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The Conquest of New Spain Penguin Classics Bernal Diaz Del Castillo John M Cohen Books

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The Conquest of New Spain Penguin Classics Bernal Diaz Del Castillo John M Cohen Books

I read this book in a little over a day for a Pre-Columbian History class at university.

Bernald Diaz was a foot soldier for Cortez. He wrote this memoir at the end of his life. But the unabridged text has details that are so specific (Diaz describes Cortezes saddle in great detail. He also describes the weeping sores of gonnorhea on the men as they climb the great Aztec temple to meet Montezuma!!.) that I dont find it impossible he can remember the really important details.

This is in fact a favortite book of mine. I have lent it out so many times I always just buy a new one (the rarest of books is the one that is returned!).

The story of Cortez's conquest and destruction of the Aztec empire amd the beginning of Spain's domination of the indiginous peoples for centuries to come. But HOW Cortez conquered the Aztecs and surrounding tribes is amazing.

Also, the Aztec myth regarding their destruction by the returning, malevolent god; Queztecoutal is hair raising. The Aztec's believed that in the year that Cortez landed, Coutzequatl (Im sure I spell that wrong. The god is pictured as a winged serpent and is the supreme god of the Aztec's as it brings about the end of Aztec rule) will return in anger and wrath to destroy all the Aztecs and reclaim the city of Tenochtilan, capital city of the Aztec empire.
And Coutzequatl will return as a WHITE MAN FROM THE EAST!.

And who shows up exactly per the calander's religious predictions?: CORTEZ.

The whole story is amazing and so very very sad. Diaz describes the Aztec city as rivaling anything in Europe. In fact, he states that the beauty and sophistication of design is beyond anything he's seen in Europe.

And it was utterly destroyed.

The book to read along with this one is "THE HUMMINGBIRD AND THE HAWK". It details the history of the Aztec's fall with a significant amount of embellishment and fantasy added for effect no doubt.

But the story is 100% real: men who seek god and gold (and not in that order) destory a civilization; it's culture, history and people but for those they put to work as slaves.

It's an unbelievable story. But it really did occur.


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The Conquest of New Spain Penguin Classics Bernal Diaz Del Castillo John M Cohen Books Reviews

Told in the first person, it starts with getting lost in a storm near Cuba and landing the Yucatan Peninsula (at the time no European had landed on the mainland except for Florida). Craziest story I have ever read. Some old books can be long winded so I'll skim. I didn't skim this one. There are things that are so crazy to us that he just mentions in passing (for instance he compliments Montezuma on having the second best slave market in the world and notes that they burned Montezuma's generals alive each only once in one paragraph respectively). The writing style is what you would expect from a hardened soldier very matter of fact, detailed, and brutally honest. Frankly, I'd stop after they take Mexico City, after that they just run around taking smaller groups and there’s no real ending. He does a very good job of putting the reader in the position of a group of men in a totally new place with no idea what will happen the next day or if they will live. Every day. For like 4 years. Written in the late 1500's you might expect the writer to be all superstitious or just seem off (the way Columbus is in his writings for instance). Diaz has different values (he complains several times of Cortes stealing his pretties slaves....), but the feel and the matter of factness of his writing makes you feel like he could be from our time which makes you feel like you’re in his while reading.

Here's a quote "It was only the following morning we were able to discover our true condition. There was not one among us who had not, up to this moment, received one, two, or three wounds, and all were more or less weakened by fatigues and hardships. Xicotencatl continued to hover around us, and we had already lost fifty-five of our men [of only 400], some of whom were killed on the field of battle, others had died of disease and from excessive cold. Twelve of our men were knocked up with fatigue, and even our commander-in-chief himself [Cortes] and father Olmedo were suffering from fever. But no one can wonder at this; for among all the hardships we had to undergo, we never durst for one moment leave our heavy weapons out of our hands; to all these discomforts was added the severity of the weather, and particularly our great want of salt, which we could find no means of obtaining. It was also natural that we should begin to think what would be the final issue of this campaign, and if we once got out of the present snare where we were next to bend our steps; for the idea of penetrating into Mexico appeared to us perfectly laughable, when we considered the great power of that state. If even we succeeded in making the same good terms with the people of Tlascalla as we had done with the Sempoallans, what would become of us if we ever came to an engagement with the great armies of Motecusuma?"

Here's another quote "These were constructed of heavy timber, and filled with grown-up men and little boys, who were fattening there for the sacrifices and feasts. These diabolical cages Cortes ordered to be pulled down, and sent the prisoners each to their several homes. He likewise made the chiefs and papas promise him, under severe threats, never again to fasten up human beings in that way, and totally to abstain from eating human flesh. But what was the use of promises which they never intended to keep?"

Honestly, I liked the translation from Project Gutenberg a little better, but this version is easier and comes in paperback.
This is a book only a Spaniard could write. It reads as if it were written by Inigo Montoya with its exaltations of the valor of both the Conquistadors, who (to paraphrase) for years hence would sleep in their armor because they knew no other life than that of a soldier, and the Aztecs, who (also paraphrasing) fought like a thousand Hectors in defense of Tenochtitlan. This book may take place in our world, but you will have trouble believing that because it is not our world as we know it. Nothing has ever transported me to another time and place so completely as The Conquest of New Spain -- and I’ve ridden in Doc Brown’s Delorean. If you have ever read another historical account that had the same effect, then, dear reader, you MUST tell me about it.
I loved, loved, loved this eye-witness account of Cortez's conquest of Mexico, but I had to buy another book to get this whole story. This is only the first half of Bernal Diaz Del Castillo's amazing memoirs. Get "The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo (Halcyon Classics)" instead and save yourself the trouble of having to pay for another book to see how thing end.
Almost 500 years after it was written, The Conquest of New Spain is a compelling read, providing a first person account of Corte's invasion of Mexico. the characters on both sides of the conflict are vividly portrayed. Ranks up there among the great historical accounts of the New World that captures the clash of cultures that resulted in the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Of especial interest was the development of alliances between the Spanish and various indigenous groups who were opposed to the Aztecs. The diplomatic negotiations with the Aztecs are intricately described. The translation is excellent!
I read this book in a little over a day for a Pre-Columbian History class at university.

Bernald Diaz was a foot soldier for Cortez. He wrote this memoir at the end of his life. But the unabridged text has details that are so specific (Diaz describes Cortezes saddle in great detail. He also describes the weeping sores of gonnorhea on the men as they climb the great Aztec temple to meet Montezuma!!.) that I dont find it impossible he can remember the really important details.

This is in fact a favortite book of mine. I have lent it out so many times I always just buy a new one (the rarest of books is the one that is returned!).

The story of Cortez's conquest and destruction of the Aztec empire amd the beginning of Spain's domination of the indiginous peoples for centuries to come. But HOW Cortez conquered the Aztecs and surrounding tribes is amazing.

Also, the Aztec myth regarding their destruction by the returning, malevolent god; Queztecoutal is hair raising. The Aztec's believed that in the year that Cortez landed, Coutzequatl (Im sure I spell that wrong. The god is pictured as a winged serpent and is the supreme god of the Aztec's as it brings about the end of Aztec rule) will return in anger and wrath to destroy all the Aztecs and reclaim the city of Tenochtilan, capital city of the Aztec empire.
And Coutzequatl will return as a WHITE MAN FROM THE EAST!.

And who shows up exactly per the calander's religious predictions? CORTEZ.

The whole story is amazing and so very very sad. Diaz describes the Aztec city as rivaling anything in Europe. In fact, he states that the beauty and sophistication of design is beyond anything he's seen in Europe.

And it was utterly destroyed.

The book to read along with this one is "THE HUMMINGBIRD AND THE HAWK". It details the history of the Aztec's fall with a significant amount of embellishment and fantasy added for effect no doubt.

But the story is 100% real men who seek god and gold (and not in that order) destory a civilization; it's culture, history and people but for those they put to work as slaves.

It's an unbelievable story. But it really did occur.