Varon, Rafael; (1994) The Pizarro family enterprise in sixteenth-century Peru. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The thesis studies the entrepreneurial organization built by Francisco Pizarro to conduct government and private exploitation of Peru, with emphasis in the period that begins with the conquest, in 1532, and ends with Hernando Pizarro's death in 1578. Even though the theme is innovative, it responds to a long historiographic development that has been nourished from complementary perspectives: one traditional; the other, social; the last, ethnohistorical. The private character of the conquest company and the political support it received from the Spanish Crown, allowed Francisco Pizarro to take the highest ranking positions in the gobernaciones of New Castile and New Toledo after his victory. Likewise, he became the biggest user of the land's human and natural resources, which he shared with his brothers and followers. The original, small organization grew until two parallel structures existed side by side: political structure, whose goal it was to rule the colony, and an entrepreneurial one, which would fulfil Pizarro's private interests. The people that formed this organization linking public with private interests, is given special consideration. But the relationship of mutual interest established with representative sectors and individuals of Indian Peru, is also posed. An important part of the research is the review of those properties that made up the patrimony of the Pizarros. European financial and technological resources were added to native labour to exploit encomiendas, mines, and other productive centres throughout Peru, especially in the Charcas region. The thesis ends with the eradication of the last activities of the Pizarros during the government of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo. As an epilogue, mention is made of the royal grants obtained by the descendants of the conquerors of Peru, and their successors in Spain. In addition to presenting new historiographical topics, some debatable ones which have been argued over for centuries are also touched upon. In contrast with some other works that deal with the earliest decades of Spanish presence in the Andes, this research bases its analysis on first-hand empirical information, as obtained basically from contemporary manuscript sources.

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