The origins of Diego de Almagro were humble. He was born in 1475 in the village of Almagro, in Ciudad Real, where he was given the name of the village for his surname as he was the illegitimate son of Juan de Montenegro and Elvira Gutiérrez. In order to preserve the honor of his mother, her relatives took the infant Diego and took him to the nearby town of Bolaños de Calatrava, where he was raised by Sancha López del Peral, later moving to Aldea del Rey.