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Bernal Díaz del Castillo

 
Bernal Díaz Del Castillo

 
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Bernal Díaz del Castillo
 
 
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Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492 – 1585) was a conquistador
Conquistador

Conquistador is the name given to the Spaniards soldiers, leaders, List of explorers, and adventurers involved in the conquest of the Americas following the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492....
, who wrote an eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico
Spanish conquest of Mexico

The Spanish Empire conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The invasion began in February 1519 and was achieved on August 13, 1521 by conquistadors led by Hern?n Cort?s....
 by the Spaniards under Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés

Hern?n Cort?s de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marqu?s del Valle de Oaxaca was a Spain conquistador who led an expedition that caused the conquest of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the Crown of Castile, in the early 16th century....
, himself serving as a rodelero under Cortés. Born in Medina del Campo
Medina del Campo

Medina del Campo is a small town located in the middle of the Spanish Geography of Spain#The Meseta Central and Associated Mountains, in Castile-Leon....
 (Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
), he came from a family of little wealth and he himself had received only a minimal education.






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Bernal Diaz Del Castillo
Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492 – 1585) was a conquistador
Conquistador

Conquistador is the name given to the Spaniards soldiers, leaders, List of explorers, and adventurers involved in the conquest of the Americas following the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492....
, who wrote an eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico
Spanish conquest of Mexico

The Spanish Empire conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The invasion began in February 1519 and was achieved on August 13, 1521 by conquistadors led by Hern?n Cort?s....
 by the Spaniards under Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés

Hern?n Cort?s de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marqu?s del Valle de Oaxaca was a Spain conquistador who led an expedition that caused the conquest of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the Crown of Castile, in the early 16th century....
, himself serving as a rodelero under Cortés. Born in Medina del Campo
Medina del Campo

Medina del Campo is a small town located in the middle of the Spanish Geography of Spain#The Meseta Central and Associated Mountains, in Castile-Leon....
 (Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
), he came from a family of little wealth and he himself had received only a minimal education. He sailed to Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
 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
Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
 islands to find alternative sources of labor. Díaz joined this group, under the command of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba
Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (discoverer of Yucatán)

Francisco Hern?ndez de C?rdoba was a Spain conquistador, known to history mainly for the ill-fated expedition he led in 1517, in the course of which the first European accounts of the Yucat?n Peninsula were compiled....
. It was a difficult venture, and although they discovered the Yucatán
Yucatán Peninsula

The Yucat?n Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucat?n Channel....
 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
Juan de Grijalva

Juan de Grijalva was a Spain conquistador. Some authors said he was from the same family as Diego Vel?zquez de Cu?llar.He went to Hispaniola in 1508 and to Cuba in 1511....
, 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
Hernán Cortés

Hern?n Cort?s de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marqu?s del Valle de Oaxaca was a Spain conquistador who led an expedition that caused the conquest of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the Crown of Castile, in the early 16th century....
. In this third effort, Díaz took part in one of the legendary military campaigns of history, bringing an end to the Aztec
Aztec

Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl and who achieved political and military dominance over large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology....
 empire in Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian society flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries....
. 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 Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España . 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 1521.

As a reward for his service, Díaz was appointed governor of Santiago de los Caballeros, present-day Antigua Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala

La Antigua Guatemala is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spain Mud?jar-influenced Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches....
. He began writing his history in 1568, 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 the Verdadera Historia ("True History"), in response to the claims made in the earlier work.

Díaz died in 1585, without seeing his book published. A manuscript was found in a Madrid
Madrid

Madrid is the Capital and largest city of Spain. It is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its Madrid metropolitan area is the Largest urban areas of the European Union in the European Union after Paris aire urbaine, Greater London Urban Area, a...
 library in 1632 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 the most important sources in understanding the campaign that led to the collapse of the Aztec Empire and the Spanish conquest of Mexico
Spanish conquest of Mexico

The Spanish Empire conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The invasion began in February 1519 and was achieved on August 13, 1521 by conquistadors led by Hern?n Cort?s....
.

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