From: MELENDEZ@jkhbhrc.byu.edu
Subject: Re: Conquest
Reply-To: nahuat-l@acc.fau.edu
Organization: Brigham Young University
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 22:55:17 GMT

> Date:       Wed, 26 Aug 92 10:59:22 CDT
> From:       "Gloria S. Mel ndez" <melendez@JKHBHRC.BYU.EDU.
  Subject:    Re: Conquest
> To:         nahuat-l@ACC.FAU.EDU

> forwarded message follows-------------------------
>
> From rjsalvad@iastate.edu Tue Aug 25 15:38:24 1992
> To: keith.fulton@nwc.navy.mil (K.R. Fulton)
> Subject: Re: Conquest
> From: "Ricardo J. Salvador" <rjsalvad@iastate.edu>
>
> Keith.fulton@nwc.navy.mil writes:
>
> >Several weeks back, a few books were posted. One of them really looked interes
> ting. It dealt with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire. I cannot remember
>  the name or the author nor can I find the file in which I stored this informat
> ion.
> >Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>
> You may be referring to a short reading list posted for folks
> beginning to explore Aztec history.  That set of books would not be the
> best if what you are interested in is the conquest itself (though I'll
> forward a copy of that list to your personal email account to avoid
> cluttering the list).
>
> When reading material on the conquest it is always well to remember and
> understand the context and purpose of the writer.  An often cited source
> is Francisco Lopez de Gomara's "Cortes, La vida del conquistador." Gomara's
> objectivity is seriously hampered by his explicit effort to rehabilitate
> the popular image of Cortes, which even during his own lifetime was in
> serious disrepute.  Therefore, there are often quite adorned justifications
> or outright falsifications of critical events of the conquest in his book.
> However, the book is useful because Gomara was Cortes' personal secretary
> and as such had intimate knowledge of the conqueror's personality that
> shows through in his writing.  The book is also good for comparative
> analysis, particularly when compared against Bernal Diaz del Castillo's
> "Breve Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espa~a."  Diaz del
> Castillo was a member of the expeditionary force that conquered
> Tenochtitlan.  Thought Diaz strains to show the necessary deference to
> his former captain, he had a few scores to settle with both Cortes and
> Gomara, and it is to our benefit.  Gomara, whose only knowledge of the
> conquest was transmitted to him by Cortes and other secondary sources
> (i.e., he was not in the conquest party), wrote his book first, and
> Diaz wrote his book later, in part as rebuttal to Gomara's book.
>
> Two other useful primary sources are Cortes' "Cartas de Relacio'n,"
> written to Emperor Carlos V in very self-serving fashion by the
> conqueror (you must remember Cortes had a great deal to account for
> before the crown, having disobeyed the orders of Vela'zquez in
> leaving Cuba for Mexico, taking prisoner and possibly even executing
> the sovereign monarch of a newly discovered people, then having
> exterminated a company that Vela'zquez--the official representative
> of the court in the new world-- sent to fetch him back to face
> trial for earlier slights committed in Cuba and then perpetually
> attempting to usurp court authority in matters pertaining to the
> execution of the king's will in terms of land and power distribution
> in New Spain).  The second useful source to contrast to Spanish
> accounts in general is a collection of native writings assembled
> and edited by Miguel Leo'n-Portilla as "Historia de los Vencidos."
> The eloquence and poignance of these brief writings is their most
> powerful contribution, but to the discerning eye there is useful
> historical information that can be used to correlate with Spanish
> accounts of the events surrounding the conquest.  All of these
> works are available in English as well.
>
> There have been many more contemporary analyses of the conquest, and
> for these the list is almost endless.  An interesting one is
> Prescott's "The Conquest of Mexico."
>
> Ozomaton Pachontic        | Internet:   rjsalvad@IASTATE.EDU |Ka tatahuan
> 1126 Agronomy Hall        | BITNET:     a1.rjs@ISUMVS        |otexmo
> Tlaollitla Tlamachtiloyan | CompuServe: 71570,212            |cuahuilitehkeh to
> Ames, IA 50011-1010       | GEnie:      R.Salvador           |Mexicahtlahtol
>
>
>
> ------- End of Forwarded Message
> Does anyone have any other sources of native comment,
interpretation or reaction to the conquest,(other than the Florentine
or Leon-Portilla) such as letters or documents like the Huejotzinco
letters, for example?

  Gloria S. Mel ndez  <melendez@JKHBHRC.BYU.EDU>
  4036 JKHB
  Brigham Young University,
  Provo, Utah  84602
>
Gloria S. Melendez
4036 JKHB
(80l) 378-3807
Fax: (80l) 378-4649
E-Mail: Melendez @ JKHBHRC.BYU.EDU

Newsgroups: soc.culture.mexican