Jerez, Francisco de (1497–?)

Francisco de Jerez (Xerez, Francisco de; b. 1497), Francisco Pizarro's secretary at Cajamarca during the capture of Atahualpa in 1532 and author of one of the earliest and most widely read chronicles of the Conquest. Born in Seville, Jerez came to the New World in 1514 in the fleet of Pedro Arias de Ávila. He accompanied Pizarro on his three trips to Peru in 1524, 1526, and 1531, serving as the conqueror's secretary on all three. He witnessed the encounter with Atahualpa, as well as the Inca's subsequent kidnapping and execution at Cajamarca. While at Cajamarca, Jerez broke his leg, and used his convalescence to write his chronicle. He returned to Spain in 1533, a much wealthier man, and his chronicle was published a year later in Seville. Titled True Relation of the Conquest of Peru, and written in part to refute the chronicle of Cristóbal de Mena, it soon became the standard account of the Conquest. Written in dry and unembellished soldier style, it describes in detail Pizarro's march from Tumbes to Cajamarca, the Inca's entourage, his capture, the story of the ransom, and so on. Jerez used his new wealth to establish himself as an important merchant in Seville, but his business failed to prosper. He later petitioned the court to allow him to return to America. Whether he actually returned to the New World is not known, nor is the date of his death.

See alsoAtahualpa; Pizarro, Francisco.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Raúl Porras Barrenechea, Cronistas del Perú, 1528–1650 (1962).

James Lockhart, The Men of Cajamarca (1972).

Additional Bibliography

Xerez, Francisco de. Verdadera relación de la conquista del Perú. Madrid: Historia 16, 1985.

Xerez, Francisco de. Relazione del conquisto del Perù e della provizia di Cuzco. Roma: Bulzoni, 1992.

                                          Jeffrey Klaiber