The Discovery and Conquest of Peru

Cohen, J.M., (translator), The discovery and conquest of Peru: a translation of books I-IV of Agustin de Zarate's History of these events, supplemented by eye-witness accounts of certain incidents by Francisco de Jerez, Miguel Estete, Juan Ruiz de Arce, Hernando Pizarro, Diego de Trujillo, and Alonso de Guzman, who took part in the conquest, and by Pedro Cieza de Leon, Garcilaso de la Vega "the Inca," and Jose de Acesta, later historians who had first hand sources of information / translated with an introduction by J.M. Cohen ; illustrated by Edward Bawden, Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1968. [Paperback]

Agustín de Zárate:

Durante quince años fue contador del Consejo de Castilla y en 1543 fue nombrado contador de mercedes para el Virreinato del Perú y Tierra Firme. Llegó a América, al Virreinato del Perú, en 1544 en la expedición del primer virrey, Blasco Núñez de Vela. Estando en este puesto la Audiencia de Lima le nombró como negociador entre los encomenderos, que estaban al mando de Gonzalo Pizarro y el virrey. En plenas negociaciones fue apresado por Gonzalo Pizarro.

In 1543 Charles V sent Agustín de Zárate (b. 1514) to Perú along with Blasco Nüñez Vela, the first viceroy, to oversee finances. In 1545 Zárate returned to Spain with a collection of personal notes and other documents about the civil war. His history, divided into seven chapters, begins with the Spanish discovery of Perú and ends with the death of Gonzalo Pizarro and the restoration of royal authority by Governor Pedro de la Gasca. Aware of the dangers involved in writing about such recent and controversial matters, Zárate expressed a reluctance to publish his history during his lifetime, but a manuscript copy of it was read by Prince Phillip, the future King Philip II of Spain, who liked it so much that he ordered its publication. Zárate’s Historia was well received, and in 1577 it was reprinted in Seville. An Italian translation published in 1563 and an English translation published in 1581 are proof of its quick popularity outside of Spain.