The mediæval tradition that the Church was the supreme patron of learning was generally recognized in Latin America throughout the greater part of the colonial period. Men of scholarly tastes and aspirations found their greatest opportunities in ecclesiastical office, or as members of a religious order, and many of those who attained the dignity of a bishop became noteworthy also for their writings. One of the early names in this list was that of Bishop Lizárraga, whose family name was Baltasar de Obando. When he assumed the habit of the order of Santo Domingo in 1560, he became Fray Reginaldo Lizárraga. He went from Spain to Lima with his parents; thence to Quito among the first European settlers; and finally he returned to Lima. He was living in Chuquisaca when Viceroy Francisco de Toledo (1569-1581), committed the crime of taking the life of Tupac Amarú and of furthering the extermination of the other members of the Inca family. From the post of prior he was appointed provincial of the newly-created province in Chile. After Lizárraga’s service as provincial, he was for a brief period a missionary in the valley of Jauja, and while there he received notice of his presentation as bishop of Imperial. This office had come to him through Viceroy García Hurtado de Mendoza’s (1590-1596) recommendation to Philip II. The king’s letter of appointment was written on June 7, 1597, and on June 12 one year later, Lizárraga replied, accepting the offered dignity. His consecration was delayed until October 24, 1599. [Sidenote: State of Chile] [Sidenote: Lizárraga in Chile]