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The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2)

by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1496–1584)

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  • 12 hours to read
  • 137 chapters
  • Reading level: 10th to 12th grade

"The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2)" by Bernal Díaz del Castillo is a first-person narrative written in 1568. This eyewitness account chronicles the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire from a common soldier's perspective. Written in his sixties, Díaz del Castillo defends the conquistadors' actions while challenging official histories that glorified commanders like Hernán Cortés. He argues for recognition of the seven hundred enlisted soldiers who fought alongside their indigenous allies, candidly expressing both pride and regret over the destruction of Tenochtitlán.

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  • Mexico · History · Conquest, 1519-1540

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Chapter I

_The time of my departure from Castile, and what further happened to
me._

In the year 1514 I departed from Castile in the suite of Pedro Arias de Avila, who had just then been appointed governor of Terra Firma. At sea we had sometimes bad and sometimes good weather, until we arrived at Nombre Dios, where the plague was raging: of this we lost many of our men, and most of us got terrible sores on our legs, and were otherwise ill. Soon after our arrival, dissensions arose between the governor and a certain wealthy cavalier, named Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who had brought this province to subjection, and was married to one of the daughters of Avila. As, however, suspicion had been excited against him, owing to a plan he had formed of making a voyage to the South Sea at his own expense, for which he required a considerable body of troops, his own father-in-law deposed him and afterwards sentenced him to decapitation.

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Contents

Show all 137 chapters
  1. Front Matter
  2. Chapter I
  3. Chapter II
  4. Chapter III: Discovery of the Coast of Campeachy
  5. Chapter IV
  6. Chapter V
  7. Chapter VI
  8. Chapter VII
  9. Chapter VIII
  10. Chapter IX: How we landed at Champoton
  11. Chapter X: We continued our course and ran into Terminos bay, as we named it
  12. Chapter XI
  13. Chapter XII
  14. Chapter XIII: How we arrive on the Bandera's Stream, and gain 1500 pesos
  15. Chapter XIV: How we came into the harbour of San Juan de Culua
  16. Chapter XV: Diego Velasquez sends out a small vessel in quest of us
  17. Chapter XVI
  18. Chapter XVII: Diego Velasquez despatches one of his officials to Spain
  19. Chapter XVIII: Of some errors in the work of Francisco Lopez de Gomara
  20. Chapter XIX
  21. Chapter XX
  22. Chapter XXI
  23. Chapter XXII
  24. Chapter XXIII
  25. Chapter XXIV
  26. Chapter XXV
  27. Chapter XXVI: Cortes reviews his troops, and what further happened
  28. Chapter XXVII
  29. Chapter XXVIII
  30. Chapter XXIX
  31. Chapter XXX
  32. Chapter XXXI
  33. Chapter XXXII
  34. Chapter XXXIII
  35. Chapter XXXIV
  36. Chapter XXXV
  37. Chapter XXXVI
  38. Chapter XXXVII
  39. Chapter XXXVIII
  40. Chapter XXXIX
  41. Chapter XL
  42. Chapter XLI
  43. Chapter XLII
  44. Chapter XLIII
  45. Chapter XLIV
  46. Chapter XLV
  47. Chapter XLVI
  48. Chapter XLVII
  49. Chapter XLVIII
  50. Chapter XLIX
  51. Chapter L
  52. Chapter LI
  53. Chapter LII
  54. Chapter LIII: How we arrived in our town of Vera Cruz, and what happened there
  55. Chapter LIV
  56. Chapter LV
  57. Chapter LVI
  58. Chapter LVII
  59. Chapter LVIII
  60. Chapter LIX
  61. Chapter LX
  62. Chapter LXI
  63. Chapter LXII
  64. Chapter LXIII
  65. Chapter LXIV
  66. Chapter LXV
  67. Chapter LXVI
  68. Chapter LXVII
  69. Chapter LXVIII
  70. Chapter LXIX
  71. Chapter LXX
  72. Chapter LXXI
  73. Chapter LXXII
  74. Chapter LXXIII
  75. Chapter LXXIV
  76. Chapter LXXV
  77. Chapter LXXVI
  78. Chapter LXXVII
  79. Chapter LXXVIII
  80. Chapter LXXIX
  81. Chapter LXXX
  82. Chapter LXXXI
  83. Chapter LXXXII
  84. Chapter LXXXIII
  85. Chapter LXXXIV
  86. Chapter LXXXV
  87. Chapter LXXXVI
  88. Chapter LXXXVII
  89. Chapter LXXXVIII
  90. Chapter LXXXIX
  91. Chapter XC
  92. Chapter XCI: Of Motecusuma's person, disposition, habits, and of his great power
  93. Chapter XCII
  94. Chapter XCIII
  95. Chapter XCIV
  96. Chapter XCV: Of the imprisonment of Motecusuma, and what further happened
  97. Chapter XCVI
  98. Chapter XCVII
  99. Chapter XCVIII
  100. Chapter XCIX
  101. Chapter C
  102. Chapter CI
  103. Chapter CII
  104. Chapter CIII
  105. Chapter CIV
  106. Chapter CV
  107. Chapter CVI
  108. Chapter CVII
  109. Chapter CVIII
  110. Chapter CIX
  111. Chapter CX
  112. Chapter CXI
  113. Chapter CXII
  114. Chapter CXIII
  115. Chapter CXIV
  116. Chapter CXV
  117. Chapter CXVI
  118. Chapter CXVII
  119. Chapter CXVIII
  120. Chapter CXIX
  121. Chapter CXX
  122. Chapter CXXI
  123. Chapter CXXII
  124. Chapter CXXIII
  125. Chapter CXXIV
  126. Chapter CXXV
  127. Chapter CXXVI
  128. Chapter CXXVII
  129. Chapter CXXVIII
  130. Chapter CXXIX
  131. Chapter CXXX
  132. Chapter CXXXI
  133. Chapter CXXXII
  134. Chapter CXXXIII
  135. Chapter CXXXIV
  136. Chapter CXXXV
  137. Chapter CXXXVI

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About this edition

This free edition of The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) by Bernal Díaz del Castillo comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #32474, released 2010-05-21. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Biographies, History - Other, History - European, History - Warfare.

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