Alonso de Góngora Marmolejo (1523–1575) was a Spanishconquistador and chronicler of the early conquest and settlement of theCaptaincy General of Chile, and the start of theArauco War.

Marmolejo was born in the town ofCarmona,Andalucía, in 1523. He was the son of the regidor of the town, Juan Jiménez de Góngora Marmolejo and of Teresa Núñez de Tanfarva.^[1] In April 1551 he came as a soldier toSantiago, Chile and shortly after was transferred toConcepción to join the expedition thatPedro de Valdivia had prepared to continue his southern conquests. He attended the foundation ofValdivia, where he lived and was regidor in 1555.

In 1557 he was transferred from Valdivia by sea to serveDonGarcía Hurtado de Mendoza who had just arrived as new Governor and was onQuiriquina Island. Góngora participated in the campaign there and later was part of the garrison of the fort ofTucapel and helped frustrateCaupolicán's attack on the fort that resulted in his being captured and executed. Don Garcia made him anencomendero ofCañete and there he was also regidor in 1558 and 1559.

He was in Santiago, in June 1561, whenFrancisco de Villagra took provisional control of the government and it is probable that he accompanied Villagra in his southern campaigns. Prevailed on byPedro de Villagra, he returned to Valdivia where he carried out the position of Royal official. In 1571 he was corregidor ofVillarrica. In 1575Rodrigo de Quiroga named him judge investigator of theindigenouswizards, but by the end of that year he had died.^[2]

Góngora Marmolejo was the author ofHistory of All the Things that Have happened in the Kingdom of Chile and of those who had governed it (Spanish:Historia de Todas las Cosas que han Acaecido en el Reino de Chile y de los que lo han gobernado) which roughly covers the period between the first Spanish incursions into the territory of Chile and the time of his own death (1536–1575). Góngora Marmolejo was many times an eyewitness of the events he chronicles or wrote about them based on the reports of others who had been present at the events from that time. His history tried to maintain an even-handed vision and has been considered by historians of the period as one of the better sources. Its text is interesting as the work of a soldier who in spite of being a man of culture, used a direct and simple style, and is believed to have been inspired by the publication ofAlonso de Ercilla's "La Araucana".

• Spanish conquistadors
• Explorers of Chile
• Encomenderos
• 16th-century Spanish landowners
• 16th-century Spanish historians
• Chilean historians
• Spanish people in the Viceroyalty of Peru
• 1523 births
• 1575 deaths
• 16th-century Spanish explorers
• 16th-century Peruvian people
• People from Valdivia
• People of the Arauco War

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Use dmy dates from May 2023
• Articles containing Spanish-language text