Descub, Ms.]
Pizarro's next concern was to organize a municipal government for
Cuzco, like those in the cities of the parent country. Two
alcaldes were appointed, and eight regidores, among which last
functionaries were his brothers Gonzalo and Juan. The oaths of
office were administered with great solemnity, on the
twenty-fourth of March, 1534, in presence both of Spaniards and
Peruvians, in the public square; as if the general were willing
by this ceremony to intimate to the latter, that, while they
retained the semblance of their ancient institutions, the real
power was henceforth vested in their conquerors. *3 He invited
Spaniards to settle in the place by liberal grants of land and
houses, for which means were afforded by the numerous palaces and
public buildings of the Incas; and many a cavalier, who had been
too poor in his own country to find a place to rest in, now saw
himself the proprietor of a spacious mansion that might have
entertained the retinue of a prince. *4 From this time, says an
old chronicler, Pizarro, who had hitherto been distinguished by
his military title of "Captain-General," was addressed by that of
"Governor." *5 Both had been bestowed on him by the royal grant.
[Footnote 3: Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. III. fol. 409.
- Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1534. - Actto de la fundacion del
Cuzco, Ms.
This instrument, which belongs to the collection of Munoz,
records not only the names of the magistrates, but of the vecinos
who formed the first population of the Christian capital.
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