rebellion of Hernández Girón, Alonzo de
Alvarado secured a pardon for everyone who enlisted in his army and had been
affiliated with Lope de Aguirre. Aguirre fought and was wounded at the
battle of Chuquinga against Girón, resulting an incurable limp that would
ostracise him from his peers.
Search of El Dorado
He joined the 1560 expedition of Pedro de Ursúa down the Marañón and Amazon
Rivers with 300 men and hundreds of natives. A year later, he participated
in the overthrow and killing of Ursúa and his successor, Fernando de Guzmán,
whom he ultimately succeeded. He and his men reached the Atlantic (probably
by the Orinoco River), laying waste to native villages on the way. In March
23, 1561, Aguirre urged 186 captains and soldiers to sign an act which would
proclaim him as prince of Peru, Tierra Firma and Chile.
He is reputed to have said in 1561:
I am the Wrath of God,
the Prince of Freedom,
Lord of Tierra Firme and the Provinces of Chile
Melchor Verdugo and Lope de Aguirre had gone to Nicaragua sailing to
Trujillo with thirty-three men. Melchor Verdugo had conferred captain's rank
on Rodrigo de Esquivel and Nuño de Guzmán, sergeant major rank on Aguirre
and contador status to P. Henao. Henao would later participate in the
expedition of Ursua to Omagua and El Dorado. However, in 1551, Lope de
Aguirre returned to Potosí (then still part of Peru and now part of
Bolivia). The judge Francisco de Esquivel arrested him and charged him with
infraction of the laws for the protection of the Indians. The judge
discounted Aguirre's reasons and his claims of gentry and sentenced him to a
public flogging. His pride wounded, Aguirre waited until the end of the
judge's mandate. Fearing Aguirre's vengeance, the judge fled, changing his
residence constantly.
Aguirre pursued Esquivel by foot to Lima, Quito and then on to Cuzco. In
three years he ran 6,000 km by foot, unshod, on the trail of Esquivel. The
soldiers followed this obstinate pursuit with interest. Finally, Aguirre
found him in Cuzco, in the mansion of the magistrate; while Esquivel was
taking a nap in the library, wearing a coat of mail he always wore on for
fear of Aguirre. Aguirre cut his temples. (Supposedly Aguirre later returned
to search for a sombrero he had left behind.) Protected by friends who had
hidden him, he fled from Cuzco, taking refuge with a relative in Guamanga.
In 1554, needing to put down the rebellion of Hernández Girón, Alonzo de
Alvarado secured a pardon for everyone who enlisted in his army and had been
affiliated with Lope de Aguirre. Aguirre fought and was wounded at the
battle of Chuquinga against Girón, resulting an incurable limp that would
ostracise him from his peers.
Search of El Dorado
He joined the 1560 expedition of Pedro de Ursúa down the Marañón and Amazon
Rivers with 300 men and hundreds of natives. A year later, he participated
in the overthrow and killing of Ursúa and his successor, Fernando de Guzmán,
whom he ultimately succeeded. He and his men reached the Atlantic (probably
by the Orinoco River), laying waste to native villages on the way. In March
23, 1561, Aguirre urged 186 captains and soldiers to sign an act which would
proclaim him as prince of Peru, Tierra Firma and Chile.
He is reputed to have said in 1561:
I am the Wrath of God,
the Prince of Freedom,
Lord of Tierra Firme and the Provinces of Chile
In 1554, needing to put down the rebellion of Hernández Girón, Alonzo de
Alvarado secured a pardon for everyone who enlisted in his army and had been
affiliated with Lope de Aguirre. Aguirre fought and was wounded at the
battle of Chuquinga against Girón, resulting an incurable limp that would
ostracise him from his peers.
Search of El Dorado
He joined the 1560 expedition of Pedro de Ursúa down the Marañón and Amazon
Rivers with 300 men and hundreds of natives. A year later, he participated
in the overthrow and killing of Ursúa and his successor, Fernando de Guzmán,
whom he ultimately succeeded. He and his men reached the Atlantic (probably
by the Orinoco River), laying waste to native villages on the way. In March
23, 1561, Aguirre urged 186 captains and soldiers to sign an act which would
proclaim him as prince of Peru, Tierra Firma and Chile.
He is reputed to have said in 1561:
I am the Wrath of God,
the Prince of Freedom,
Lord of Tierra Firme and the Provinces of Chile
He joined the 1560 expedition of Pedro de Ursúa down the Marañón and Amazon
Rivers with 300 men and hundreds of natives. A year later, he participated
in the overthrow and killing of Ursúa and his successor, Fernando de Guzmán,
whom he ultimately succeeded. He and his men reached the Atlantic (probably
by the Orinoco River), laying waste to native villages on the way. In March
23, 1561, Aguirre urged 186 captains and soldiers to sign an act which would
proclaim him as prince of Peru, Tierra Firma and Chile.
He is reputed to have said in 1561:
I am the Wrath of God,
the Prince of Freedom,
Lord of Tierra Firme and the Provinces of Chile
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