Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco (1500 – 1564) was the IV Count of Nieva and IV Viceroy of Peru . He was born in Burgos around 1500. Son of Don Antonio de Velasco y Enríquez de Lacarra and Doña Francisca López de Zúñiga, Countess of Nieva. He married in 1522 with Doña María Enríquez de Almansa, from the lineage of the Marquises of Alcañices. He participated alongside Charles V in the campaign over Tunisia (1535) and in the wars in Italy. Later, he was found in the entourage of Felipe II, still crown prince, during the tour he made through Flanders and Germany (1548-1550), and was later appointed to exercise the governorship and general captaincy of Galicia. He was performing these positions when the provisions that made him viceroy of Peru and president of the audience of Lima were dispatched at the court, on December 15, 1558 . He surrounded himself with a large group of officers, relatives and henchmen to make the Atlantic crossing from the port of Cádiz. Due to illnesses and inclement weather, however, Nieva's arrival at her destination took longer than planned:she made her official entry into the city of the Kings on April 17, 1561. She settled in the viceregal palace along with the three commissioners appointed to examine the problem of the perpetuity of the encomiendas, who were Briviesca de Muñatones, Vargas de Carbajal and Ortega de Melgosa.
Diego López de Zúñiga as Viceroy of Peru
From then on, Lima became the scene of a sumptuous court life, with splendid pageantry ceremonies, a musical chapel and the display of ostentatious costumes.
Nevertheless, Viceroy López de Zúñiga did not stop making important improvements in the urban layout of the capital, among them the repair of the sewage system and the distribution of drinking water, the planting of the first olive trees and the election of the San Lázaro hospital, for the cure of leprosy patients . In addition, new cities such as Santa Cruz de la Sierra (1561) and Santiago del Estero (1562) were founded, in the southern confines of the viceroyalty; that of Arnedo, in the valley of Chancay (1562); that of Santiago de Miraflores, in the Zaña valley (1563); and that of Valverde, in the Ica Valley (1563). Ordinances were issued for the work of the Huamanga silver deposits and the fortunate discovery of the quicksilver veins in the Huancavelica region took place (1563) . But the social framework in which the administration of the Count of Nieva developed is marked by uncertainty and controversy, which are characteristic elements of the 1660s in Peru. It is a time of upheaval in the political, ideological and ethical bases, which promotes the search for a structural change and a better harmony between the Spanish and indigenous communities. The resonances of such uncertainty certainly reached Madrid, determining the sending of civil and ecclesiastical visitors to the former Inca territory. From the historiographical point of view, this phase stands out for the quality of the texts produced by bureaucrats, lawyers, clerics or common inhabitants, highly appreciable works for the density of their information, their analytical rigor and the depth of their thought. At this time they thought and wrote, for example, Fray Domingo de Santo Tomás and the lawyer Polo de Ondegardo.
In the matter of the perpetuity of the encomiendas, Nieva and the special commissioners sent a conclusive report to the Crown on May 4, 1562, presenting their proposal about the controversial business . Located in an intermediate position between both causes at stake -that of the encomenderos and that of the curacas-, they advised making a tripartite division of the set of repartimientos. A third would be delivered in perpetuity to the meritorious, although without enjoyment of jurisdiction; another third would be awarded for a single life, in order to reward vassals loyal to the monarchy; and the last third would remain in the hands of the Crown. However, the metropolitan leaders never dared to grant perpetual enjoyment of tax revenues, as they feared the formation of a well-established Indian aristocracy capable of undermining their domain.
Death of Diego López de Zúñiga
It would be incorrect to say that Don Diego López de Zúñiga was a paragon of virtue, since he was often accused of light entertainment, excessive greed, propensity for bribery and favoring relatives. He was a frivolous subject and fond of female conquests (he had left his wife in Spain), whose death took place in the midst of strange circumstances. It happened in the early hours of February 19, 1564, and it is said that he was killed by the servants of Don Rodrigo Manrique de Lara when he went down a ladder to the street, after having a gallant encounter with his wife Dona Catalina . The viceroy, who was a knight of the order of Santiago, was provisionally buried in the church of San Francisco de Lima. Afterwards, his remains were buried permanently in Spain.