His father, Juan López de Anchieta y Zelayaran, was a landowner from Urrestilla, in the Basque Country, who had escaped to Tenerife in 1525 after participating in an unsuccessful rebellion against the Emperor Charles V. Through him, Anchieta was related to Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. His mother was Mencia Díaz de Clavijo y Llarena, a descendant of the conquerors of Tenerife. Mencia was the daughter of Sebastián de Llarena, a Jew who had converted to Christianity, from the kingdom of Castile.