The True History of the Conquest of New Spain

E18775

historical chronicle non-fiction book primary source document

The True History of the Conquest of New Spain is a 16th-century chronicle by conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo that offers a detailed eyewitness account of Hernán Cortés’s campaign and the fall of the Aztec Empire.

Aliases (2)

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical chronicle → non-fiction book → primary source document →
author	Bernal Díaz del Castillo →
countryOfOrigin	Spain →
describesEvent	La Noche Triste → Spanish landing on the coast of Mexico → encounters between Spaniards and Aztecs → march to Tenochtitlan → massacre at Cholula → siege of Tenochtitlan →
fieldOfStudy	Mesoamerican history → colonial Latin American studies →
genre	chronicle → conquest narrative →
hasPart	accounts of political negotiations → descriptions of geography of Mexico → detailed battle descriptions → ethnographic observations of indigenous peoples → religious reflections →
historicalPeriod	Age of Discovery → early 16th century →
influenced	later interpretations of the conquest of Mexico →
intendedFunction	correction of other conquest narratives → defense of the author’s role in the conquest →
literaryForm	memoir-like narrative →
literaryPeriod	Spanish Golden Age →
mainSubject	Aztec Empire → Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire → campaign of Hernán Cortés → fall of Tenochtitlan →
narrativePerspective	first-person account →
notableFor	critical stance toward some Spanish leaders → eyewitness detail → vivid descriptions of Aztec society →
originalLanguage	Spanish →
perspective	Spanish conquistador viewpoint →
portrays	Hernán Cortés → La Malinche → Moctezuma II → Spanish conquistadors → indigenous allies of the Spanish →
setting	Central Mexico → New Spain →
timeOfWriting	16th century →
usedAs	primary source in historiography of the conquest of Mexico →

Referenced by (4)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire →	describedIn
Bernal Díaz del Castillo →	notableWork
Bernal Díaz del Castillo ("Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España") →	originalTitle
La Malinche ("chronicles of Bernal Díaz del Castillo") →	sourceMention