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1569 to 1571 - Inca Tupac Amaru  Titu Cusi's policy of peaceful co-existence with the Spaniards was strained with the arrival of the new Viceroy, Francisco de Toledo, at the end of 1569. Whilst the new Viceroy continued negotiations with the Inca, he understood the real and continued threat to Spanish authority that the native state posed. However, Toledo could find no moral reason or provocation to launch an attack on Vilcabamba after so many years of peaceful negotiations.Toledo was unaware, however, of major events that had taken place in Vilcabamba during 1571. Titu Cusi had followed a day of religious ceremonies with a bout of fencing and excessive drinking. He caught a chill and became very ill. His loyal Spanish secretary of some years, Martín Pando, mixed the Inca some medicine and offered it to him. "When the Inca saw [Martín Pando] giving him the remedy... he said: 'Give me the drink. I am very fond of Martín Pando, and he would not give me anything that would harm me.' He drank the concoction. At the moment the sickness rose to its full pitch; and he expired." The Indians were stunned by the sudden death of their leader in such suspicious circumstances. Incited by Titu Cusi's wife, the natives seized and killed Martín Pando immediately but the other Spaniard in Vilcabamba, a priest named Diego Ortiz, suffered a protracted and cruel death over several days. With Titu Cusi dead, his brother Tupac Amaru became Inca and was crowned with the royal fringe. Tupac Amaru was a committed follower of the native religion and had no desire to court Spanish religious or political interests. The peaceful policy of co-existence was gone - Vilcabamba was now set on a collision course with the Spaniards. |
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