A native of Trujillo, the city of the Pizarro, he was recruited to participate in the conquest of the Peru, during the stay in Spain of Francisco Pizarro in 1529. He was born around 1502, in a modest family.
He participated in the battle of Cajamarca, and had in the distribution of the ransom of Atahualpa gold 3/4 part and 7/8 part of silver (3 330 pesos of gold and 158 3/8 marks of silver). He quickly left Peru in 1534, to escort Pedro de Alvarado to the Guatemala, after the attempt to encroach upon the territories granted to Pizarro. He then returned to Trujillo in Spain, but after 11 or 12 years, won by nostalgia, he returned to Peru.
He arrived there in 1546, during the civil war, and received the support of Gonzalo Pizarro, who granted him a small encomienda in Cusco. Little by little, his situation improved, and in 1559 he was regidor of Cusco.
Veteran of Cajamarca, he had pleasure to tell with humour, episodes of the conquest. In 1571, the viceroy Francisco de Toledo asked him to record his memories. Not knowing to write, he dictated them.
He died in 1576.
His chronicle entitled Account of the discovery of the Kingdom of the Peru, remained ignored for almost four centuries. It was not rediscovered until 1935. It is considered a very important source of the history of the events from 1531 until the taking of Cusco on November 15, 1533.
