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[7399] Cortés(?), La Gran Ciudad de Temixitlan (1524), courtesy of the Newberry Library, Chicago.
Because he saw the Conquest from the perspective of a common soldier rather than a nobleman or officer, Díaz formed different impressions of events than his superiors did. Much later in his life, he decided to write an account of those impressions, intending to offer a corrective to what he saw as the distortions and half-truths perpetuated by other historians. (Significantly, Díaz’s work also serves as a corrective to Cortés’s “great man” view of history in that it emphasizes the role of the ordinary footsoldier and lauds the role of natives such as La Malinche. Historians have argued that this is one of the first truly American histories in that it resonates with the democracy that would flourish later in the Americas.) Although Díaz claimed that he lacked eloquence and skill as a writer, his prose is vibrant and realistic and provides important insights into the clash between cultures that he witnessed. He offers convincing portraits of many of the central participants in the Conquest, including Cortés, Montezuma, and Doña Marina (La Malinche), and never shies away from representing the violent and destructive realities of war. His account of the beauty, wealth, and eventual devastation of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán provides valuable evidence about traditional Aztec life and culture as well as insight into the experiences of soldiers on the ground during the siege of the city. Díaz’s interest in and sympathetic portrayal of Doña Marina, the native woman who acted as translator, political negotiator, and mistress for Cortés, gives readers insight into the life of the woman who later took on mythical status as “La Chingada” (“the violated one”).
Unlike some of the other conquistadors, Díaz did not gain wealth or fame as the result of his participation in the Conquest (at least according to his own account). The Crown endowed him with a modest encomienda, a grant that allowed the grantee to command Indians to labor for and pay tribute to him–in effect, a system of slavery. Díaz lived on his encomienda in Guatemala until his death at the age of ninety-two.
[3699] Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva-España (1632),
courtesy of the Jay I. Kislak Foundation, Inc.
Although Bernal Díaz del Castillo composed his True History in the late sixteenth century, it was not published until the seventeenth; the title page of the first edition is shown here.
[7399] Cortés(?), La Gran Ciudad de Temixitlan (1524),
courtesy of the Newberry Library, Chicago.
This map of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán is often attributed to Cortés. It is European in style, but the map-view contains information suggesting a native source.
[7402] Anonymous, Cortés, Montezuma and Doña Marina, from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala Facsimile (1890),
courtesy of the University of California, Berkeley, and the Bancroft Library.
The Lienzo de Tlaxcala employs the res gestae strategy and provides an interesting counterpoint to the Florentine Codex. Here Cortes is depicted with Montezuma and Doña Marina.
[7561] Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex, Book 12, plate 45 (1500-99),
courtesy of the School of American Research and the University of Utah Press.
This plate shows Spanish soldiers leading Montezuma into the great palace. The Florentine Codexwas illustrated by Aztec scribes in a style that reflected a mixture of pre-Conquest manuscript traditions and European illustration conventions.
[7368] Anonymous, Sheet from the Huejotzingo Codex [1 of 8] (1531),
courtesy of the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.
In 1531, the people of Huejotzingo asked conqueror Hernán Cortés to initiate a lawsuit against the high court of New Spain concerning the unjust use of indigenous labor and tribute. As part of this petition, eight pages of drawings were made on amatl (fig bark); these drawings are known today as the Huejotzingo Codex.
[7575] Anonymous, Florentine Codex, Libro 12, plate 2 (1500-99),
courtesy of the School of American Research and the University of Utah Press.
This plate shows Spanish soldiers marching. Book 12 of the Florentine Codex depicts the deeds of Cortés and the conquest of Mexico as it was described to Sahagún by Nahuatl-speaking elders and nobility.