Pizarro brothers in the context of Cristóbal Vaca de Castro

Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo ðe βalˈdiβja]; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first Governor of Colonial Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1535, where he served as a soldier under the Pizarro brothers in Peru, gradually rising in power.

In 1540, Valdivia led an expedition of 150 Spaniards and 1,000 Peruvian Indians into Chile, where he defeated a large force of indigenous warriors and founded Santiago in 1541. He extended Spanish rule south to the Biobío River in 1546, fought again in Peru (1546–1548), and returned to Chile as Royal Governor in 1549. In 1550, he expanded Spanish rule further south into Araucanía, where he founded the city of Concepción and the eponymous city of Valdivia. He was captured and killed by Mapuche Indians during the Arauco War in 1553.

Francisco Hernández Girón, born in Cáceres, Extremadura, died in Lima on December 7, 1554, was a Spanish conquistador.

Hernández Girón arrived in Peru in 1535 with, among others, the future governor Blasco Núñez Vela. In the ensuing struggle for power between the Pizarro brothers and the Almagristas in 1537, he supported neither. Almagro was executed in 1538 and Francisco Pizarro, governor of Peru, was assassinated by Almagro's son in 1541. In the struggle following once next governor Cristóbal Vaca de Castro had defeated the Almagristas at Chupas and then becoming imprisoned by Blasco Núñez Vela, appointed royal viceroy, Hernández Girón became a supporter of the latter.

Diego de Almagro (Spanish: [ˈdjeɣo ðe alˈmaɣɾo]; c. 1475 – July 8, 1538), also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador known for his exploits in western South America. He participated with Francisco Pizarro in the Spanish conquest of Peru. While subduing the Inca Empire he laid the foundation for Quito and Trujillo as Spanish cities in present-day Ecuador and Peru, respectively. From Peru, Almagro led the first Spanish military expedition to central Chile. Back in Peru, a longstanding conflict with Pizarro over the control of the former Inca capital of Cuzco erupted into a civil war between the two bands of conquistadores. In the battle of Las Salinas in 1538, Almagro was defeated by the Pizarro brothers and months later he was executed.