In addition to the main European and Indigenous sources, like Bernal Diaz and Cortes, there are other less-known sources. Here are a few of the most interesting, but lesser known, European sources for the Conquest of Mexico.
This anonymous telling of the exploration of Mexico by the Cortes expedition is short and written like a guide to the New World. The anonymous author writes on subject like “The Animals” and men’s clothing. This is presumably a first-hand account.
De rebus gestis Ferdinandi Cortesii, Vida de Hernan Cortes
This anonymous Latin telling captures the life of Hernan Cortes.
Relacion hecha por el Senor Andres de Tapia, sobre la conquista de Mexico.
Written by Andres de Tapia, a conquistador who was on the expedition with Cortes, it is a rough telling of the full expedition to New Spain and Tenochtitlan. It’s possible this version was the foundational document for Gomara and Bernal Diaz’s versions. This is a first-hand account of the conquest, one of five written by men who were on the expedition (Andres de Tapia, Cortes, Diaz, anonymous conquistador, Aguilar and Velazquez de Tapia).
Relación breve de la conquista de la Nueva España
This version was written late in life by the conquistador Francisco de Aguilar. By the time Aguilar had written this account he was an old priest. This version is short, and adds little to the known narrative. One interesting point is an expedition to Texcoco that Aguilar was sent on with Pedro de Alvarado.
Relación de méritos y servicios del conquistador Bernardino Vázquez de Tapia
Vazquez de Tapia wrote a version of the conquest, which is in the typical “Relacion” style which generally sought to tout the conquistador’s feats in the New World. Bernardino’s tells a familiar story, which varies in several ways, including how he stayed in Tenochtitlan and took part in the attack on the Mexica festival, while Cortes, Bernal Diaz and other prominent writers went to Cempoala to contend with Narvaez.
