PINEDA, Juan de (pe-nay'dab), Spanish soldier, born in Seville about 1520; died in Nasca, Peru, in 1606. He went to Peru at the time of the war between the younger Diego de Ahnagro and the royalists, and served under the orders of the governors Cristoval Vaca de Castro and Pedro de la Gasca. He afterward went to Chili, and, under Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza (q. v.), participated in the heroic deeds that are celebrated by Alonso de Ereilla (q. v.) in his famous poem. In the festivities to celebrate the accession of King Philip II. in 1558, Pineda had a quarrel with Ercilla, which .ended in a battle between their followers in a church. They were imprisoned and condemned to death by Mendoza, but, the whole army opposing the sentence, it was changed, and both were exiled to Callao. During the voyage Pineda resolved to abandon the military career and enter the order of San Augustin, which he did after his arrival in Lima, 6 April, 1560. He dedicated himself to the conversion of the Indians, and in 1571 went as vicar to Conchucos, where he worked for the religious instruction of the savages. He was president of the provincial chapter in 1579, and died in the convent of Nasca in Peru.