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The Origins of the Conquistadores of Mexico City

1994; Duke University Press; Volume: 74; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1215/00182168-74.2.259

1527-1900

Bernard Grunberg,

Latin American history and culture

A N Y study dealing with the conquistadores inevitably brings with it great emotional impact. It represents a veritable Pandora's box for the historian who attempts to put forth themes that praise the individual exploits of the men, the glories of Spain, or, once again, the leyenda negra that stigmatizes all Hispanic colonization. This study chose to look at the conquistadores of Mexico City because they were the first group to come in contact with people in the New World who had reached a high degree of civilization, and because the conquest of Mexico City prefigures all others. To understand the conquistadores, one must go beyond their leader, Hernain Cortes, and other well-known figures, such as Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Pedro de Alvarado, Gonzalo de Sandoval, and Cristobal de Olid. These men are not truly representative of the great majority of the conquistadores. The research undertaken for this study gathered all the data available for each conquistador.' In order to obtain the most realistic and most objective results possible, the research intentionally omitted studies that deal with the main aspects of this period, such as the spiritual conquest, the formation of large estates, the theoretical foundations of the conquest, and so on. Most of these concepts do not deal directly with the