The True History of The Conquest of New Spain

500 Pages·2012·5.328 MB·English

by  Bernal Diaz Del Castillo, Janet Burke, Ted Humphrey

B D C
ERNAL ÍAZ DEL ASTILLO
The True History of
T C
HE ONQUEST
N S
OF EW PAIN
Translated, with an Introduction and Notes, by
JANET BURKE and TED HUMPHREY
Bernal Díaz del Castillo
The True History of
the Conquest of
New Spain

Bernal Díaz del Castillo
The True History of
the Conquest of
New Spain
Translated, with an Introduction and Notes, by
Janet Burke and Ted Humphrey
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Indianapolis/Cambridge
Copyright © 2012 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
For further information, please address
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 44937
Indianapolis, Indiana 46244-0937
www.hackettpublishing.com
Cover design by Abigail Coyle
Interior design by Mary Vasquez and Laura Karahalis
Maps by Lynne Donovan
Composition by Innodata-Isogen, Inc.
Printed at Sheridan Books, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Díaz del Castillo, Bernal, 1496–1584.
[Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. English. Selections]
The true history of the conquest of New Spain / Bernal Díaz del Castillo ;
translated with an introduction and notes [by] Janet Burke, Ted Humphrey.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-60384-290-7 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-1-60384-291-4 (cloth)
1. Mexico—History—Conquest, 1519–1540. 2. Cortés, Hernán,
1485–1547. I. Burke, Janet, 1943– II. Humphrey, Ted, 1941– III. Title.
F1230.D56513 2012
972'.02—dc23
2011032852
Adobe PDF ebook ISBN: 978-1-60384-817-6
v
In gratitude for their enthusiastic reception of
our courses and research in Latin American
intellectual history, the authors dedicate this work
to the students of Barrett, the Honors College at
Arizona State University.
v
vii
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Note on the Translation xxxii
Figures Prominent in Bernal Díaz del Castillo’s True History xxxvii
Timeline for the Conquest of Mexico xlii
Sources and Further Reading xlv
The True History of the Conquest of New Spain
1. I Am Bernal Díaz del Castillo 1
2. A Gentleman Named Hernando Cortés 11
3. On the Tenth Day of February, 1519, We Set Sail 25
4. I Am the Spaniard 33
5. Doña Marina, They Spread It around
That She Had Died 54
6. We Ordered the Creation, Founding,
and Settling of a Town 70
7. The Caciques and Papas Saw How Just We Were 91
8. We Left for Tlaxcala 108
9. We Entered This City on the 23rd of September, 1519 140
10. Our Road Was through Cholula 158
11. The Great Montezuma Stepped Out of the Litter 177
12. To Secure Our Lives, We Should Seize Montezuma 207
13. All Men Generally Desire Gold 230
14. Pánfilo de Narváez Was Coming by Sea 259
15. Alvarado Was Besieged and Mexico Was in Revolt 299
vii
viii Contents
16. In Mexico They Elevated Another Lord 331
17. Guatemuz Should Come in Peace 356
18. Without the Brigantines We Could Not Invade 383
19. For Ninety-Three Days We Were Constantly Battling 417
20. Epilogue 440
ix
Acknowledgments
While completing this translation, the editors/translators received
encouragement and support from a number of sources. Chief
among those, as our dedication indicates, were our students in
Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University, who
responded enthusiastically with helpful comments at various
stages of the translation, urging us onward. Their comments
on this material in our seminars on Latin American intellectual
history were particularly insightful. Three undergraduates served
as research assistants as we worked on the manuscript, Fernando
Lino, Mark Petersen, and Samantha de Palo. Their work saved us
innumerable hours, and we are deeply grateful for their dedication
to the tasks we heaped on them.
Three anonymous readers for Hackett Publishing Company
read the manuscript and provided numerous suggestions for
improvement. A fourth reader for the press, Professor James
Lockhart, on very short notice and under time constraints, read
the entire translation manuscript and provided voluminous
invaluable feedback regarding every aspect of our work. Professor
Lockhart’s expertise regarding the conquest period is unequalled,
and he was inexpressibly generous in giving us the benefit of his
knowledge. Wherever we did not follow his advice, we must
accept responsibility for any errors that remain. Rick Todhunter,
Hackett’s subject area editor, was throughout an unfailing source
of advice and support, propping us up on several occasions when
we were discouraged.
Many colleagues at Arizona State University were helpful
with translating a number of particularly thorny constructions
and were very encouraging as we undertook the research for this
project. Professor Francisco Gago-Jover of the College of the Holy
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