Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/178

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PIZARRO


140


PIZARRO


Vienna. Thepresidentof theassociationsinceitsfound- ing has been Count Franz Walterskirchen-Walfstal. In January, 1911, the Pius Association included 840 local groups with a membership of more than 63,000, and headcjuarters at Vienna. The annual fee is one krone (twenty cents) . In 1910 the annual income was 126,000 Kr. " (S25,200) ; of this amount 40,000 Kr. ($8000) went to two daily newspapers of Vienna, the "Reichspost" and the "Vaterland"; 25,000 Kr. ($5000) for campaign purposes and associational periodicals; 5000 Kr. ($1000) for the support of Catholic newspaper writers; 27,000 Kr. ($540(3) for a press and correspondence bureau. The bureau sends daily, Sundays excepted, the " Piusvereinskorres- pondenz", which is six to eight pages in size, to about fifty Christian newspapers. Since 1910 it has also is- sued a supplement for use in different papers and thus contributes largely to the intellectual and religious development of the Catholic provincial Press in Aus- tria. There are 12 diocesan subsidiary councils, be- sides an Italian section at Triest, and a Czech section at Prague. The money collected outside of Vienna is partially used for the local Press. Since the founding of the Pius Association there has been a very notice- able development of the Catholic Press of Austria, due largely to writings in behalf of the cause and to the holding of meetings, of which there are about 700 yearly; but the desired aim is still far from being real- ized.

IV. Academic Pius Associations in Germany, for promoting religious interests and attachment to the Church among Catholic students and training them both socially and scientifically, were greatly weakened by the Kulturkampf. In Southern Germany they have recently been organized as the "Unio Plana" or "Union of the Academic Pius Associations"; this union has 9 branch associations with about 1300 members, of whom 800 are regular members. Since 1909 the organ of the association has been "Der Akademiker".

Mat, Gesch. der Katholikenversammlungen (Freiburg, 1903); PAL.\TlNtJ8, Entstehung der Generahersammlungen (2nd ed., Frei- burg, 1894); Jahresberichte des Piusvereins (Vienna, 1910); Krose, Kirchliches Handbuch. 1907-8.1 (FTeihurg,, 1908), 290 sq.; Ballct in Etudes religieuses, CXIX (1909). 526-47.

Kael Hilgenreinee.

PizaiTO, FiiANCisco, b. in Trujillo, Estremadura, Spain, probably in 1471; d. at Lima, Peru, 26 June, 1541. He was the illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro and Francisca Gonzdlez, who paid little attention to his education and he grew up without learning how to read or write. His father was a captain of infantry and had fought in the Neopolitan wars with el Gran Capitdn Gonzalo de C6rdoba. Filled with enthusiasm at the accounts of the exploits of his countrymen in America, Pizarro set sail (10 Nov., 1,')09) with Alonzo de Ojeda from Spain, on the latter's expedition to Urabd, where Ojeda founded the city of San Sebastian, and left it in Pizarro's care when he returned to the ship for provisions. Hardships and the climate having thinned the ranks of his companions, Pizarro sailed to the port of Cartagena. There he joined the fleet of Martin Ferndndez de Enclso, and later attached him- self to the exTJedition of Nuiiez de Balboa, whom he accompanied on his journey across the Isthmus of Panama to discover the Pacific Ocean (29 Sept., 1513). When Balboa was beheaded by his successor, Pedra- rias Ddvila, Pizarro followed the fortunes of the latter until 1515 when Ddvila sent him to trade with the natives along the Pacific coast. When the capital was transferred to Panama he helped Pedrarias to subju- gate the warlike tribes of Veraguas, and in 1520 accom- panied Espinosa on his expedition into the territory of the f';ic-i(iue Urraca, situated in the present Republic of f'osta Uica.

In 1522 the accovmts of the achievements of Herndn Cortes, and the return of Pascual de Andagoya from


his expedition to the southern part of Panama, bring- ing news of the countries situated along the shore of the ocean to the south, fired him with enthusiasm. With the approbation of Pedrarias he formed together with Diego de Almagro, a soldier of fortune who was at that time in Panama, and Hernando de Luque, a Spanish cleric, a company to conquer the lands situ- ated to the south of Panama. Their project seemed so utterly unattainable that the people of Panama called them the "company of lunatics". Ha\'ing col- lected the necessary funds Pizarro placed himself at the head of the expedition; Almagro was entrusted with the equipping and provisioning of the ships; and Luque was to remain behind to look after their mutual interests and to keep in Pedrarias's favour so that he might continue to support the enterprise. In Novem- ber, 1524, Pizarro set sail from Panama with a party

of one hundred

and fourteen vol- unteers and four horses, and .\1- magro was to fol- low h i m in .t smaller ship ju-t as soon as it could be made reach The result of tin- first expedition was dishearten- ing. Pizarro went no further than Punta Quemada, on the coast of what is now Colombia, and ha^^ng lost many of his men he went to Chicamd, a short distance from Panama. From here he sent his treasurer, with the small quantity of gold which he had obtained, to the governor to give an account of the expedition. Mean- while Almagro had followed him, going as far as the Rio de San Juan (Cauca, Colombia), and, not finding him, returned to rejoin him at Chicamd.

A second request to obtain Pedrarias's permission to recruit volunteers for the expedition was met with hostility, because the governor himself was planning an expedition to Nicaragua. Luque, however, con- trived to change his attitude, and the new governor, D. Pedro de los Rios, was from the beginning favour- ably disposed towards the expedition. On 10 March, 1528,thethree partnerssignedacontract, whereby they agreed to divide equally all the territory that should be conquered and all the gold, silver, and precious stones that should be found. They purchased two ships, and Pizarro and Almagro directed their course to the mouth of the San Juan River, where they sep- arated. Pizarro remained with a portion of the .sol- diers to explore the mainland; Almagro returned to Panama to get re-enforcements; and the other ship under the command of Ruiz set sail for the south. He went as far as Punta de Pasados, half a degree south of the equator, and after making observations and collecting an abundance of information, returned to join Pizarro, who in the meantime, together with his companions, had suffered severely. Shortly after- wards .Mmagro arrived from P.anaraa, bringing .soldiers and abimchuit provisions. Once more re-enforced they started together taking a southerly route until they reache<i T:ii'aniez, the extreme south of Colombia. They then decided that Almagro should return to P.anama, and Pizarro should remain on the Island del Gallo to await further re-enforcements. The arrival of Almagro and the news of the sufferings of the explor-


Francisco Pizarro

After the Portrait formerly in the Palace

of the Viceroys, Lima