Diego Fernandez de Palencia

Diego Fernández de Palencia (Palencia, c. 1520-Seville, c. 1581) was a Spanish historian of the 16th century. Born in Palencia, he was educated to follow an ecclesiastical career but around 1545 he embarked for Peru where he served in the royal army under Alonso de Alvarado. Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis of Cañete, who would become viceroy of Peru in 1555, granted Fernández the position of chronicler of Peru, and in this position he wrote an account of the insurrection of Francisco Hernández Girón, of the rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro, and the administration of Pedro de la Gasca. The whole work, under the title First and Second Part of the History of Peru, was published in Seville in 1571 and dedicated to King Philip II of Spain. It is written in a clear, easy-to-read style. The work gives many details, and since he had access to correspondence and official documents, it is, even taking into account his tendencies, the most complete and truthful description of the events he relates. He died in 1581.

A description of this work can be found in History of the Conquest of Peru by William H. Prescott (new ed., London, 1902).