Question 1

True or false: Francisco Pizarro was born in Trujillo, Spain.

Accepted Answer

True. Francisco Pizarro was born in Trujillo, Extremadura, Spain, around 1471–1476. This town is also the birthplace of other famous conquistadors.

Question 2

True or false: Francisco Pizarro died peacefully in his sleep at an old age.

Accepted Answer

False. Pizarro was assassinated at age 62–65 in his home in Lima by political enemies. His death was violent, not peaceful.

Question 3

True or false: Pizarro was born into a wealthy noble family with strong political connections in Spain.

Accepted Answer

False. He was the illegitimate son of a poor farmer and never received formal education or inheritance. He rose from humble origins.

Question 4

True or false: Pizarro never traveled to the New World before his conquest of Peru.

Accepted Answer

False. He had already explored parts of South America and accompanied expeditions to Panama and Colombia before targeting Peru.

Question 5

True or false: Francisco Pizarro was a close friend of Hernán Cortés.

Accepted Answer

False. Pizarro and Cortés were distant relatives but not close friends. They corresponded occasionally but had separate conquests in different regions.

Question 6

True or false: Francisco Pizarro was a Catholic priest before becoming a conquistador.

Accepted Answer

False. Pizarro was never a priest. He was an illiterate soldier and explorer who spent his early life as a swineherd and later a mercenary.

Question 7

True or false: Pizarro could not read or write throughout his entire life.

Accepted Answer

True. Despite his power, Pizarro remained illiterate; he signed documents with a simple mark rather than his name.

Question 8

True or false: Pizarro founded the city of Lima, which he named 'City of Kings' on January 6, 1535.

Accepted Answer

True. He established Lima on Epiphany, calling it Ciudad de los Reyes, though the name Lima eventually stuck from the Quechua word.

Question 9

True or false: Pizarro was assassinated by Inca rebels while leading a military campaign in the Andes.

Accepted Answer

False. He was killed in his own palace in Lima by rivals from his own Spanish faction, not by indigenous forces.

Question 10

True or false: Francisco Pizarro was assassinated by supporters of Diego de Almagro.

Accepted Answer

True. Followers of Almagro, Pizarro's former ally and rival, broke into his Lima palace and killed him on June 26, 1541.

Question 11

True or false: Francisco Pizarro was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.

Accepted Answer

False. Vasco Núñez de Balboa was the first European to see the Pacific in 1513. Pizarro was part of that expedition but did not see it first.

Question 12

True or false: Pizarro personally executed the Inca emperor Atahualpa after receiving a room filled with gold as ransom.

Accepted Answer

False. Pizarro ordered Atahualpa’s execution by garrote, but he did not personally carry it out; Spanish soldiers did.

Question 13

True or false: Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire with fewer than 200 men.

Accepted Answer

True. Pizarro led about 168 men when he captured Inca emperor Atahualpa at Cajamarca in 1532, a pivotal moment in the conquest.

Question 14

True or false: Francisco Pizarro's remains were initially buried in secret to prevent desecration by his enemies.

Accepted Answer

True. After Pizarro was assassinated in 1541, his followers hurriedly buried his body in a hidden location to protect it from desecration by vengeful rivals.

Question 15

True or false: Pizarro was a distant cousin of Hernán Cortés, the conqueror of Mexico.

Accepted Answer

True. They were indeed related through a common ancestor, though not closely; both were from Extremadura, Spain.

Question 16

True or false: Francisco Pizarro was illiterate and signed documents with a mark.

Accepted Answer

True. Pizarro could not read or write; he used a distinctive signature or mark (rúbrica) on official papers, common among illiterate nobles.

Francisco Pizarro Trivia Questions