The Conquest of New Spain (eBook)
‘The Conquest of New Spain’ is the first-person account of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a military adventurer, conquistador, and colonist settler of the 16th century who participated in three Mexican expeditions: Hernán Cortés (1517) in the Valley of Mexico; Juan de Grijalva (1518) in the Yucatán Peninsula; and Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (1517) in the Yucatán Peninsula. Del Castillo describes how he took part in the downfall of Emperor Moctezuma II and the subsequent Aztec empire's destruction.
It is unique in addition to Castillo's descriptions since it presents a negative picture of Herman Cortes, the expedition leader to Mesoamerica. Although Cortes' conquistador army and leadership qualities have typically been lauded by history, Castillo portrays Cortes as a man who defrauded his soldiers of the glory they earned. Castillo accuses Cortes of stealing his soldiers' portion of the Aztec wealth, explaining why many soldiers found themselves no richer than they were when they came. Castillo didn't finish writing his story until he was more than eighty years old. Castillo's method of ensuring that the narrative of the average soldier was conveyed in a striking manner was his way of demanding that the reality of the tragic mission be fully revealed and completed.
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About the Author
Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492 – ca. 1585) was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler best known for his firsthand account of the conquest of Mexico. Born in Medina del Campo, Spain, into a poor family, he received little formal education. In search of fortune, he sailed to the Americas in 1514, initially settling in Tierra Firme and later Cuba. After failed promises of wealth, he joined early expeditions to the Yucatán Peninsula and eventually became part of Hernán Cortés’s historic 1519 campaign against the Aztec Empire. Serving as a foot soldier (rodelero), Díaz witnessed over a hundred battles, including the pivotal fall of Tenochtitlán in 1521.
In later life, Díaz was granted land and served as governor of Santiago de los Caballeros in present-day Guatemala. Disturbed by inaccuracies in earlier accounts of the conquest, particularly one written by Cortés’s chaplain, Díaz began writing Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España (“The True History of the Conquest of New Spain”) in 1568. His detailed, personal narrative offered a soldier’s perspective and preserved vital information about the events and indigenous cultures. Although unpublished in his lifetime, the manuscript was discovered in 1632 and remains a key source on the Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica.