Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza was born at Cañete into a high-ranking Spanish noble family.

Hurtado was guarda mayor (governor) of Cuenca, Spain, and royal chief huntsman of Castile, succeeding his father in both those positions.

He arrived in Lima on June 29, 1556, finding a colony still recovering from the rebellions of Sebastian del Castillo, Godinez, and Girón.

The Audiencia had been ruling for nearly four years, with its president, Melchor Bravo de Saravia, serving as interim viceroy.

In the face of this turbulence, Hurtado adopted despotic measures, executing many of the former rebels and banishing many of the discontented government supporters.

He founded the Hospital of San Andrés, also at Lima, and had the mummies of the Incas Viracocha, Yupanqui, and Huayna Capac moved there.

He entrusted the pacification of the Amazon to his faithful supporter Pedro de Ursúa, and the conquest of the Chiriguanos and the plains of Condorillo to Andrés Manso.

Meanwhile, complaints about Hurtado's arbitrary and cruel governance, especially from those he had exiled, caused King Philip II to remove him from office.