Diaz del Castillo

Diaz del Castillo, BERNAL, the historian of the conquest of Mexico, was born about the end of the 16th century, and was one of the handful of heroes who accompanied Cortes to Mexico in 1519. He fought through the whole struggle, and afterwards accompanied the heroic young Sandoval on his expedition northwards, and Cortes himself in his expedition to Honduras to punish the defection of his trusted lieutenant, Christoval de Olid. He died in Mexico about 1560. His Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España (3 vols. Madrid, 1632) is invaluable to the historian as a sincere narration by an eye-witness and sharer in the events narrated. With all the ignorance and superstition of its age, it reveals great powers of observation and of vivid and vigorous description; while the rare romantic interest of the story itself, the heroism of Cortes and his companions, and their wonderful deeds and often tragic deaths, make the book a real epic.