As of the late 1990s, the Spanish conquest of what would become--not what had been--the Kingdom of Quito and the subsequent civil wars between the conquistadores had not been well treated insofar as the future Ecuador per se is concerned. The most extensive account was that of Luis Andrade Reimers (item 1307), but what Andrade Reimers did was to rework older studies such as Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño's well documented Sebastián de Benalcázar (item 3298) and published sources such as the Libros de cabildos de Quito (item 7034) without adding anything appreciably new in the way of interpretation or approach. Much more important was John Hemming's brief but insightful account of "The Conquest of Quito" in his The Conquest of the Incas (item 1322).
There are no chronicles of the conquest period specific to Ecuador. A number of the early chroniclers, however, treat the Spanish subjugation and initial exploitation of the northern part of the Tahuantinsuyu. With a few exceptions, there is no need to list them here, given Teodoro Hampe Martínez's, Philip Ainsworth Means's, and Raúl Porras Barrenechea's outstanding guides to and studies thereof (items 92, 258, and 275). Furthermore, Robert E. Norris devoted a section to the chronicles in item 150 (p. 36-42) as did Ruben Vargas Ugarte in item 434. See also J. Roberto Páez's well edited Crónicas coloniales (item 1318) and Horacio Larraín Barros's Cronistas de raigumbre indígena (item 1319).
There were only a few relevant published sources on the conquest and the civil wars, apart from the chronicles. The most important are items 1309, 1316, and 1331, and the probanzas or relaciones de méritos of conquistadores published in the Revista del Archivo Histórico del Guayas (items 1323 and 1332-1335).
1306. Andrade Coello, Alejandro. El ocaso de los conquistadores. Quito: Impr. Municipal, 1934. 28 p.
Reprinted from: Gaceta municipal (Quito), 19:79 (oct./dic. 1934), 49-76.
1307. Andrade Reimers, Luis. La conquista española de Quito. Quito: Concejo Provincial de Pichincha, 1981. 444 p.
A more or less traditional account, based on the usual published sources. See also item 684.
1308. Andrade Reimers, Luis. Hacia la verdadera historia de Atahualpa. Quito: Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, 1978. 392 p.
A critique of accounts and studies of the capture of Atahualpa and a not altogether successful attempt to produce a "realistic and modern reconstruction" of what happened at Cajamarca. Furthermore, Atahualpa as portrayed by Andrade Reimers ceases to be historical and become a mythical hero, flawed only by his blind trust in others, being himself totally "trustworthy."
1309. "Aporte documental a la captura de Rumiñahui: copia tomada de su original del Archivo Central del Cauca," por Luis Enrique Ubidia Rubio, Boletín del Archivo Nacional de Historia, 2:3/4 (ene./dic. 1951), 5-42.
Publishes the relaciones de méritos of Miguel de la Chica and Rodrigo de Villalobos, two of the conquistadores who participated in the defeat and capture of the Inca war leader Rumiñahui.
1310. Avellaneda Navas, José Ignacio. La expedición de Sebastián de Belalcázar al Mar del Norte y su llegada al Nuevo Reino de Granada. Bogotá: Banco de la República, 1992. 252 p.
Largely given over to: "Biografías de los compañeros de Belalcázar" (p. 23-191).
1311. Barrera B., Jaime. Tiempo y ritmo de la aventura: estampa del fabuloso conquistador Sebastián de Benálcazar. Quito: Impr. de la Universidad Central, 1940. 44 p.
1312. Bedoya Maruri, Angel Nicanor. "La batalla de Iñaquito, 18 de enero de 1546" Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Historia, 57:123 (ene./jun. 1974), 132-138.
Abstracts and quotes extensively from Pedro Gutiérrez de Santa Clara's eye witness account of the Battle of Iñaquito.
1313. Benzoni, Girolamo. La historia del Mondo Nuovo: relatos de su viaje por el Ecuador, 1547-1550, traducida por primera vez en lengua castellana por Carlos Radicati di Primaglio, autor igualmente de la introducción y de las notas, 2ª ed. Guayaquil: Museo Antropológico y Pinacoteca, Banco Central del Ecuador, 1985. iv, 135 p.
An exceptionally important account of the conquest and colonization of the coast by an early Italian traveler who spent several years in the future Ecuador and came to know many of its places and peoples. Benzoni spent some months in and around Portoviejo, for example. Includes an excellent introductory essay. Benzoni also traveled extensively elsewhere in the Americas. Originally published in Italian as: La historia del Mondo Nuovo (Venice: Francesco Rampazetto, 1565; 175 leaves). Available in a number of modern editions and several languages (e.g., Historia del Nuevo Mundo Madrid: Alianza Edit., 1989 ed. 350 p.)
1314. Cevallos García, Gabriel. "La Audiencia de Quito: colofón de una guerra de cien años," Anales de la Universidad de Cuenca, 22:1 (ene./mar. 1966), 9-32.
An essay on the significance of the turbulent years from the civil wars of the Incas through the pacification of Quito and the Perus by La Gasca. Cevallos García maintains that it was during those years that the future Ecuador was forged and following the Spanish conquest, when Quito emerged as the dominant as well as the predominant city of the country in the making. Reprinted in the author's Temas históricos ecuatorianos (item 217), vol. 1, p. 289-318.
1315. Cieza de León, Pedro de. Obras completas, edición crítica, notas, comentarios e indices, estudios y documentos adicionales de Carmelo Sáenz de Santa María. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto "Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo," 1984-1985. 3 v.
An excellent edition of the basic Crónica del Perú. Cieza de León spent several years in Quito and the Perus (1547-1551). He took copious notes and interviewed numerous countrymen, Incas, and other "natives." Contents: vol. 1, La crónica del Perú; Las guerras civiles peruanas; vol. 2, Las guerras civiles peruanas; vol. 3, Estudio bio-bibliográfico: Cieza de León, su persona y su obra.
Another outstanding edition is that of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Fondo Editorial, and the Academia Nacional de Historia: Crónica del Perú. Primera parte, introducción de Franklin Pease G.Y., notas de Miguel Maticorena E., 2a ed. cor. (1986); Segunda parte, edición, prólogo y notas de Francesca Cantù (1986); Tercera parte, edición, prólogo y notas de Francesca Cantù (1989).
1316. Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al adelantado Capitán don Sebastián de Benalcázar, 1535-1565, descifrados y anotados por Jorge A. Garcés G. Quito: Archivo Municipal, 1936. xxiv, 590, liii p. (Publicaciones del Archivo Municipal; 10)
A major group of primary sources on the Spanish conquest and settlement of the northern Andes.
1317. Costales Samaniego, Alfredo; and Piedad Peñaherrera de Costales. Centuria, 1534-1634. Riobamba: Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Núcleo del Chimborazo, 1982. 200 p.
A popular, pro-Andean account of the first century of the colonial period.
1318. Cronistas coloniales, estudio, biografías y selección de J. Roberto Páez. Puebla: Edit. J.M. Cajica, Jr., 1959. 2 v. (Biblioteca ecuatoriana mínima; [3])
A useful compendium of selections relating to the conquest of what would become Ecuador, from chronicles of the period.
1319. Cronistas de raigumbre indígena, [recopilación de] Horacio Larraín Barros. Otavalo: Instituto Otavaleño de Antropología, 1980. 2 v. (Colección Pendoneros; 14-15)
An anthology of chronicles by Andean (i.e., mestizos) and early Andeanists.
1320. Documentos relativos a D. Pedro de La Gasca y a Gonzalo Pizarro, edición de Juan Pérez de Tudela Bueso. Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia, 1964. 2 v. (Archivo documental español; 21)
Included here because of the major role Quito and its encomenderos played in the civil wars. Indexed by name, but unfortunately not by place.
1321. Estrada Ycaza, Julio. Andanzas de Cieza por tierras americanas. Guayaquil: Banco Central del Ecuador, Archivo Histórico del Guayas, 1987. xi, 281 p.
Maintains that Cieza de León did not have personal knowledge of the coast of Ecuador but depended on the oral testimony of others. Nonetheless, Estrada finds Cieza de León to be reliable for the most part.
1322. Hemming, John. The Conquest of the Incas. London: Macmillan, 1970. 641 p.
Hemming's chapter on "The Quitan Campaign" (p. 151-168) is a lucid analysis and solid interpretation of the Spanish excursion into and subjugation of the future Ecuador.
1323. "Información de Diego de Sandoval, 7.III.1542," Revista del Archivo Histórico del Guayas, 4:7 (jun. 1975), 105-114.
Together with item 1333, important primary sources for the study of the conquest and civil war years inasmuch as Sandoval and those who testified on his behalf were either conquerors themselves or early settlers.
1324. Lohmann Villena, Guillermo. Las ideas jurídico-políticas en la rebelión de Gonzalo Pizarro: la tramova doctrinal de levantamiento contra las leyes nuevas en el Perú. Valladolid: Casa-Museo de Colón y Seminario Americanista, Secretariado de Publicaciones, de la Universidad de Valladolid, 1977. 112 p.
1325. Loor, Wilfrido. La conquista de Quito. Quito: El Comercio, 1943. 104 p.
A popular account of the conquest period with an emphasis on Spanish excursions into the future Province of Manabí and the foundation of Portoviejo (1534). Incorporates Loor's 1935 Los españoles en Manabí (item 5997). Republished in his: Manabí, prehistoria y conquista (item 6000), p. 194-291.
1326. Muller, Richard. The History of the Conquest of Quito. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: V. Montalvo, 1929. 95 p.
1327. Oberem, Udo. "Los Cañaris y la conquista española de la sierra ecuatoriana: otro capítulo de las relaciones interétnicas en el siglo XVI," Journal de la Société des américanistes, 63 (1974/1976), 263-274.
Delineates the role of the Cañaris in the Spanish conquest of the Ecuadorian highlands. Severely punished by Atahualpa because they had sided with Huascar, the Cañaris allied with Benalcázar against the victorious Inca and his cohorts. Ironically and tragically for the Cañaris, they were subjugated by Francisco Atahualpa Inca, son of Atahualpa Inca, during the rebellion of the Quijos, with whom they also sided. Reprinted in item 605 and in: Cultura, 3:7 (mayo/ago. 1980), 137-151. See also item 607.
1328. Orellana, Francisco de. "Documentos sobre el descubrimiento de Amazonas," Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Historia, 36:87 (ene./jun. 1956), 124-132.
Sometimes incorrectly cited as: "Cartas de Francisco de Orellana." Reprints Gonzalo Pizarro's letter of 3 Sept. 1542 to the crown, Francisco de Orellana's letters of 9 May, 30 May, 20 June, 22 Oct., and 21 Nov. 1544 to the crown, and the capitulación or contract between Orellana and the crown.
1329. Ortiz Bilbao, Luis Alfonso. "Las leyes nuevas en Quito," Anuario histórico jurídico ecuatoriano, 6 (1980), 273-319.
1330. Pólit Montes de Oca, Vicente. "Conquista del Perú, Quito y descubrimiento del río de las Amazonas," Nueva historia del Ecuador (item 615), vol. 3, p. 67-90.
A bare bones sketch.
1331. "Primigenios documentos notariales y jurídicos de la historia ecuatoriana," [transcritos y con una introducción por] Rafael Euclides Silva, Cuadernos de historia y arqueología, 10:27 (1961), 17-62.
Consists of modernized transcriptions of the earliest notarial records produced in what is now Ecuador, having been drawn up in Coaque in 1531.
1332. "Probanza de Diego de Navarrete (Quito, 25.XI. 1578)," Revista del Archivo Histórico del Guayas, 7:13 (jun. 1978), 79-109.
Regarding the merits and services of an early vecino of Guayaquil who participated in the civil wars, allegedly on the side of the crown.
1333. "Probanza de Diego de Sandoval, 19.XI.1539," Revista del Archivo Histórico del Guayas, transcripción de Juan Freile Granizo, 4:7 (jun. 1975), 73-104.
See also item 1323.
1334. "Probanza de méritos de Martín Ramírez de Guzmán," Revista del Archivo Histórico del Guayas, 5:10 (dic. 1976), 27-146.
Consists of eye witness accounts from the 1570s regarding the role played by Ramírez de Guzmán, a vecino and encomendero of Guayaquil, in the defeat of Gonzalo Pizarro and the early history of the coast. Compiled between 1573 and 1577. Transcribed by Juan Chacón Zhapán.
1335. "Probanza de Pedro Domínguez Miradero, Quito, 26.IX.1564," Revista del Archivo Histórico del Guayas, 9:18 (dic. 1980), 97-132.
The relación de mérito of an early vecino of Quito, who was also one of the conquistadores of the northern Andes. Transcribed by Juan Chacón Zhapán.
1336. Reyes, Oscar Efrén. Descubrimiento y conquista del Ecuador: historia de las exploraciones españolas en territorio ecuatoriano. Quito: Impr. Caja del Seguro, 1948. 46 p.
1337. Rodicio García, Sara. "La ayuda indígena en la conquista española del norte del Ecuador: el caso de don Sancho y Velasco," Arqueología y etnohistoria del sur de Colombia y norte del Ecuador (item 685), p. 219-230.
1338. Romero Arteta, Oswaldo. "El indio quiteño en el siglo XVI," Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Historia, 47:104 (jul./dic. 1964), 212-223.
A well meaning but poorly informed and paternalistic attempt to understand the mentality of the conquered.
1339. Salomon, Frank. "Crisis y transformación de la sociedad aborigen invadida (1528-1573)," Nueva historia del Ecuador (item 615), vol. 3, p. 91-122.
A solid essay on the role of ethnic groups, especially of the Cañaris in the "Spanish" conquest of Quito and of the multivariant impact of the conquest on the ethnic groups of the highlands.
1340. Szászdi, Adám. "En torno a la balsa de Salango, Ecuador, que capturó Bartolomé Ruiz," Anuario de estudios americanos, 35 (1978), 453-554.
Maintains that the Relación Sámano, the most important of the early contact chronicles for Ecuador, was written by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, and not Francisco de Xérez. Also argues that the balsa taken by Bartolomé Ruiz was not an Inca vessel but pertained to one of the ethnic groups of the coast of Ecuador.
1341. Terán, Francisco. "Presencia de Nicaragua en la conquista de Quito y el Perú," Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Historia, 63:135/136 (ene./dic. 1980), 229-248.
Regarding the incursion of Pedro de Alvarado and other marauders from Central America.