Cartas de Relacion de la conquista de la Nueva Espana

Cartas de Relacion de la conquista de la Nueva Espana

The Austrian National Library has a great treasure in the manuscript stored under the shelf mark Codex Vindobonensis S. N. 1600: it is the Cartas de Relacion de la conquista de la Nueva Espana, a collected volume featuring the so-called relaciónes of some of Conquistadores and other important figures of early Spanish colonialism, as well as some important official documents. This handsome volume of the Cartas de Relacion de la conquista de la Nueva Espana contains the five so-called relaciónes of **Hernán Cortés, two relaciónes by Pedro Alvarado, the relación of Diego de Godoy, the relación of the journey of Francisco Pizarro and Diego Almagro, the message carried by Antonio Giral to Alvaro de Saavedra Ceron, and the patent authorizing the original twelve Franciscan friars to come to Mexico. These firsthand accounts make this collected volume an incomparable resource on the period of conquest that created the Spanish Empire in the New World.

First Among Conquistadors

Foremost among the authors is Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), who wrote accounts and letters of experience to his imperial master, Charles V. Since he wrote these letters immediately after the events, the descriptions are lively and vivid. Furthermore, since Cortez was not allowed to take up too much of the emperor's time, he never gets verbose. Cortez not only surpassed the other conquistadors in diplomatic and organizational skills but was also more educated than most. That he pursued his goals with the same ruthlessness as Pizarro, Almagro, Alvarado, and the other conquistadors of the New World does not diminish the interest in his accounts. Even the exaggerations (especially of figures) that are often noticeable in his letters do not change the fact that they are historical as well as cultural-historical documents of the first rank.