This volume, which contains a transcription of the anonymous Relación and a series of commentaries on it, has much to offer the student of the turbulent years of the civil wars in Peru following the issuance of the New Laws of 1542. The transcription follows the anonymous text found in the Biblioteca del Palacio Real of Madrid. Copious footnotes indicate where and how this version differs from other texts presumed to be versions of the same Relación found in the Archivo General de las Indias (Seville) and the National Library of Paris.
This is not a dry account of the years from 1543 to 1550; it is full of unexpected intrigue, emotion, fear, betrayal, deception, corruption, and terror. Here one finds familiar names, such as viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela, whose intransigence and haste to implement the New Laws and confiscate encomiendas exacerbated emotions and ended with his own decapitation; licenciado...
