Who was Bernal Díaz, and what is his True History?

Bernal Díaz writes his True History

Bernal Díaz escribe la Historia verdadera

c. 1568. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, born in Medina del Campo in the 1490s, sailed with Cortés in 1519 and fought through the conquest of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

Where: Central America, Mexico, Guatemala

What happened

Bernal Díaz del Castillo, born in Medina del Campo in the 1490s, sailed with Cortés in 1519 and fought through the conquest of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. Settled as an encomendero and town councillor in Santiago de Guatemala, and already over seventy, he wrote his Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España, the 'True History', possibly finishing it in 1568 and revising it until he died around 1581–84. He wrote to correct López de Gómara's 1552 history, which gave all the glory to Cortés, and to defend the ordinary soldiers and his own services. The manuscript stayed in Guatemala; the Mercedarian Alonso Remón printed it in Madrid in 1632, with changes. Plain, vivid and full of what he saw, it is the most read account of the conquest.

Say it

Bernal Díaz escribió la historia de la conquista cuando ya era viejo.

Bernal Díaz wrote the history of the conquest when he was already old.

Why it matters

It is the soldier's-eye view of the conquest and a record of sixteenth-century spoken Spanish; its description of Tenochtitlan as 'things of enchantment' is one of the most quoted passages in the language.

Read about it

Connected

Sources

  1. Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España: Bernal Díaz del Castillo (ficha) — Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas, UNAM / Biblioteca Nacional de México
  2. The Conquest of New Spain — World History Encyclopedia