Juan de Castellanos (March 9, 1522 – November 1606)[1] was a Spanish poet, soldier and Catholic priest who lived in the New Kingdom of Granada.

As one of the early Spanish chroniclers he has contributed to the knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, mainly the Muisca.

He travelled to America before 1545 as a cavalry soldier, and acquired some property on Cubagua island in the Pearl Coast.

Abandoning the military profession, he became a secular priest in Cartagena and, declining the positions of canon and treasurer, went as curate to Tunja.

Castellanos' poem is the second of a series of epic compositions in Spanish treating of the early colonization of America, Ercilla's La Araucana being the earliest in date of publication.