Pizarro Assassinated in Lima

May 21, 1541

A faction of disgruntled conquistadors loyal to the murdered Diego de Almagro burst into Francisco Pizarro's palace in Lima and hacked him down. The conqueror of the Inca tried to draw a cross in his own blood before dying. Spanish Peru descended into years of conquistador civil war. The conquistador civil wars that followed lasted a decade and killed more Spaniards than the original conquest itself.