Lorenzo de Aldana
Governor of Popayán
(c. 1508–71)

Biographical

Interim Governor of Popayán 1538–39
Knight of the Order of Alcántara
Corregidor of Lima
Encomendero of Paria
Encomendero of Capinota
Encomendero of Tapacarí
Captain General of Lima
Lieutenant Governor of Quito
Lieutenant Governor of Pasto
Lieutenant Governor of Popayán
Lieutenant Governor of Timaná
Lieutenant Governor of Cali
Lieutenant Governor of Ancerma
Lieutenant Governor of Cartago

Aldana was a Spanish conquistador who joined Pedro de Alvarado in Guatemala from 1523 before serving Governor García de Lerma in Santa Marta. In 1534, he followed Pedro de Lerma to Peru, crossing the Inca Empire to reach the Ciudad de los Reyes, now Lima. In 1535, he joined Diego de Almagro's expedition to conquer Chile. During the subsequent conflict between the Almagrist and Pizarrist factions, Aldana joined Francisco Pizarro's side and was entrusted with the temporary governorships of Quito and Popayán, where he helped pacify and administer the territories and founded San Juan de Pasto. Around 1540, he returned to Lima and became captain general of its troops. In 1544, he joined Gonzalo Pizarro's uprising, was captured by Viceroy Blasco Núñez de Vela, and later received his freedom after the viceroy's defeat at Iñaquito in 1546. Pizarro then appointed him governor of Lima and granted him an encomienda in Arequipa with an annual income of 50,000 pesos of gold. Later in 1546, Pedro de La Gasca persuaded Aldana to join the royalist side, after which Aldana entered Lima in April 1547 and fought at Xaquixaguana in 1548, where Pizarro was decisively defeated. La Gasca subsequently appointed Aldana corregidor of Lima, and Aldana later lived as an encomendero in Charcas before moving to Arequipa where lived the rest of his life. He was the founder of the town of Villaviciosa de Pasto.

Place of birth: Cáceres
Place of death: Arequipa

Son of Francisco de Aldana and María de Ulloa