Rodrigo Orgóñez

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Rodrigo Orgóñez (* 1490 in Oropesa , † April 26, 1538 near Cusco , Peru ) was a Spanish soldier who was involved as a conquistador in the conquest of Peru and the first Spanish expedition to Chile .

Life

Orgóñez served in the armies of Emperor Charles V and took part in the Sacco di Roma in 1527 as a standard bearer . Then he traveled to America.

He was one of the soldiers who Diego de Almagro brought to Cajamarca to reinforce in 1533 , where Francisco Pizarro had recently brought the Inca ruler Atahualpa into his power. He took part in the conquest of Cusco when Francisco Pizarro formally took possession of the Inca metropolis with the entire train of conquistadores and solemnly declared 86 Spaniards, among them Orgóñez, citizens of the Spanish city of Cusco. Orgóñez was one of the first regidores (councilors) of Cusco appointed by Pizarro .

He was the most capable captain under Diego de Almagro. For his participation in the Almagro campaign to Chile he was appointed Marshal of Neutoledo , the name for the province of Chile at the time. When Cusco was taken back in April 1537, he supported Almagro against the Pizarro brothers. The 500-strong Alonso de Alvarados troops sent to support Hernando Pizarro in Cusco defeated Orgóñez in a surprise night attack at the Battle of Abancay thanks to the betrayal of Alvarado's captain Pedro de Lerma. When Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro as well as Alonso de Alvarado were in his captivity, Orgóñez repeatedly unsuccessfully urged Almagro to behead the three, because "a dead dog neither bites nor barks" .

In July 1537 he led an attack on Vitcos , the refuge of the Inca ruler Manco in the Vilcabamba valley , who led a rebellion against the Spaniards. He took the city, freed Spanish prisoners and took Manco's young son Titu Cusi with him. Manco himself was just able to escape.

At Almagro's last battle, the battle of Las Salinas against the Pizarro brothers, Almagro entrusted him with the military direction of the battle. He himself led Almagro's cavalry . Orgóñez was wounded by a musket shot and torn from his horse during his desperate fight . Surrounded by six enemy fighters, he asked for an officer to whom he could surrender. Hernando Pizarro's servant Fuentes then captured him and severed his head with great cruelty.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Engl, Liselotte and Theodor: "Lust an der Geschichte - Die Eroberung Perus", Munich, 1991, ISBN 3-492-11318-4 , p. 228
  2. ↑ Engl, Liselotte and Theodor: "Lust an der Geschichte - Die Eroberung Perus", Munich, 1991, ISBN 3-492-11318-4 , p. 152f
  3. ↑ Kirkpatrick, FA: "The Spanish Conquistadors", Goldmanns Yellow Pocket Books 859, Munich, p. 146
  4. ↑ Kirkpatrick, FA: "The Spanish Conquistadors", Goldmanns Yellow Pocket Books 859, Munich, p. 148
personal data
SURNAME Orgóñez, Rodrigo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish conquistador
DATE OF BIRTH 1490
PLACE OF BIRTH Oropesa
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1538
Place of death near Cusco , Peru