The Tragic Story Of The Inca Civil War

Posted by Noelle Montes on Friday, May 3, 2024

Pizarro refused to execute Atahualpa without a trial. The Sapa Inca was accused of fratricide and of treasonous behavior (although he had never sworn allegiance to Spain). Despite a few voices calling for mercy, Atahualpa, as a non-Christian, was sentenced to burn at the stake, a long, painful death usually reserved for heretics.

Before his execution, Atahualpa is said to have spoken to Pizarro and demanded to know what he had done to deserve his fate. Despite opening up his court to the Spaniards and receiving them hospitably, he was now to die and see his people conquered by a far-away foreign power. Pizarro is said to have nearly shed tears, but could not overturn the sentence at this point without inciting a mutiny among his own men. Atahualpa advanced toward the stake, was tied, and prepared himself for death.

At the last minute, Atahualpa received mercy. According to the Australian National University, Fr. Vicente offered Atahualpa the possibility of a faster, less painful, and more merciful death if he accepted baptism. Atahualpa relented and was quickly baptized, incredibly taking the name Francisco in honor of the man who was about to execute him. Afterwards, he was quickly strangled.

In a matter of months, Atahualpa had gone from being the victorious Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu to being the last Sapa Inca, left to die a humiliating death at the hands of his foreign captors. Despite his cruelty and arrogance, Atahualpa was a skilled ruler and captain. The circumstances of his death and rapid fall from grace at the pinnacle of his power, cannot be considered anything other than tragic.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunCAlmloaXBfqbWmedOrmKChk2LAtbvRsmSonl2ptaZ5yKeammWTnsOquIywmKtn