Travelling Registry of the Conquistadors or “Becerro Book”
Documentary heritage submitted by Peru and recommended for inclusion in the Memory of the World Register in 2013.
© Peru State Archives
Alonso Hernández, born in Seville (Spain), receives from Francisco Gonzales 2650 pesos in gold to send to Seville. (Cajamarca, July 24th 1533). Folio 3.
The Travelling Registry of the Conquistadors (1533-1538) is the first written testimony of the
process of “westernization” of Latin America, or the spread and implementation of European socio-economic, political and cultural institutions. It offers a valuable insight into the concrete actions carried out by individual characters and complements the early chronicles in which anonymous characters predominate. It is a unique source for the study of the early years of the encounter between two cultures as the document was written during the Conquistadors’ journey across the different territories that they settled.