Life
Martyr was born at Lake Maggiore in Arona, Italy (near the city of Anghiera), and studied under Juan Borromeo, then the count of Arona. He went to Rome at the age of twenty, and met important men in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. After meeting the Spanish ambassador in Rome, Martyr accompanied him to Zaragoza in August 1487. Martyr soon became a notable figure among the humanists of Spain. In 1488 he lectured in Salamanca on the invitation of the university. The new learning was supported by highly placed patrons in the society. Martyr would become chaplain to the court of Ferdinand and Isabella.
After 1492, Martyr's chief task was the education of young nobles at the Spanish court. In 1501 he was sent to Egypt on a diplomatic mission to dissuade the Sultan from taking vengeance on the Christians in Egypt and Palestine for the defeat of the Moors in Spain. He described his voyage through Egypt in the Legatio Babylonica, which was published in the 1511 edition of his Decades. Following the success of this mission, he received the title of maestro de los caballeros (master of knights).
In 1520 Martyr was given the post of chronicler (cronista) in the newly formed Council of the Indies, commissioned by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor to describe what was occurring in the explorations of the New World. In 1523 Charles gave him the title of Count Palatine, and in 1524 called him once more into the Council of the Indies. Martyr was invested by Pope Clement VII, as proposed by Charles V, as Abbot of Jamaica. Although Martyr never visited the island, as abbot he directed construction of the first stone church there.
He died in Granada in 1526.
Read more about this topic: Peter Martyr D'Anghiera
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