Pedro de Candia (Pietro de Cândia) (;

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Kingdom of Candia The Realm or Kingdom of Candia (; ; ) or Duchy of Candia (; ; ) was the official name of Crete during the island's period as an Stato da Màr, overseas colony of the Republic of Venice, from the initial Venetian conquest in 1205–1212 to its fal ...

1485–1542 Chupas,

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

explorer and cartographer at the service of the Kingdom of Spain, an officer of the Royal Spanish Navy that under the Spanish Crown became a

Conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

, Commander of the Royal Spanish Fleet of the Southern Sea, Colonial Ordinance of Cusco, and then Mayor of Lima between 1534 and 1535. Specialized in the use of firearms and artillery, he was one of the earliest explorers of Panama and the Pacific coastline of Colombia, and finally participated in the

conquest of Peru The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spaniards, ...

.Prescott, W.H., 2011, The History of the Conquest of Peru, Digireads.com Publishing, He was killed in the Battle of Chupas, (Peru), on 16 September 1542, by Diego de Almagro II.

Early life

He was born on the island of

, which then was part of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

, known as the

, in the city of

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

(then called Candia, hence his appellation). He left the island through one of his mother's relatives at the service of the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

, who took him to the Kingdoms of Italy. During his period in Italy, he was training to become a

Condottiero Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...

and trained in the arms; he fought against the Turks and in the Italian campaigns including the

Battle of Pavia The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg Empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, Holy Roman Empero ...

,Leon, P., 1998, The Discovery and Conquest of Peru, Chronicles of the New World Encounter, edited and translated by Cook and Cook, Durham: Duke University Press, before transferring to the Iberian peninsula to serve the

Catholic Monarchs of Spain The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile () and King Ferdinand II of Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the '' de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, ...

, led by Queen Isabel I and King Ferdinand the Catholic. Pedro was eventually married in Spain at Villalpando.

Conquest of Peru

During his first incursion, he went to America with Governor

Pedro de los Ríos Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meani ...

in 1526 to explore Panama and the Colombian coastline. Then sent by the Spanish Crown assigned on a special edict to engage with local natives, he accompanied Diego de Almagro and

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...

during their first explorations along the coasts of Peru, and at the landing of Tacamez, north of

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

, by then he had already the command of the artillery. He was one of the ''" Famous Thirteen"'', who survived and remained in the islands of Gallo and Gorgona with Pizarro. From there, subsequently launched the explorations of the Peruvian coastline and Inca ports, then as part of the special assignment, he undertook to go in person to the Inca towns to engage with the locals and investigate their living conditions. He then visited Tumbez and then accompanied Pizarro to Spain to inform Charles V of their discoveries, the emperor made Candia commander-in-chief of artillery of the fleet sent out to conquer Peru. He was present at the defeat and imprisonment of the

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

king

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

, and received a large share of the ransom paid by him. While residing at Cuzco, he made arms and ammunition for Pizarro, who was then fighting against Almagro. After the defeat of Almagro at Battle of Las Salinas, Candia undertook the conquest of Ambaya beyond the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, but was unsuccessful, being finally arrested by order of Hernando Pizarro. Disgusted at his treatment, and deserted by his old friends, he then joined the followers of Almagro and, with the aid of sixteen other Greeks, brought the guns that were taken by young Almagro to the battle of Chupas, where Candia supported the local natives by performing badly in the battle. Almagro suspected treason and ordered his troops to kill Candia after attacking him with his own hands.

Legacy

Based on his special assignment to engage with local natives by the Spanish Crown edict, Candia took special attention to communicating with the Incas and other vassal natives, that helped him to record his greatest discovery of the Golden Temple of the Sun built by

Huayna Capac Huayna Capac (; Cuzco Quechua: ''Wayna Qhapaq'' ) (before 14931527) was the third Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui,Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro; 2015, originally published in Sp ...

. Subsequently, Pedro de Candia's visits, discovery, and legacy were recorded by the Inca Garcilaso in the ''GVAINA CAPAC INGA'', and by the Spaniard Pedro Cieza de León in his records of "Cronicas de Americas"; and later rendered in an images codex book by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala. His oldest brother Teodoro de Candia, became a priest and led Catholic Missions for the Spanish Crown in the Amazonian region of today's

Misiones Province Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the Provinces of Argentina, 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil ...

, his brother Juan Andres de Candia led a colonial development in

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

, while Pedro's youngest brother, Juan Martín de CandiaPobladores de Chile, 1565-1580, Genealogía de personajes destacados: Juan Martín de Candia, Conquistador de Chile, vecino fundador de Santiago, por Juan Guillermo Muñoz Correa, Ediciones Universidad de la Frontera, Temuco, 1989. , https://www.genealog.cl/Apellidos/Candia/ was assigned by the Spanish Crown to explore the Southern region of the continent alongside

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and the first royal governor of Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...

the founder of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, and settled in Chillán, Chile.

Sources

* Herrera y Tordesillas (Antonio de) ''Historia general de los hechos de los Castellanos en las islas y tierra firme del mar Oceano (1601-1615)'' in Colección clasicos Tavera (serie 1, Vol. 1-2) Edizione su CD. * Tauro del Pino, Alberto: ''Enciclopedia Ilustrada del Perú''. Tercera Edición. Tomo 3, BEI-CAN. Lima, PEISA, 2001. * Gómara (Francisco López de) ''Historia general de las Indias'' (1552) in Bibl. Aut. Esp. Tomo LXII, Madrid 1946 * Herrera y Tordesillas (Antonio de) ''Historia general de los hechos de los Castellanos en las islas y tierra firme del mar Oceano (1601-1615)'' in Colección clasicos Tavera (serie 1, Vol. 1-2) Edizione su CD * Oviedo y Valdés (Gonzalo Fernández de) ''Historia general y natural de las Indias'' in Bibl Aut. Esp. Tomi CXVII; CXVIII; CXIX; CXX; CXXI, Madrid 1992 * Pizarro y Orellana (Fernando) "Vida del mariscal y adelantado Don Diego de Almagro el viejo y de su hijo Don Diego de Almagro" in ''Varones Illustres del Nuevo Mundo''. Madrid 1639 * Pizarro (Pedro) ''Relación del descubrimiento y conquista de los Reynos del peru''. (1571) In Bibl. Aut. Esp. (tomo CLVIII, Madrid 1968) * Garcilaso (Inca de la Vega) ''La conquista del Peru'' (1617) BUR, Milano 2001 * Zárate (Agustín de) ''Historia del descubrimiento y conquista de la provincia del Perú'' (1555) In Bibl. Aut. Esp. (tomo XXVI, Madrid 1947)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Candia, Pedro de Viceroyalty of Peru people 1542 deaths Spanish conquistadors 1485 births Spanish military personnel killed in action Greek explorers Emigrants from the Republic of Venice to Spain

Early life

Conquest of Peru

Legacy

Sources

See also

References