Home > Bernal Díaz del Castillo
Bernal Díaz del Castillo ( 1492 or 1493 - 1581) was a conquistador, who wrote an eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico under Hernán Cortés. Born in Spain, he came from a family of little wealth and he himself had received only a minimal education. He sailed to Cuba in 1514 to make his fortune, but after two years found few opportunities there. Much of the native population of the island had already been killed by epidemics and forced labor, and in 1517 an expedition was sent to the smaller Caribbean islands to find alternative sources of labor. Díaz joined this group, under the command of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba. It was a difficult venture, and although they discovered the Yucatán coast, by the time the expedition returned to Cuba they were in disastrous shape. Nevertheless, Díaz returned to the coast of Yucatán the following year, on an expedition led by Juan de Grijalva, with the intent of exploring the newly discovered lands. Upon returning to Cuba, he enlisted in a new expedition, this one led by Hernán Cortés. In this third effort, Díaz took part in one of the most successful military campaigns in history, which brought an end to the Aztec empire of MesoamericaMesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south through the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European. During this campaign, Díaz spoke frequently with his companions in arms about their experiences, collecting them into a coherent narration. The book that resulted from this was The Conquest of New SpainThe Conquest of New Spain is the first person conquistador narrative of Bernal Diaz del Castillo (1492 or 1493 1581), a 16th century soldier, settler and conqueror who served with Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de Grijalva and Hernan Cortes in Mexic. In it he describes many of the 119 battles in which he claims to have participated, culminating in the fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521Events January 3 Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther. January 28 Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25. March 6 Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam. March 16 Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines. April 7 Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu..
As a reward for his service, Díaz was appointed governor of Santiago de los Caballeros, present-day Antigua GuatemalaAntigua Guatemala (commonly referred to as just Antigua or La Antigua is a city in the central mountains of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish New World Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruined churches. It has been desi. He began writing his history in 1568Events March 23 Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine de Medici and Charles IX make substantial concessions to the Huguenots May 13 Battle of Langside: the forces of Mary Queen of Scots are defeated by a confederac, almost fifty years after the events described, in response to an alternative history written by Cortés's chaplain, who had not actually participated in the campaign. He called his book Verdadera Historia de la Conquista de Nueva España, i.e., "True History of the Conquest of New SpainFlag of New Spain New Spain (in the Spanish language Nueva Espana was the name given to the Spanish colonial territory in North America from c. 1525 to 1821. The Capital of New Spain was Mexico City. New Spain was ruled by a Viceroy appointed by the King," in response to the claims made in the earlier work.
Díaz died in 1581, without seeing his book published. A manuscript was found in a MadridThis article is about the Spanish capital. For other entries, see Madrid (disambiguation). Coat of arms Madrid the capital of Spain, is located in the center of the country at 40°25'N, 3°45'W. As of 2003 census, population of the city of Madrid proper was library in 1632See also: 1632 (novel Events February 22 Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published July 23 300 colonists for New France depart Dieppe. November 16 Battle of Lutzen Christina becomes queen of Sweden; five regents, headed by Axe and finally published, providing an eye-witness account of the events, often told from the perspective of a common soldier. Today it is one of our most important sources for understanding the campaign that led to the collapse of the Aztec Empire and the Spanish conquest of Mexico.
Castillo, Bernal Díaz del
Colonial Mexico
