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Bernal Díaz del Castillo

Bernal Díaz del Castillo ( 1492 – 3 February 1584) was a Spanish conquistador who participated as a soldier in the conquest of the Aztec Empire under Hernán Cortés and late in his life wrote an account of the events. As an experienced soldier of fortune, he had already participated in expeditions to Tierra Firme, Cuba, and to Yucatán before joining Cortés.

In his later years, Castillo was an encomendero and governor in Guatemala where he wrote his memoirs called ''The True History of the Conquest of New Spain''. He began his account of the conquest almost thirty years after the events and later revised and expanded it in response to Cortés’ letters to the king, which Castillo viewed as Cortés taking most of the credit for himself while minimizing the efforts and sacrifices of the other Spaniards and their indigenous allies during the expedition. In addition to this, Castillo disputed the biography published by Cortés' chaplain Francisco López de Gómara, which he considered to be largely inaccurate in that it also excessively glorified Cortés at the expense of the other soldiers. Castillo also took issue with the historical account published by the monk Bernardino de Sahagún, which he found to be overly sympathetic to the indigenous Americans, the Aztecs in particular.

Like many of the conquistadors who participated in the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Castillo was discontent that he did not achieve the great wealth he had hoped for and felt the Spanish government had failed to acknowledge his efforts and had cheated him. Having completed his memoirs, Castillo died in Guatemala at the age of 92. Though written decades after the events described, and containing numerous inaccuracies and biases, Castillo’s memoirs remain only one of two first-hand accounts of the Spanish overthrow of the Aztecs and are thus considered a valuable historical artifact.

Attempting to explain the intentions and motivations of the Spaniards who arrived in Mexico, Castillo summarized it thusly: “We came to serve God and to get rich, as all men wish to do.” Provided by Wikipedia