Atahuallpa or Atawallpa (c. 1502 – 1533) was the 13th and last sovereign emperor of the Tahuantinsuyo, or Inca empire. He became emperor after defeating his younger half-brother Huáscar in a civil war that followed the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac, from an infectious disease (maybe malaria or smallpox). During the civil war, the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro arrived and captured Atahuallpa, and used him to control the Inca empire. Eventually, the Spanish executed Atahuallpa. So ended the Inca Empire (although several weak puppet successors followed him.)
On the death of their father, the Emperor Huayna Capac, and their older brother, Ninan Cuyochi, who had been the heir, the empire was divided between the two surviving brothers, Huáscar and Atahualpa. Huascar got the major part of it with the capital Cusco, and Atahualpa the northern parts, including Quito (now the capital of Ecuador). For a couple of years, the two brothers reigned without problems. But Huascar demanded that Atahuallpa swear an oath to him. Atahuallpa refused, and the civil war began.
The final battle took place at Quipaipan, where Huascar was captured. Atahuallpa was resting in the city of Cajamarca in the Andes with his army of 80,000 troops on his way to the south and Cusco to claim his throne.
By this time the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro had established the city of Piura, the first Spanish settlement in Peru on July of 1532. After two months on the march, Pizarro had arrived at Cajamarca with just 168 men under his command and sent Hernando de Soto, friar Vicente de Valverde and native interpreter Felipillo to speak with Atahuallpa about the Spanish presence.
The Spanish envoys returned to Pizarro, who prepared a surprise attack against Atahuallpa's army in what became the Battle of Cajamarca on November 16, 1532.
According to Spanish law the Spanish officially declared war on the Inca people. When Atahuallpa coldly asked the priest Valverde by what authority he and his people could say such things, Valverde offered him a Bible, saying that the authority came from the words in it. He examined it and then asked why did it not speak to him. He then threw it to the ground. That gave the Spaniards the excuse they needed to wage war on the Incas. They opened fire, and over the course of 2 hours more than two thousand Inca soldiers were killed. The Spanish then imprisoned Atahuallpa in the Temple of the Sun.
Atahuallpa still could not believe the Spanish intended to take control of his kingdom. He thought that if he gave them the gold and silver they sought they would leave. In exchange for his release, he agreed to fill a large room with gold and promised the Spanish twice that amount in silver. Although he was stunned by the offer, Pizarro had no intention of releasing the Inca because he needed the ruler's influence over the native people to maintain order in the surrounding country.
But then Pizarro decided to have him executed because he feared he could be freed by an Inca General. Pizarro staged a mock trial and found Atahuallpa guilty of revolting against the Spanish and murdering Huáscar, his own brother. Atahuallpa was sentenced to execution by burning. He was horrified, since the Inca believed that the soul would not be able to go on to the afterlife if the body were burned. Friar Vicente de Valverde, who had earlier offered the Bible to Atahuallpa, intervened again, telling Atahuallpa that if he agreed to convert to Christianity he would convince the rest to commute the sentence. Atahualpa agreed to be baptized into the Christian faith. He was given the name Juan Santos Atahualpa and then was strangled with a garrote instead of being burned. Atahuallpa died on August 29, 1533.
Atahuallpa was succeeded by his brother, the puppet Inca Tupac Huallpa, and later by another brother Manco Inca Yupanqui.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) is an opera by Richard Wagner. It is the only comic opera that Wagner wrote. Wagner wrote the words (the libretto) in 1862 and composed the music in 1867. It was first performed in Munich in 1868.
The story is set in the town of Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg) in 16th century Germany. It is about a group of Mastersingers. The Mastersingers (German: Meistersinger) were a guild of singers in Germany many centuries ago. The most famous of them was a man called Hans Sachs, who lived in the 16th century. Although Hans Sachs was a real person, the story of the opera was made up by Wagner. It is a story about a song contest.
The prelude (orchestral introduction) to the opera is very famous and is often played by itself at concerts. It has several tunes which are sometimes cleverly played at the same time (counterpoint). These tunes are used during the opera and are associated with particular people or ideas (such tunes are called leitmotifs).
The young knight Walther is in church and sees a beautiful young girl, Eva. He wants to know whether she is married. She tells him that she will be married to the person who wins the singing contest the next day. Walther tries to learn the art of the Mastersingers from David, who works for Hans Sachs, the cobbler. David himself is in love with Magdalene. The apprentices start to prepare the stage for the contest.
If Walther is to win the contest he will have to compose his own mastersong and sing it. He will have to compose it according to a lot of strict rules (the number of lines, the rhyming patterns etc.). When he meets the other Mastersingers he introduces himself, saying that he learned the art of singing from the ancient poet Walther von der Vogelweide and from nature itself. He sings this in a song which is very beautiful, but it does not obey the rules of the Mastersingers. The Mastersingers are not able to understand the beauty of his song.
One of the Mastersingers is the town clerk. His name is Beckmesser. He is a comic figure and Wagner makes him look very silly. Beckmesser is the “marker”. This means something like: an “adjudicator”. When a singer makes a “mistake” (disobeys the rules) the marker puts a chalkmark on the board. When Walther sings his song Beckmesser makes lots of chalkmarks. Hans Sachs is the only person who realizes the beauty of his song. There is a lot of shouting and Walther has to stand on a chair to finish his song.
A street in Nuremberg at night. Eva’s grand house is opposite Hans Sachs’ simple house. Eva’s father realizes she is in love with Walther. Hans is thinking about the young knight and how well he sings. Eva asks Hans who he thinks will be likely to win the song contest. Then she is called back by her father. Beckmesser has come and would like to serenade her (sing her a love song). Walther meets up with Eva and they wonder whether they should elope (run away together). Eva changes clothes with her maid. Hans Sachs stops them as they are about to elope. Beckmesser is tuning his lute ready to sing. Walther would like to argue with him but Eva gets him to sit quietly while Beckmesser sings. Hans Sachs, who is mending Beckmesser’s shoe, has other ideas: he sings a song himself, and this annoys Beckmesser who is trying to sing to the girl he thinks is Eva (but it is Eva’s maid in disguise). He tells Hans to stop singing. Hans says that he will stop, but he will hammer on his shoe every time he hears Beckmesser make a mistake. Beckmesser starts singing again, and Hans hammers lots of times. All the neighbours wake up and come into the street and argue and fight. In the end the night watchman comes and everybody goes back into their houses.