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Status of the research:
Pizarro and Yupanqui  To date, our research has not established a proven link to the Pizarro and Yupanqui noble families. While there are family members who believe that some Seminarios descend from the conquistador Francisco Pizarro and his noble Inca consort Cuxirimay Yupanqui, that lineage appears to be doubtful, through were are still researching it. However, there seems to be a much better chance of proving a connection through other family members to the Pizarro noble family of Trujillo, Spain. If the connection exists, it is interesting to know that Pizarro genes may have reinforced some Seminario characteristics that we have discussed in other articles: long lives, great energy and vital force, intelligence, leadership, and a tendency to be prolific, at times without regard to the consequences. These same characteristics are found among the Pizarros and seem to endure. The Pizarro family tree on our website reaches back to Teresa Martinez Pizarro de Carbajal, great-grandmother of Francisco and his brothers, and a recognized member of the 14th century Pizarro noble family. The history of Teresa's ancestors is fascinating. The story is told in the genealogical encyclopedia of the García Carraffa brothers, volume 72, pages 130 to 132. During the 14th century in the town of Trujillo, Cáceres, Spain, there were three noble and powerful families who were enemies. On one side were the Hinojosas and the Altamiranos. On the other were the Pizarros. Teresa married Hernando Alonso de Hinojosa, a marriage between rival families in the tradition of Romeo and Juliet, with murders of relatives and everything. The Hinojosas were from Toledo originally, and were proud knights descended, according to their family history, from Nuño Sanchez, cousin of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, a Spanish hero of the 11th century better known in history as El Cid. The descendant who established the Hinojosa branch in Trujillo was Alvar Alonso de Hinojosa, Teresa's grandfather. Alvar was an almost incredible figure. In a century when the average life expectancy was about 35, Alvar lived to 118, married four times, and was still producing children in his eighties. His son, also named Alvar, lived to 110 from 1339 to 1449 and married three times. Among Teresa's children, some chose the
Hinojosa surname and others Pizarro, evidently
due to the rivalries between the families.
But the traits of the Hinojosas passed to the
Pizarros. Teresa's grandson, Gonzalo "The
Long One" Pizarro, father of conquistador
Francisco and his brothers, was a soldier.
He was born around 1450 and died during the
battle of Maya, Navarra on August 31, 1522,
fighting as a coronel and still on the field of
battle at age 70. He had children with his
wife and four other women, one of them
Francisco's mother. For readers who are interested in a detailed
account of the origins of the Pizarro family, I
recommend the excellent work of Dr. José
Antonio del Busto Duthurburu, Professor of
History at the Pontificia Universidad Católica
del Perú, and the Universidad de Lima. In
his book La Tierra y La Sangre de
Francisco Pizarro (Universidad de
Lima, 1993), he documents the lineage of the
Pizarros back through the Kings of Castille and
León to Teodomiro, King of the Ostrogoths in
460. The other day I was talking to a member of my wife's family who didn't know about my genealogical studies. I was telling her that some people believe that her ancestry passed through Francisco Pizarro, even though the available evidence does not confirm that. She told me that she didn't want to be a descendant of the conquistador Pizarro because "he was a criminal". There is no doubt that he did some bad things, but the fact that he had amazing determination, concentration and energy is well established in history. Francisco had four children with two different Yupanqui women, members of the imperial Inca nobility, when he was around 60 years old. Some historians have noted his age and doubted that he was the father, but in his family, that was not unusual. The problems of our research The lineage connecting the Seminarios to the Pizarro and Yupanqui noble families passes through a group of individuals whose identities and relationships are not clearly established. These questionable individuals are marked in red in our Pizarro and Yupanqui trees. The central person in this group of questionable identities is a Juan Pizarro who lived in Loja, Ecuador in the middle of the 16th century. His descendants still live in Loja and Piura, Peru. Among those who trace their descent to this Juan Pizarro are the Pizarro, Erique, Tolosano, Céspedes, and Valdivieso families, as well as some Seminarios. The family histories of the Pizarro family of Loja, and the related families, say that the Juan Pizarro who lived in Loja was the same person as Juan Pizarro Yupanqui, the second son born to the Conquistador Francisco Pizarro and his noble Inca consort, Cuxirimay Occlo Yupanqui, also known by her Spanish name of Angelina. If this is true, the Pizarros of Loja and their relatives are descended from both Spanish and Inca nobility. Francisco Pizarro descended from a family of hidalgos from Trujillo, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain, and also earned the title of Marquess based on his own exploits. Cuxirimay was the daughter of Yamque Yupanqui, a grandson of Pachacutec, the first emperor of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca empire. The Pizarro families of Loja have based their belief in the identity of Juan Pizarro on the work of a distinguished Ecuadorean historian, Dr. Alfonso Anda Aguirre, author of many books on the colonial period of Ecuador. Recently we obtained a photocopy of Dr. Anda Aguirre's study, though we have been unable to determine where and when it was published. For the benefit of our readers, we have reproduced the study in its entirety at AAAE.html. Unfortunately, our research to date does not support the findings of Dr. Anda Aguirre and the Pizarro families of Loja. We don't know who the Juan Pizarro (of Loja) was, but we are fairly sure who he was not. Based on the available documents, we believe that Juan Pizarro Yupanqui, son of the Conquistador and Cuxirimay/Angelina, died around age 4. By this finding, we mean no disrespect to the family histories of the Pizarros of Loja. Many times we have found that oral family histories are amazingly accurate over a span of centuries. And it may yet be that some undiscovered document will prove the position of the Pizarros of Loja, in which case I would be delighted. But we have to seek the truth as best we can. My intent in writing this article is to present the evidence in support of both positions and let the reader decide. It is important to note that not all Seminarios are part of this controversy, only those descended from Isabel Jaime de los Rios y Rodriguez de Taboada, the wife of Manuel Joseph Seminario Saldivar. My estimate is that about 50% of current Seminario descendants have this potential connection to the nobility of the Pizarros and Yupanquis. Though this site is intended mainly for the Seminarios and related families, we invite all the descendants of Juan Pizarro (of Loja) to join us here, to offer their comments, suggestions and arguments, and to help in the process of finding additional evidence that may resolve the controversy. I would like to express my deep appreciation for the help of Dr. Oswaldo Páez Barrera of Quito, Ecuador. Dr. Páez Barrera is an architect and university professor who, as a hobby, has been searching for some years for the evidence needed to establish the true identity of the Juan Pizarro who lived in Loja in the 16th century. He describes this search as a "game of mirrors", a remarkably apt description. I had become so frustrated in the search for any evidence of the existence of a Juan Pizarro in Loja that I had concluded that Isabel Pizarro de la Rúa, believed by the Pizarros of Loja to be his daughter, was actually the daughter of someone else, most likely a royal grantholder (encomendero) named Julián de la Rua. Dr. Paéz Barrera provided one critical piece of the puzzle, evidence that a man named Juan Pizarro actually lived in Loja between 1561 and 1581. These years are important because Isabel Pizarro de la Rúa is thought to have been born in Loja between 1570 and 1580. Please see a copy of the email summarizing his evidence here. In addition to proving the existence of the Juan Pizarro (of Loja), Páez Barrera's evidence shows that in the period between 1561 and 1565, Juan was between 21 and 25 years old. So his evidence points to a date of birth around 1540. However, this is all we know about the Juan Pizarro who lived in Loja. There is no evidence that he married a woman whose surname was "de la Rúa". There is no evidence that he was the father of Isabel. There is no evidence of who his parents were. Dr. Páez Barrera's evidence, and the study of Dr. Anda Aguirre, have given us many more clues than we had before, and the hope that someday we will find the evidence that resolves the identity of Juan Pizarro (of Loja). Analysis of questionable identities -
Juan Pizarro (of Loja) To help keep track of the evidence we have, and to maintain a list of the Juan Pizarros we have investigated, I have created the following records in our database: Juan Pizarro (of Loja) - this was the man who lived in Loja at least between 1561 and 1581. We have been unable to locate any records of his baptism, marriage or death. When we are able to obtain additional evidence of his identity, we should be able to determine if he was the same person as one of the other Juan Pizarros listed in this section. If so, we can combine the records. However, the evidence we have now supports the finding that he was not the same person as any of the other Juan Pizarros listed here. In the end, we hope to find out who Juan Pizarro (of Loja's) parents were, and determine whether he has any connection to the noble Pizarros of Spain or the noble Yupanquis of the Inca empire. Juan Pizarro Yupanqui - this was the second son of Francisco Pizarro and Cuxirimay Occlo (Angelina) Yupanqui. Please click on the link to see the evidence we have. The key question is: Did he die around age 4, or did he live to adulthood, move to Loja, and father Isabel Pizarro de la Rua? The main evidence that he lived to adulthood is the study of Dr. Anda Aguirre, a key excerpt of which is shown in the record of Juan Pizarro Yupanqui (JPY). The problem with Anda Aguirre's article is that it provides no proof that JPY was taken to Loja, or that he married Maria de la Rua, or that he fathered Isabel Pizarro de la Rúa. Nor does Anda Aguirre address the historical evidence that JPY died during childhood. Anda Aguirre's conclusion appears to be based completely on finding the name Juan Pizarro in the records of the Loja City Council (Cabildo) and assuming that it was JPY. I understand why Anda Aguirre thought he had a match. The date of birth matches perfectly. But Anda Aguirre completely ignores the possibility that the Juan Pizarro of Loja could be another member of the Pizarro family, or an Indian who took the name Juan Pizarro, or an impostor. The strongest evidence in support of JPY's death in childhood is the account of Juan de Betanzos quoted in JPY's record. He wrote his Suma y Narración de los Incas in 1557, and says that as of that date, the first son of the Conquistador Pizarro and Cuxirimay/Angelina, named Francisco, was still alive, but that Juan, the second son, had died. I give much weight to Betanzos's account. In addition to being the earliest available evidence, and close to the time of the event, Betanzos' account has the advantage of being written while he was married to Cuxirimay, so the mother of the children was by his side as a primary source. In discussing this with members of the Pizarro family of Loja, one point raised is that after the death of Pizarro and defeat of his brothers in the civil war that followed, being a child of the Pizarros was dangerous. This is true. Quispe Sisa (Inés Huayllas) Yupanqui, the mother of Francisco Pizarro's first two children, fled to Spain with her children. The Pizarros say: "Isn't is possible that Cuxirimay faked the death of her son to protect him and send him somewhere else for safety?" Of course that is possible. But why would Cuxirimay do that for one son and not the other? Other evidence cited in JPY's record shows that some historians and genealogists list only three children of the Conquistador Pizarro, two with Quispe Sisa/Inés and one with Cuxirimay/Angelina. There is a reason for this. Betanzos' account of what happened to Cuxirimay's children are in a section of his manuscript that was not discovered until 1987. These historians knew the children that were alive. Garcilaso de la Vega talks about playing with Francisco in Gonzalo Pizarro's house when both of them were 8 or 9. There is no mention of Juan, most likely because he was already dead. María del Carmen Martín Rubio, the only historian cited who wrote after 1987, had access to Betanzos' newly discovered manuscript. In fact, she edited it. In her biography of Pizarro, Francisco Pizarro - The Unknown Man, she also notes that Cuxirimay's son Juan died in childhood. Juan Pizarro and Pizarro Yupanqui - this was the son of Hernando Pizarro and his niece Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui, the daughter of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro and Quispe Sisa "Inés" Yupanqui. He was born in Valladolid, Spain around 1552. At one time I thought that he might have come to live in Ecuador as an adult. This theory has been disproven by a book I just read, Doña Francisca Pizarro - Una Ilustre Mestiza, by the historian Maria Rostworowski, Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 3rd edition, 2003. The book contains an excellent description of
the relationships of Inca women with the early
Spanish conquistadores, as well as details of
the amazing life of one of the first products of
these unions. Dr. Rostworowski is
passionate in her opinions and conclusions, but
her work is very well documented.
Should any reader wish to obtain a copy, it is
available here:
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=Rostworowski In Chapter 12, The Children, page 74, Dr. Rostworowski says: "In regard to Juan, he never got married and must have had an illegitimate child named Hernando, named in the will of his grandmother but not in other documents." Later on page 74 it says: "On December 22 (1581), in a power of attorney issued to his wife by Arias Portocarrero, doña Francisca manifests her wish to pay all the debts left behind by her son Juan at his death (AMT - Protocolos notariales - leg. 28)." So, the Juan Pizarro and Pizarro Yupanqui born in Valladolid around 1552 was not the ancestor of the Pizarros of Loja, since he died in Spain around 1581 and never made it to Ecuador. Juan Pizarro Yupanqui (of Cuzco) - this Juan Pizarro's name turns up in colonial records of the time as a witness in some hearings held in Perú around 1570 into the origins and genealogy of the Inca emperors. At first glance, we though he might be Juan Pizarro (of Loja). But the additional evidence we obtained, which can be viewed by clicking on the link, show that this Juan Pizarro was an Indian who assumed the name Juan Pizarro. He gave various ages at the three hearings he attended, but even at the age of 86, the lowest age he gave, he would have been born in 1483 and therefore was not a Spaniard or a mestizo. He was a Yupanqui, but not a member of the imperial Yupanqui family. So he is clearly eliminated as Juan Pizarro (of Loja). However, Dr. Páez Barrera believes that this lead has some possibilities. He has been in contact with experts in the Inca history of Cuzco, and it appears that there may be other Juan Pizarro Yupanquis from Cuzco born closer to the target date of 1540. Dr. Paez Barrera has found as many as 15 individuals who used the name Juan Pizarro during this time period, but no evidence that any of them are the Juan Pizarro (of Loja). His investigation continues. Juan Pizarro de Sosa - I include this person, not because I think he is the same as Juan Pizarro (of Loja), but because there is a very interesting PARES document in his record that shows that might have been a relative of Juan Pizarro (of Loja). Juan Pizarro de Sosa does not appear in historical records or accounts of the Pizarros in the New World, but exploring his identity may provide clues to Juan Pizarro of Loja's identity. Juan Pizarro de Sosa was a cleric, born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Spain, the seat of the noble Pizarros. He lived in Potosí, Bolivia, the silver mining boomtown of the 16th and 17th centuries, and died in 1605. The PARES document, dated 1611, is an accounting of the distribution of his assets to his heirs, which were listed as four nephews. Two of the nephews are identified as Juan Pizarro and Isabel Pizarro. This combination of names is sufficiently unique to raise the possibility of a connection. Juan Pizarro Cermeño - Born in 1543, at first look he could be our Juan of Loja, but after reviewing his documents, it look like he is not. He was the son of Martín Pizarro, the first mayor of Lima, a man of unclear ancestry. Some historians think that Martín was a brother or cousin of conquistador Francisco Pizarro. Others think he could have been an illegitimate son of Francisco from a pre-Peru relationship. Others say he was an Indian child raised by Pizarro as his own. Juan Pizarro Cermeño was born in Lima, married Mariana Cepeda, became Regidor of Lima in 1569, and had a bunch of kids born between 1565 y 1570, years in which evidence shows that our ancestor Juan was living in Loja. Juan Pizarro Inquill - Born around 1535, son of Gonzalo Pizarro and his noble Inca partner, Inquill Tupac Yupanqui. Gonzalo and Inquill had two more children, Francisco, known as Francisquillo, and Inés. Gonzalo separated from Inquill to pursue his explorations and military campaigns, and left the children with some friends in Quito, Isabel Vergara and her husband Juan Padilla. Those, knowing only the mother's first name, registered the children as Pizarro Inquill instead of Pizarro Yupanqui. It is thought that Juan, the oldest child, died in childhood, but I have not found a death certificate for him, nor evidence in historical records. I don't think he was our Juan of Loja, but solely on the basis of deduction. There is no evidence of his death, but also no evidence that he went to live in Loja. The deduction is based on this: In 1544, Gonzalo initiated the paperwork to legitimate Francisquillo, and the legitimation was approved. If Juan was still alive, ¿why wouldn't Gonzalo legitimate his oldest son in the same process? Later, when Gonzalo died at the end of the Rebellion of the Encomenderos, the President of the Audience of Lima and interim governor, Pedro de La Gasca, decided to get Gonzalo's children out of Peru for political reasons. Francisquillo and Inés were sent to Spain in 1549, but Juan was not mentioned. Analysis of Questionable Identities -
María de la Rúa In some online family trees, Juan’s wife is listed as María de la Rúa. In others, Juan’s wife is listed as María Bobadilla. We can almost certainly rule out María Bobadilla, since she was the wife of Juan Fernando Pizarro Sarmiento, the grandson of Hernando Pizarro and Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui, and she was born too late to have been the mother of Isabel Pizarro de la Rúa. There was a María de la Rúa born in Valladolid in 1548, whose baptismal record is shown here. But I do not know if this was the same María de la Rúa who married Juan Pizarro (of Loja) and gave birth to Isabel Pizarro de la Rua. To prove that she is the same María de la Rúa, we would have to locate a marriage certificate or at least some evidence of her passage from Spain. It is more likely that Maria de la Rúa and her daughter Isabel Pizarro de la Rúa are related to three interesting individuals who share the same surnames and lived in Ecuador or Perú at the right times. I have no proof that that they were related to Maria and Isabel, but have created records in our database because they may be related, there is quite of bit of evidence of their lives and relationships, and exploring their identities may help determine who our questionable individuals were. Julián de
la Rúa was a conquistador of Perú
and Ecuador. Please click on the link to
see his documents. Among them is a PARES
record prepared in Lima in 1559 on his merits
and services. These "merits and services"
documents were addressed to the king of Spain
and were in essence nominations for nobility.
Julián de la Rúa was not awarded a title,
but the document shows that he came to Perú as a
conquistador and explorer about 27 years
earlier, which places him in the early group of
explorers. His date of birth would be
around 1514 and his place of birth is not shown.
He was known to the Pizarros. One
of the documents shows that he served as a
witness for a will Francisca Pizarro made in
Lima in 1549. His record also shows
baptismal records for two children: Diego, born
in Lima in 1551, with mother Catalyna de
Cifuentes, and Juliana, born in Lima in
1574 with mother Elvira de Valenzuela.
María de la Rúa may have been another
daughter of his whose birth was not recorded or
digitized. (Note 3/3/17 - We recently found proof that
Julián de la Rúa and Alonso Pizarro de la Rúa
(mentioned below) were brothers. The proof
has been added to Julian's record. We have
also found a letter written by Gonzalo Pizarro,
Francisco Pizarro's brother, in which he calls
Alonso Pizarro de la Rúa a "kinsman", which
would also make Julián a relative of Francisco
and Gonzalo Pizarro. The letter has been
added to Alonso's
record. On the basis of these two
documents, and the document in Alonso's record
showing that he was born in Trujillo, Spain, it
seems likely that Julián was also born in
Trujillo, Spain, and his record has been revised
accordingly.) Julián de la Rúa Pizarro was a royal grantholder, called an "encomendero" in Spanish. His land grant was in the Province of Calvas in Ecuador, in a mountainous area near Loja on the road to Piura, Perú. His land grant was visited by a representative of the king in 1588. He was also a corregidor, or magistrate, in Loja in 1588. Note that the documentation of his position as encomendero sometimes calls him Julián de la Rúa and sometimes Julián de la Rúa Pizarro. It is possible that Julián de la Rúa and Julián
de la Rúa Pizarro were the same person, but if
so, he would have been a magistrate at around
age 74. This is not impossible, and the
evidence could certainly be interpreted to
support a theory that this was one invidual who
used the single surname "de la Rúa" in the
1550's because it suited him, as the Pizarro
faction was unpopular then, but in the 1570's
began using the double surname "de la Rúa
Pizarro". It seems more likely that these are two different individuals, and that Julián de la Rúa Pizarro was related to Julián de la Rúa, perhaps his son. One online tree shows them as father and son, and we have listed them this way for convenience, even though we have no proof of any relationship. Dr. Anda Aguirre, in his study,
says that Julián de la Rua Pizarro and Isabel
Pizarro de la Rúa were brother and sister, but
offers no proof. In another book Anda Aguirre
wrote, an excerpt of which appears in the
record, he says that Julián de la Rúa Pizarro
was the grandson of Conquistador Francisco
Pizarro, but does not say how that relationship
was established. So both Julians seem to
be tied into this matter, we just do not know
how. Sorting out the relationships may
help us identify Juan Pizarro (of Loja), Maria
de la Rúa, and Isabel Pizarro de la Rúa. Alonso
Pizarro de la Rúa is another
person who lived in Perú in late 16th century
and shares both the Pizarro and de la Rúa
surnames. His name does not appear in any
of the Pizarro family trees or in historical
records as a member of the Pizarro family.
A PARES document from 1573 relating to a
lawsuit identifies him as born in Trujillo,
Spain and being an encomendero in Trujillo,
Perú. He is also identified as
"Gentilhombre Lanza de las Compañias del Perú",
or Gentleman Lancer of Peru's Companies, which
indicates nobility. He may also be related
to Maria de la Rúa or Isabel Pizarro de la Rúa.
Dr. Paéz Barrera recalls seeing a
reference that identified Julián de la Rúa and
Alonso Pizarro de la Rúa as brothers, but we
cannot locate the reference. (Note 3/3/17 - We recently found the proof that Julián de la Rúa and Alonso Pizarro de la Rúa were brothers. The proof has been added to Alonso's and Julian's records. We have also found a letter written by Gonzalo Pizarro, Francisco Pizarro's brother, in which he calls Alonso Pizarro de la Rúa a "kinsman". The letter has been added to Alonso's record.) Palace of the Conquest,
Trujillo, Spain Nobility If we can establish the identity and relationships of Juan Pizarro (of Loja), we may be able to connect him to the Pizarro or Yupanqui noble families. This section covers the documentation of nobility of both families. Francisco Pizarro Gonzalez Pizarro’s designation as a marquess is well established in the historical record. The clearest explanation is in a Spanish wiki: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobleza_en_el_Per%C3%BA. The gist is that Pizarro was named a marquess on October 10, 1537 by Emperor Carlos V. He was not given territories in Spain, and the Emperor hadn’t divided up the land in South America yet. So Pizarro wasn’t Marquess of anything, just Marquess. Some online trees show the title “Marqués de los Atavillos”, but this is in error. The Emperor’s letter to Pizarro of October 10, 1537 makes this clear: Entretanto os llamaréis marqués, como os lo
escribo, que, por no saber el nombre que
tendrá la tierra que en repartimiento se os
dará, no se envía ahora dicho título. (In
the meantime, you shall be called marquess, as I
write it, because, not knowing the name that
shall be given to the land in the distribution
that will be given you, I am not sending you
such a title.) Reference: Palma,
Ricardo, “Tres Cuestiones Históricas Sobre
Pizarro”, https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Tres_cuestiones_hist%C3%B3ricas_sobre_Pizarro The identity of the monarch conferring the title is also confusing. He is referred to by different sources as Emperor Carlos V, Emperor Carlos I, and King Carlos I. All of these are correct. The same man was Emperor Charles or Carlos V of the Holy Roman Empire and King Carlos I of Spain. The title of Marquess was reactivated in 1628 by Juan Fernando Pizarro Sarmiento, at which time the title became known as “Marqués de la Conquista” – the Marquess of the Conquest. The Pizarro family In our tree of the Pizarro family, we follow the line back to Teresa Martinez Pizarro de Carvajal, the great-grandmother of Francisco. This allows us to tie into the nobility of the Pizarro family if we can establish who the parents of Juan Pizarro (of Loja) were. The source for the recognition of Pizarro’s family as noble is the Enciclopedia Heráldica y Genealógica Hispanoamericana, the bible of Spanish-American genealogy, first published in 1919 by the brothers Alberto and Arturo Carraffa. An excerpt of the article in Spanish on the Pizarro family, from volume 72, page 130, can be viewed here. The key fact is that the family is noble through two hildalgo families, the Pizarros of Trujillo, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain and the Hinojosas, also of Trujillo. The Enciclopedia also serves as proof of the identities of Teresa, her husband, and the family members for two generations thereafter. Hernán Cortés, conquistador of Mexico, was also a member of the Pizarro family. His great-grandfather, Rodrigo Pizarro de Carvajal, was Teresa Martinez Pizarro de Carvajal's brother. The genealogy of most of the Pizarro families in the Americas is fairly well documented in existing online trees. If you can trace your lineage back to a Pizarro that came to the Americas, you can access the extended Pizarro tree and see if you can locate that ancestor. If so, you will find your lineage back to founders of the noble family of Trujillo. The Yupanqui family The fact that the Yupanquis were descended from the emperors of Tawantinsuyu is clearly established in history. Some consider Inca nobility as less significant that European nobility. However, if you judge by the number of subjects and the area controlled, the Yupanquis were clearly equal to, if not greater than, any European nobility. History records that, in the three generations from Pachacutec to Huayna Capac, Tawantinsuyu grew from the control of a small area in Perú to an empire stretching from Colombia to Chile and encompassing a population of 12 to 20 million. Internet references in English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quispe_Sisa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huayna_Capac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topa_Inca_Yupanqui https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachacuti Internet references in Spanish: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuxirimay_Ocllo http://www.biblioteca.org.ar/libros/155885.pdf Contemporaneous histories with sources: Betanzos, Juan de, Narrative of
the Incas, 1550 (this is the
complete edition based on the Palma de Mallorca
manuscript) - http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=19129703130&searchurl=sts%3Dt%26sortby%3D17%26an%3DJuan%2520Betanzos De La Vega, Garcilaso, Comentarios
Reales, 1609 (Selections
published in English) - https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Commentaries-General-History-Abridged/dp/0872208435/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475047915&sr=1-1&keywords=garcilaso+de+la+vega Herrera Tordesillas, Antonio, Historia
General de los Hechos de los Castellanos,
1615 (available only in Spanish) - http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=14709915332&searchurl=sts%3Dt%26tn%3DHistoria%2520de%2520los%2520Hechos%26sortby%3D17%26an%3DHerrera Pizarro Orellana, Fernando, Varones
Ilustres del Nuevo Mundo, 1639,
(available only in Spanish) - http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=Varones+Ilustres+del+Nuevo+Mundo Records from Piura The last weakness of the Pizarro/Yupanqui research is that we have no documents for the people born in Piura in the generations after Isabel Pizarro de la Rua. However, the online trees and the research of Alfonso Anda Aguirre, Isabel Ramos Seminario and Edwin Seminario Coloma agree on the facts for this group, so there is more certainty of their identities and relationships than for the questionable identities in the section above. But having the documents would strengthen the certainty. Last January, I requested documents from the dioceses of Piura and Loja for the entire tree. I followed up again in July. I have received no response to date, though I did receive an email from Loja in April that indicated they were working on the search. Given the passage of time, I have to assume that neither diocese was able to find any of the documents requested. In July I also contacted Isabel Ramos Seminario. In the course of conducting her research for her excellent 1991 study, it is obvious that she found many of the documents in the churches of Piura that the diocese is now unable or unwilling to locate. I have asked Doña Isabel to share the notes she made on the documents she found in Piura, since the notes of someone who seen the documents have almost the same probative value as the documents themselves. However, she has not responded, and as I understand that she has been quite ill lately, she may not be able to. Tasks – If you would like to help The status of the research continues to be "relationship with noble families appears to exist, but has not been established with certainty." We have few solutions. There are many questions and much confusion. As Dr. Páez Barrera says, it's a game of mirrors. It is possible that some of these issues will not be resolved now because we simply do not know where the needed documents are archived. In 20 years they may be digitized and everything will be cleared up. But we continue to fight. If you live near Piura, Loja or Cuenca or plan to visit there Please watch this website over the next few months for reports on documents received and any new information we find for the people in the Pizarro/Yupanqui lineage. If we are unable to find critical documents and you can visit the diocese, that may produce results. A person who is interested often achieves better results than a worker sitting in front of a pile of requests. Municipal records and histories can also be a source of useful information. Property and property tax records are kept for centuries. Wills are recorded with the courts. If Juan, Maria or Isabel owned property or recorded a will, how their names appeared on those documents, and whatever information might appear about their children, would be useful in establishing their identities and relationships. Perhaps some adventurous person who lives in Loja might wish to undertake a difficult challenge. One of the problems in finding records in the diocese of Loja is that it helps to know which parish kept the original records. When I asked the diocese to search for the records of Juan Pizarro, Maria de la Rúa, Isabel Pizarro de la Rúa, and Melchor Erique, I specified the downtown parishes of El Sagrario and San Sebastian, where later generations of Pizarros and Eriques recorded their sacramental events. I now believe that some of these records may be housed in the books of the parish that served Julian de la Rua Pizarro's encomienda in the ancient province of Calvas. There are several possible parishes in that area, but the area is lightly populated, so the 16th century books might not take long to search. Any Pizarro or De La Rua record may help. It is important to note that the ancient province of Calvas does not correspond only to the Canton of Calvas, but also includes the Cantons of Macará, Sozoranga, Espíndola, Gonzanamá and Quilanga. This area contains quite a few parishes, and it would help to know the exact location of the encomienda, but the only clues we have are the documents in our records, which point to the towns of Gonzanamá, Cariamanga, and Colambo. If you live in Lima In Alfonso Anda Aguirre's study of the Pizarros of Loja, he mentions affidavits given by two Valdivieso brothers which may provide additional information about the identities of Juan Pizarro (of Loja), Maria de la Rúa, and Isabel Pizarro de la Rúa. We have tracked down the location of the two affidavits. They are in the Archivo General de la Nación (AGN) in Lima, Perú. I tried to request copies by email, but my request was ignored. On the AGN website, it says that you have to go into their office, fill out a form, show your DNI card, pay the small fee, and then return to pick up your documents. If you are willing to do this, we will acknowledge your contribution on the website and blog, as we do with all contributors. The documents are: "Probanza hecha por Josep Valdivieso y Céspedes en Cusco el 13 de Febrero de 1744 para solicitar una beca", and "Probanza hecha por Matías Valdivieso y Céspedes en Lima el 8 de Marzo de 1763 para reclamar su nobleza y poder ejercer como abogado en los Reales Estrados". If you live in Trujillo, Cáceres, Spain or plan to visit The religious records of Trujillo for the 15th and 16th century do not appear to have been digitized, and I have not researched whether there is a diocesan archive in Trujillo with microfilm records that can be searched in person. I noted above that both Alonso Pizarro de la Rúa and Juan Pizarro de Sosa were born in Trujillo, Cáceres. If Julian de la Rúa was Alonso Pizarro de la Rúa's brother, he may have also been born in Trujillo. Finding the baptismal certificates for these three people and determining who their parents were might help us connect them to the main trunk of the noble Spanish Pizarros. If the Pizarros of Loja can't be connected through Francisco and Cuxirimay/Angelina, it may be possible to connect them to the Pizarros of Spain by another route. If you can work online Any information we can discover about the questionable identities could be valuable. An area that I have not fully explored is the possibility of working backwards from the documents of known Pizarros and Eriques in Loja during the period from 1600 to 1800 to see if a connection to Juan, Maria and Isabel can be found. If you are good at reading handwriting on 16th century Spanish documents, you could help tremendously by reading through the original pages of two documents in the PARES archive to see if the handwritten pages provide any more clues to the parents, spouses and children of the subject, or any information about where the subject was born, lived or died. I have tried without success, but my skill at reading ancient handwriting is poor. The two documents are the "merits and services" document in Julian de la Rua's record and the "distribution of assets" document in Juan Pizarro de Sosa's record. PARES can be accessed at http://pares.mcu.es/ . Use the "búsqueda avanzada" option, type the name between quotes exactly as shown on the PARES index page, and if multiple record systems are listed, selected the record system identified on the index page. Once you see the index page, click on the "Ver imágenes" tab and you will see the original handwritten pages of the document. One quirk of the PARES system: if you need to go back, use the "Atrás" button rather than the left-arrow. We do not need a full transcription of the handwritten record. If you can read the document, scan it for any useful genealogical information, and then type just that section, identifying what page number it came from, and send us an email so we can add the information to the database and research report. If you can do searches online, I recommended continuing to look for the documents of the Pizarro and de la Rua family members during the 16th century, especially documents that connect the two surnames together. I have searched for them carefully, but someone else may get results with a different approach. There are surname difficulties to keep in mind. In some ancient records, particularly in Spain but also in the New World, the Pizarro surname is spelled "Piçarro". On Family Search, the documents with "Piçarro" won't always appear if you search with "Pizarro", but will show up if you use "Picarro". On Geneanet and PARES, you need to use the exact characters and accents. I've also seen the Pizarro name in ancient records written as "Pisaro", "Pissaro", "Pisarro" and "Pissarro". On Family Search these will all show up if you enter "Pizarro", but on other systems, you may have to do searches on each variant. The same is true for "de la Rúa". In ancient records, it appears without an accent mark, and with variants such as "De La Rua" and "dela Rua". On Family Search, just using "Rua" has worked for me, but on other systems, each variant may need to be checked. Any
help you can provide will be greatly
appreciated.
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