Ercilla was born in Madrid, August 7, 1533, into a Basque noble family. After the death of his father, Fortuño García de Ercilla, in 1548 his mother, Doña Leonor de Zúñiga, made him a page to the heir-apparent, Prince Philip (afterwards King Philip II).
Ercilla received a very thorough education, having the most learned teachers, and the advantages of travelling and of living at court.
At age of fithteen Ercilla accompanied Philip in his travels for three years, and later his own mother, then returned to Spain. He was presented at the marriage of Philip II and Queen Mary I of England in 1554. In 1555 he went to the Spanish settlements in America, where he fought against the Araucanian Indians in campaigns designed to consolidate the conquest of Chile. He is said to have composed parts of La Araucana during lulls in battle. He was exiled to Peru in 1558, and in 1562 he returned to Spain and continued to work on the poem, finally publishing it in three parts (1569, 1578, and 1589). Ercilla made several diplomatic journeys to Austria and was employed by Philip II on a mission to Zaragoza. He settled permanently in Spain in 1577. He died in Madrid, November 29, 1594, at the age of 61.
Order of Santiago
In 1570, he married Doña María de Bazán. The couple had a son, but he died several years before the death of Ercilla.
