Bernal Diaz Del Castillo - The Essential Diaz: Selections from The Conquest of New Spain

BERNAL DAZ DEL CASTILLO

The Essential Daz

Selections from The True History of the Conquest of New Spain

BERNAL DAZ DEL CASTILLO

The Essential Daz

Selections from The True History of the Conquest of New Spain

Edited and Translated, with an Introduction, by

Janet Burke and Ted Humphrey

Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Indianapolis/Cambridge

Copyright 2014 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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Cover design by Abigail Coyle
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Maps by Lynne Donovan

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Daz del Castillo, Bernal, 14961584.
[Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva Espaa. Selections. English]
The essential Daz : selections from the True history of the conquest of New Spain / Bernal Daz del Castillo ; edited and translated, with an introduction, by Janet Burke and Ted Humphrey.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-62466-002-3 (pbk.) ISBN 978-1-62466-003-0 (cloth)
1. MexicoHistoryConquest, 15191540. 2. Corts, Hernn,
14851547. I. Burke, Janet, 1943 editor, translator. II. Humphrey, Ted, 1941 editor, translator. III. Title.
F1230.D56513 2014
972.02dc23

2013030782

ePub ISBN: 978-1-62466-162-4

Bernal Daz del Castillo, The True History of The Conquest of New Spain. Translated, with an Introduction and Notes, by Janet Burke and Ted Humphrey.

Bartolom de Las Casas, An Account, Much Abbreviated, of the Destruction of the Indies. Edited, with Introduction, by Franklin W. Knight, Translated by Andrew Hurley.

Felipe Fernndez-Armesto, Columbus on Himself.

David Carrasco and Scott Sessions, Daily Life of the Aztecs.

Jos Joagun Fernndez de Lizardi, The Mangy Parrot, Abridged. Translated by David Frye, Introduction by Nancy Vogeley.

Sarah C. Chambers and John Charles Chasteen, eds., trans., Latin American Independence: An Anthology of Sources.

CONTENTS

[Bracketed Roman numerals refer to chapters in the Guatemalan manuscript of the True History .]

Bernal Daz del Castillos experiences as a foot soldier in the conquest of New Spain had their origins in a number of social, economic, and political changes in fifteenth-century Europe. These included the desire on the part of Europeans for the new tastes and textures first introduced by Crusaders returning from the East during the several centuries before the encounters with the Americas and its peoples; the rise of strong new monarchies in Europe; the sense of mission to convert non-Christian peoples to Christianity that arose during the final stages of the struggle between Christians and Muslims for territorial domination of the Iberian Peninsula; and the scientific and technological developments that sprang from the burst of intellectual energy that accompanied the reintroduction into Europe of ancient mathematical and philosophical texts that had been held primarily in the East. The factors that enter into an event of such enormous proportions as the European movement to the Americas are so many and so diverseincluding, for example, the discovery of the patterns of trade winds, the European fascination with and devotion to the spirit of adventure, and the restlessness that arose among sons who were not first in line to inherit a given familys lands and goods, all which played an important rolethat they do not permit here the examination they might otherwise deserve. With these forces in play the stage was set for a new era of European discovery and territorial expansion.

Goods from the East. Europeans experience of luxuries first brought to Europe by returning Crusaders, such as silk, porcelain, jewelry, perfume, tapestries, sugar, and, especially, spices, created demand for these goods. To satisfy this demand, Europeans at first dealt with Arab traders who brought the goods from the East, mostly overland, a long and expensive process. European traders thus longed for their own routes to the East, thereby avoiding having to deal with middlemen.

The Rise of New Monarchies in the Middle of the Fifteenth Century. In various parts of Europe after 1475, monarchs appeared who solidified their positions by siphoning power from the nobility and quelling violence in their countries. In return for peace and stability, cash-rich urban citizens and some of the nobility were prepared to pay higher taxes and allow greater monarchical dominance. With these tax monies, monarchs were able to raise fighting forces, which allowed for war with ever more sophisticated weaponry. The new monarchies included England with the Tudor dynasty, France with the Valois line, and Spains union of Aragon and Castile through the marriage of Fernando and Isabel. In the German states, which included the Netherlands and some non-Germanic peoples, the Habsburgs were in the process of solidifying power.

The Reconquista. The event historians often refer to as the Reconquista was, in fact, the culmination of a centuries-long struggle between European Christians and Muslims, mostly north African Berbers, who in the early part of the eighth century had entered the Iberian Peninsula by crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and ranging as far as and even beyond the Pyrenees. From that point on, Christian powers began a long, slow process of pushing those they regarded as invaders south and eventually back across the strait. The contest was long and often in doubt, with alliances shifting among Muslim caliphs and Christian monarchs and their lesser noblessometimes Muslims and Christians formed alliances through marriage and other meansbut, slowly, from the late eighth century on, European Christian rulers began to reclaim territories of the Iberian Peninsula, which effort culminated on January 2, 1492, in the fall of Granada, the last remaining stronghold of the Muslim emirate on the Iberian Peninsula. Credit for the Christian victory fell to Fernando and Isabel, whose marriage brought their respective kingdoms, Aragon and Castile, together and whose combined forces laid siege to the city. The final stages of this effort of reconquest were accompanied by papal exhortations not just to rid Europe of nonbelievers, most particularly Muslims and Jews, but to carry on a campaign to convert non-Christians to the faith. As a consequence of their success in pushing the last Muslims occupying the Iberian Peninsula back across the Strait of Gibraltar, Fernando and Isabel came to hold the papal designation of their most Catholic Majesties.

The end of the struggle between Muslims and European Christians for dominance on the Iberian Peninsula coupled with papal exhortations to extend Christianitys domain through conversion and conquest, if necessary, opened the way for the Spanish Crowns sponsorship of Christopher Columbuss exploration for a new sea route to the Indies and, shortly after his landfall in the Antilles, the voyages that would bring the sons of those Spaniards from Extremadura and Andalusia who had been involved in the Crusades and struggles against the Iberian Muslims to the Americas.

Technological Advance and Borrowing in Europe. The rise of science and a spirit of inquisitiveness and improvements in navigation, all of which came at about this time, laid the foundation for a European race to explore the world and open new territories and trade routes. Some of the early improvements included adoption of the mariners compass, improvements in ship architecture, and innovation in the use of sails. With these advances, the Portuguese, under the leadership of Henry the Navigator, began to work their way down the west coast of Africa until in the 1490s Vasco da Gama rounded Cape of Good Hope, entering the Indian Ocean, allowing the Portuguese to establish a trading empire. The price of Asian goods dropped dramatically, and European demand and consumption increased equally dramatically. This economic situation led to increases in the rates of exploration by other Europeans who wanted a share of the trade. During the same decade, the Spanish were striving to reach the East, particularly China, before da Gama and the Portuguese.