Two Articles on the Same Topic: Bernal Diaz del Castillo and Popularism in Spanish Historiography and Bernal Diaz del Castillo's Criticisms of the History of the Conquest of Mexico, by Francisco Lopez de Gomara

1940 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon Iglesia
1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-171
Author(s):  
Paul E. Greene

The historian often confronts contradictory sources. The inconsistencies are frequently synthesized into an account satisfying the historian's world view. Sometimes the points of agreement and disagreement are systematically examined. The chronicles of the conquest of New Spain provide the opportunity to engage in this latter process of collation. The sources under consideration in this essay are the chronicles of Francisco López de Gómara, Hernán Cortés, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Francisco de Aguilar, and Andrés de Tapia. The first three men write for specific objectives; the latter two do not.Cortés addressed his letters to the king of Spain seeking to legitimize his precarious position vis-à-vis the governor of Cuba, from whom he was seeking autonomy. For this reason, the captain's actions appear in the most favorable light.


Author(s):  
Bernal Díaz del Castillo ◽  
Maurice Keatinge

1991 ◽  
Vol 47 (03) ◽  
pp. 337-348
Author(s):  
Michael P. Costeloe

In 1843, two friends, one Scottish and one American, published books about Mexico which were to become essential reading for students of Mexican history. Much the better known of the two is William Hickling Prescott whose History of the Conquest of Mexico became an instant best-seller and remains to this day one of the classics of Mexican historiography. Less well-known but equally valuable to historians of nineteenth-century Mexico is Frances Calderón de la Barca's vivid account of Life in Mexico based on her experiences during the two years from 1840-1841 when she lived in the country as the wife of the first Spanish ambassador. By coincidence, Prescott and Sra. Calderón were close personal friends and regular correspondents and they gave each other much assistance in preparing their respective books for publication. Both their works were greeted with critical and public acclaim in the English-speaking world of Europe and North America but reactions in Mexico were markedly different. While Prescott's book was received with qualified enthusiasm, Life in Mexico was the subject of hostile reviews and its author much vitriolic, personal abuse.


Babel ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Díaz Peralta ◽  
Gracia Piñero Piñero ◽  
María Jesus Garcia Dominguez

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