Juan de la Torre y Díaz Chacón

Juan de la Torre y Díaz Chacón (c. 1500 – January 1580) was a Spanish conquistador, one of the most representative soldiers among the Extremadurans who participated in the conquest of the Americas. He took an active part in the conquest of Peru; he was one of the "Thirteen of the Fame", as well as a founder and the first mayor of the city of Arequipa. During the civil wars among the conquerors of Peru, he remained consistently loyal to the Crown, and for this he was rewarded with several encomiendas of Indigenous people. He served as Mayor of Arequipa on five occasions. He left numerous descendants; among his notable descendants are President Fernando Belaúnde Terry and the political leader Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre.

Birth and early years Born around 1500 in Villagarcía de la Torre (Badajoz), he was the son of the hidalgo Hernando de la Torre and Leonor Díaz Chacón. At the age of fifteen, he went with his father to Santo Domingo, and the following year he settled in Puerto Rico, where he held a minor occupation. In 1520, he returned to Santo Domingo, where he held the office of chief bailiff of the Holy Office and received an encomienda of Indigenous people. During his stay in Santo Domingo, he married Catalina de Feria, with whom he had a son. In 1523, he moved to Tierra Firme as part of the military retinue of Francisco de Barrionuevo, who had been appointed governor of Castilla del Oro or Nombre de Dios. After some skirmishes in Urabá with Alonso de Heredia over boundary disputes, he went on to Panama.

After his stay on Gallo Island, he moved to Gorgona Island and, together with Pizarro, continued exploring southward, reaching the northern coast of present-day Peru. He then returned to Panama, where he remained while Pizarro traveled to Spain to secure royal support. With Pizarro's return—having obtained significant royal grants from Charles V through the Capitulation of Toledo—De la Torre joined the third expedition to Peru in 1531, holding the high rank of Maestre de Campo General, granted by Pizarro himself. He took part in the early engagements at Tumbes and attended the founding of San Miguel de Piura, the first Spanish city in Peru. Inés de Padilla y Casillas, born around 1555 in Peru, married Baltazar del Alcázar y Zúñiga, with issue. Francisco de Casillas, born around 1560 in Peru, was the youngest son and died without issue.

Final years and death After the conflict, De la Torre returned to Arequipa and resumed civic life, serving as royal treasurer (contador) from 1552 to 1561, as mayor again in 1561 and 1568, and later as perpetual councilman from 1569 to 1575. He also received Viceroy Francisco de Toledo during his visit to the region. In his later years, he devoted himself to religious life, adopting a somewhat mystical demeanor. He wore a black cassock and walked the streets on Sundays and feast days, gathering Indigenous people and compelling them to attend Mass. He died in Arequipa in January 1580, at around eighty years of age, as the last surviving member of the early conquistadors of Peru, the so-called “hueste perulera”.