Juan Alfonso de Polanco

They had eleven children, of whom five daughters (Maria, Leonor, Catalina, Ana and Beatriz) and four sons (Gregorio, Luis, Gonzalo, Juan Alfonso) would reach adulthood.

The remains of his parents and grandparents rest in the family chapel of San Nicolás de Bari, Burgos, built from the beginning of the fifteenth century and whose works were financed by don Gonzalo López Polanco.

Like other companions of Ignatius, Diego Laynez and Jérôme Nadal, Polanco probably was born in a family of converted origin of the urban bourgeoisie.

[5][6] Polanco's Jewish origins can be traced back to his paternal great-grandmother Dona Constanza de Maluenda Rodriguez.

In 1541 he obtained a position in the Roman Curia in Rome as a scriptor apostolicus and Palatine count with a salary of 1,000 gold ducats.

The same year he came into contact with the group formed around Ignatius of Loyola and made the Spiritual Exercises with Diego Laynez.

On the death of Ignatius in 1556, he continued to hold the position of secretary and admonitor during the generalities of Diego Lainez (1558–1565) and Francisco de Borja (1566–1572).

From this moment on, at the request of General Everard Mercurian, he would write the early history of the Society of Jesus, the Chronicon Societatis Iesus.