The name of Zarate naturally suggests that of Fernandez, for both
were laborers in the same field of history. Diego Fernandez de
Palencia, or Palentino, as he is usually called, from the place
of his birth came over to Peru, and served as a private in the
royal army raised to quell the insurrections that broke out after
Gasca's return to Castile Amidst his military occupations, he
found leisure to collect materials for a history of the period,
to which he was further urged by the viceroy, Mendoza, Marques de
Canete, who bestowed on him, as he tells us, the post of
Chronicler of Peru. This mark of confidence in his literary
capacity intimates higher attainments in Fernandez than might be
inferred from the humble station that he occupied. With the
fruits of his researches the soldier-chronicler returned to
Spain, and, after a time, completed his narrative of the
insurrection of Giron.
The manuscript was seen by the President of the Council of the
Indies, and he was so much pleased with its execution, that he
urged the author to write the account, in like manner, of Gonzalo
Pizarro's rebellion, and of the administration of Gasca. The
historian was further stimulated, as he mentions in his
dedication to Philip the Second, by the promise of a guerdon from
that monarch, on the completion of his labors; a very proper, as
well as politic, promise, but which inevitably suggests the idea
of an influence not altogether favorable to severe historic
impartiality.
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