Cartas de Relación by Hernán Cortés
E19355
Cartas de Relación by Hernán Cortés is a series of letters to the Spanish king in which Cortés narrates and justifies his expedition in Mexico, providing a key firsthand account of the conquest and early colonial encounters with the Aztec Empire.
Aliases (2)
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Spanish literature
→
epistolary work → historical document → primary source → |
| addressee |
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
→
King of Spain → |
| associatedWith |
New Spain
→
Spanish Crown → |
| author |
Hernán Cortés
→
|
| contains |
descriptions of geography and resources
→
descriptions of indigenous societies → descriptions of warfare and alliances → |
| countryOfOrigin |
Spain
→
|
| dateWritten |
1520s
→
|
| describesEvent |
fall of Tenochtitlan
→
first contacts between Spaniards and Aztecs → |
| describesPerson |
Hernán Cortés
→
Moctezuma II → |
| describesPlace |
Gulf coast of Mexico
→
New Spain → Tenochtitlan → |
| documentType |
report to the monarch
→
|
| genre |
conquest narrative
→
letter → |
| hasPart |
Fifth Letter of Relation
→
First Letter of Relation → Fourth Letter of Relation → Second Letter of Relation → Third Letter of Relation → |
| historicalContext |
Spanish colonization of the Americas
→
|
| language |
Spanish
→
|
| literaryPeriod |
Renaissance
→
|
| mainSubject |
Aztec Empire
→
Spanish conquest of Mexico → colonial encounters in Mesoamerica → expedition of Hernán Cortés → |
| narrativeVoice |
first person
→
|
| perspective |
Spanish conquistador viewpoint
→
|
| purpose |
to describe newly encountered lands and peoples
→
to justify Cortés’s actions in Mexico → to report on the conquest of Mexico → |
| significance |
important document in early colonial Latin American literature
→
key firsthand account of the conquest of Mexico → major source for the history of the Aztec Empire’s fall → |
| timePeriodDescribed |
early 16th century
→
|
| usedAsSourceBy |
ethnohistorians of Mesoamerica
→
historians of colonial Latin America → |
Referenced by (2)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
Cartas de Relación
("Cartas de relación de la conquista de México")
→
|
alsoKnownAs |
|
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
→
|
describedIn |