Diego Hurtado de Mendoza

author

Diego Hurtado de Mendoza

1503–1575

A sharp-minded figure of the Spanish Renaissance, he moved easily between literature, diplomacy, and history. He is often remembered both for his vivid account of the War of Granada and for the long-standing debate over whether he wrote Lazarillo de Tormes.

1 Audiobook

Guerra de Granada: Hecha por el rey D. Felipe II, contra los Moriscos de aquel reino, sus rebeldes; Seguida de la vida del Lazarillo de Tormes, sus fortunas y adversidades

Guerra de Granada: Hecha por el rey D. Felipe II, contra los Moriscos de aquel reino, sus rebeldes; Seguida de la vida del Lazarillo de Tormes, sus fortunas y adversidades

by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza

About the author

Born in Granada in 1503 or 1504, he became one of the most versatile men of letters in 16th-century Spain: a poet, novelist, historian, and diplomat. He came from the powerful Mendoza family and was educated in the humanist world of the Spanish Renaissance, which shaped both his political career and his writing.

He served Charles V in important diplomatic posts, including work in England, Venice, and at the Council of Trent. Alongside public service, he built a lasting literary reputation through his poetry and prose, and he is especially known for The War of Granada, a major historical work on the Morisco rebellion.

His name also appears again and again in discussions of Lazarillo de Tormes: for centuries, some readers and scholars have suggested that he may have been its author, though that remains unconfirmed. He died in Madrid on August 14, 1575, leaving behind the image of a worldly, learned writer whose life connected politics, scholarship, and storytelling.