Francisco Xerez, Francisco de Jerez, or Francisco de Xerxes (1495–1565?) was a Spanish explorer-turned-historian, the personal secretary of conquistador

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...

. He participated in the conquest of Peru during the first two unsuccessful expeditions led by Pizarro,

Diego de Almagro Diego de Almagro (; – July 8, 1538), also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador known for his exploits in western South America. He participated with Francisco Pizarro in the Spanish conquest of Peru. While subduing ...

and Hernando de Luque in 1524. Xerez did not stay and join The thirteen of the fame in the Isle of Gallo (1526). Francisco Xerez was born in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He arrived in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

in 1514 as a member of the expedition that

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II, also known as Ferdinand I, Ferdinand III, and Ferdinand V (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called Ferdinand the Catholic, was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of ...

had sent under the guidance of Pedrarias Dávila. The expedition had landed in the city of

Santa María la Antigua del Darién Santa María la Antigua del Darién—turned into Dariena in the Latin of De Orbo Novo—was a Spanish colonial town founded in 1510 by Vasco Núñez de Balboa, located in present-day Colombia approximately south of Acandí, within the muni ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. During the next decade, he remained in

Castilla de Oro Castilla de Oro or del Oro () was the name given by the Spaniards, Spanish settlers at the beginning of the 16th century to the Central American territories from the Gulf of Urabá, near today's Colombian-Panamanian Colombia–Panama border, bord ...

. Xerez explored the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America, North and South America. The country of Panama is located on the i ...

along with Vasco Nuñez de Balboa and Gaspar de Espinosa. As one of the first settlers in Acla, Panama, he became the actuary of the local Spanish administrators. Between 1528 and 1530, Xerez lived in Natá of the

Coclé Province Coclé () is a province of central Panama on the nation's southern coast. The administrative capital is the city of Penonomé. This province was created by the Act of September 12, 1855 with the title of Department of Coclé during the presidenc ...

as the actuary of governor

Pedro de los Ríos Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meani ...

. During this last year, when Francisco Pizarro had returned from his interview with King Charles V in

Toledo, Spain Toledo ( ; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, the capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla� ...

, Xerez once again joined Pizarro and his followers on their voyage to conquer the Inca Empire. Following the successful campaign of the

Battle of Cajamarca The Battle of Cajamarca, also spelled Cajamalca (though many contemporary scholars prefer to call it the Cajamarca massacre), was the ambush and seizure of the Incan ruler Atahualpa by a small Spanish force led by Francisco Pizarro, on November ...

in 1532, Francisco Pizarro designated Xerez as his personal secretary and offered him a significant amount of gold the Inca Emperor

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

had paid as a ransom. Xerez wrote with all detail about the events that preceded the Spanish conquest and the first encounter Pizarro had with Atahualpa in

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Per ...

. During this time Xerez fractured one of his legs and returned to Seville, where his narrations about the conquest of Peru were published as the "Verdadera Relación de la conquista del Perú" in June 1534. Xerez did not have the same luck back in his native Seville, and soon became broke after various unsuccessful businesses. Towards the end of the 1540s his situation aggravated, prompting him to change his name to Francisco López de Xerez. No details of Xerez are known following these years, although some authors claim he went bankrupt and eventually returned with his family to Peru until he died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xerez, Francisco 16th-century Spanish explorers 16th-century Spanish historians 16th-century Spanish male writers 1495 births 1565 deaths