Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command.
Lautaro was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would continue to be employed by the Mapuche during the long-running Arauco War. Levtaru was captured by Spanish forces in his early youth, and he spent his teenage years as a personal servant of chief conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, but escaped in 1551. Back among his people he was declared toqui and led Mapuche warriors into a series of victories against the Spanish, culminating in the Battle of Tucapel in December 1553, where Pedro of Valdivia was killed. The outbreak of a typhus plague, a drought and a famine prevented the Mapuche from taking further actions to expel the Spanish in 1554 and 1555. Between 1556 and 1557, a small group of Mapuche commanded by Levtaru attempted to reach Santiago to liberate the whole of Central Chile from Spanish rule. Levtaru's attempts ended in 1557 when he was killed in an ambush by the Spanish.
Colocolo was a Mapuche leader in the early period of the Arauco War. He was a major figure in Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga's epic poem La Araucana, about the early Arauco War. In the poem he was the one that proposed the contest between the rival candidates for Toqui that resulted in the choice of Caupolicán. As a historical figure there are some few contemporary details about him. Stories of his life were written long after his lifetime and display many points of dubious historical accuracy.
Caupolicán was a toqui or war leader of the Mapuche people, who led the resistance of his people against the Spanish Conquistadors who invaded the territory of today's Chile during the sixteenth century. His rule as Toqui lasted roughly from 1553-1558 AD.
The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities and force Mapuches into servitude. It subsequently evolved over time into phases comprising drawn-out sieges, slave-hunting expeditions, pillaging raids, punitive expeditions, and renewed Spanish attempts to secure lost territories. Abduction of women and war rape was common on both sides.
Francisco de Villagra Velázquez was a Spanish conquistador, and three times governor of Chile.
Alonso de Góngora Marmolejo (1523–1575) was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of the early conquest and settlement of the Captaincy General of Chile, and the start of the Arauco War.
Battle of Peteroa was a battle in the Arauco War in 1556, in a plain beside a river in the Mataquito River valley, called Peteroa. The battle was between the Spanish forces of Pedro de Villagra, and Mapuche headed by their toqui Lautaro.
Battle of Marihueñu was one of the early decisive battles of the Arauco War; it took place between the Mapuche leader Lautaro and the Spanish general Francisco de Villagra on 23 February 1554.
Ainavillo, Aynabillo, Aillavilu or Aillavilú, was the toqui of the Mapuche army from the provinces of "Ñuble, Itata, Renoguelen, Guachimavida, Marcande, Gualqui, Penco and Talcahuano." They tried to stop Pedro de Valdivia from invading their lands in 1550. He led about twenty thousand warriors in the surprise night attack on Valdivia's camp in the Battle of Andalien. After his defeat in that battle he gathered more warriors from the allied regions of Arauco and Tucapel, south of the Bio-Bio River, for an attack on Valdivia's newly constructed fort of Concepcion at what is now Penco. Leading an army of sixty thousand warriors in three divisions against the fort in the Battle of Penco. Ainavillo's command that had been previously defeated at Andalien, was recognized by the Spaniards and Valdivia picked it out for a vigorous charge by all their cavalry following a softening up by volleys of their firearms. It was broken at the first onslaught and fled with the Spanish in pursuit, followed by the retreat of the other two divisions of the Mapuche upon seeing the spectacle.
The Battle of Andalien, fought in early February 1550, was a night battle between 20,000 Mapuche under the command of their Toqui Ainavillo and Pedro de Valdivia's army of 200 Spanish soldiers and cavalry with a large number of yanakuna, including 300 Mapochoes auxiliaries under their leader Michimalonco.
Battle of Quilacura took place during the Arauco War, fought at night, four leagues from the Bio-Bio River, between the Spanish expedition of Pedro de Valdivia and a force of Mapuche warriors led by Malloquete on February 11, 1546.
The Battle of Penco took place on March 12, 1550, between 60,000 Mapuche under the command of their toqui Ainavillo with his Araucan and Tucapel allies and Pedro de Valdivia's 200 Spaniards on horse and afoot with many yanakuna including 300 Mapochoes auxiliaries under their leader Michimalonco, defending their newly raised fort at Penco. It was part of the Arauco war.
The Conquest of Chile is a period in Chilean historiography that starts with the arrival of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile in 1541 and ends with the death of Martín García Óñez de Loyola in the Battle of Curalaba in 1598, and the subsequent destruction of the Seven Cities in 1598–1604 in the Araucanía region.
The Battle of Mataquito was fought in the Arauco War on April 30, 1557, between the forces of the Spanish governor, Francisco de Villagra, and Mapuche headed by their toqui Lautaro. It was a surprise attack, carried out at dawn, on Lautaro's fortified camp between a wooded mountain and the shore of the Mataquito River. The battle is notable for ending Mapuche designs on Santiago, while also avenging the death of former governor Pedro de Valdivia, who had been killed by Lautaro's warriors four years earlier.
The Battle of Millarapue that occurred November 30, 1557 was intended by the Toqui Caupolicán as a Mapuche ambush of the Spanish army of García Hurtado de Mendoza that resulted in a Spanish victory when the ambush failed.
The Battle of Lagunillas was a battle in the Arauco War on November 8, 1557, between the army of García Hurtado de Mendoza and the Mapuche army near some shallow lakes a league south of the Bio-Bio River.
Battle of Quiapo in the Arauco War was the final battle in the campaign of García Hurtado de Mendoza against the Mapuche under the toqui known as Lemucaguin or Caupolicán the younger. It was fought in Quiapo, in the region nowadays known as Arauco Province, Chile on December 13, 1558. The importance of this battle was the first time that the Mapuche fought using a squad that carried firearms.
Pedro de Avendaño (1529-1561) was a Spanish-Basque soldier who fought in the Arauco War. He was known for capturing the Mapuche leader Caupolicán in 1558. Avendaño was later killed by the Mapuches in 1561.
Llanganabal was a Moluche toqui who led the Mapuche army that defeated the Spanish led by Martín Ruiz de Gamboa in the Battle of Catirai in 1569. In 1560 Llanganabal is listed as one of the caciques heading an encomienda along the Bio Bio River. Shortly after began the outbreak of the 1561 Mapuche revolt. By 1569 Llanganabal had risen to command the Araucan army with Millalelmo and other captains as his subordinates. To resist the Spanish who had been burning the fields and houses on the south bank of the Bio Bio, Millalelmo had built a strong fortress on a hill in Catirai in a difficult position on steep wooded slopes. Despite the warnings of Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado who had reconnoitered the position, Spaniards new to Chile and the Arauco War prevailed on Governor Melchor Bravo de Saravia to order Martín Ruiz de Gamboa to take his command and attack the place. Meanwhile, Llanganabal had gathered all his army there to resist the attack. Gamboa's force was badly defeated while attempting to attack up the steep thickly wooded hill into Llanganabal's fortified position.
Jerónimo de Vivar, Pedro Mariño de Lobera and Alonso de Góngora Marmolejo all were in Chile at the time of this battle and wrote about it from other participants accounts.
Spanish Empire 
Mapuche 
