Garcilaso de la Vega (gärthēlä´sō ŧħā lä vā´gä), 1503?–1536, lyric poet of the Spanish Golden Age, b. Toledo. Garcilaso, the embodiment of the cultured and gifted courtier, was chiefly responsible for the renovation of Spanish poetry. He was the first to adapt successfully the Italian 11-syllable line to the mood and content of Spanish poetry—an innovation suggested by his friend Boscán. Garcilaso's verse, noted for its delicacy, was published with that of Boscán in 1543. It includes sonnets, elegies, odes, and three eclogues.

Garcilaso de la Vega (gärsēlä´sō dā lä vā´gä), 1539–1616, Peruvian historian; son of the Spanish conquistador Sebastián Garcilaso de la Vega and an Incan princess and therefore called the Inca. He grew up in Peru during the turbulent post-Conquest period. He went (1560) to Spain, where he first served in the army and later began to write. His most important work, The Royal Commentaries of Peru (1609–1617; tr. 1871) is a valuable source of information about the conquest of Peru and the lives and legends of the Inca.

See biography by J. G. Varner (1968).

Garcilaso de la Vega, called the Inca: see Garcilaso de la Vega.