# Bernal Diaz del Castillo

## Biography

Bernal Díaz del Castillo was a Spanish soldier and chronicler, born around 1492 in Medina del Campo, Spain, and dying in 1584 in Guatemala. He embarked for the New World in 1514 and later participated as a conquistador in several expeditions, most notably the conquest of the Aztec Empire under Hernán Cortés beginning in 1519. Díaz del Castillo served as a foot soldier and eyewitness to the pivotal events of the conquest.

Decades after the conquest, feeling that other published accounts exaggerated Cortés's role and overlooked the contributions of the common soldiers, Díaz del Castillo began writing his monumental work, "Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España" (The True History of the Conquest of New Spain). Completed when he was elderly, his detailed narrative provides a vivid, firsthand perspective of the military campaigns, the indigenous cultures encountered, and the struggles faced by the Spanish forces. His work, written in an unassuming, colloquial style, remains an invaluable historical source and a compelling personal memoir of one of history's most significant encounters.

## Books

- [The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2): Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain.](https://samolit.com/books/96402)