author
Reginaldo de Lizárraga
d. 1615
A Dominican friar, bishop, and chronicler of colonial South America, he is remembered for writing a vivid account of the lands and peoples of Peru and neighboring regions. His work remains a useful window into the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
2 Audiobooks
Descripción colonial, libro segundo (2/2)
by Reginaldo de Lizárraga
Descripción colonial, libro primero (1/2)
by Reginaldo de Lizárraga
About the author
Born in Spain and later active across Spanish South America, Reginaldo de Lizárraga was a Dominican cleric who also became an important chronicler. Sources about his exact birth and death dates do not fully agree, but they consistently describe him as a churchman who spent much of his life in the Viceroyalty of Peru and nearby regions.
He served in senior Catholic posts, including as bishop of Concepción and later bishop of Paraguay. Alongside his religious work, he wrote a descriptive chronicle of Peru and surrounding territories, valued for its observations on cities, landscapes, and everyday colonial life.
That blend of bishop and eyewitness writer is what makes him notable today. Even when details of his timeline vary from source to source, his reputation rests on the same core legacy: a firsthand account that helps modern readers picture the Spanish colonial world in South America.