The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo Vol. 2

More documents

Recommendations

Info

1/25/22, 8:50 PM The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo written by himself, containing a true an… indebted the wholeof Christendom was to him; that their titles had merely descended to them from their forefathers, whereas the marks of distinction whichhis majesty was pleased to confer upon Cortes were the immediate consequencesof the latter's own merits. However, it is certainly true that the great favour in which Cortesstood with the emperor, the admiral of Castile, the earl of Nassau, andwith the duke of Bejar, added to the title of marquis which had beenconferred upon him, had turned his head a little; for he now began toneglect his other patrons, the cardinal de Siguenza, the comendador-mayorof Leon, the latter's wife Doña Maria de Mendoza, and themembers of the council of the Indies, all of whom had interested themselves so greatly for him; and he exclusively courted the three noblemen above mentioned, with whose protection he imagined hecould obtain anything. The first thing he did was to storm his majestywith petitions to appoint him governor of New Spain, each timeenumerating the many important services he had rendered the crown, promising, should his majesty be pleased to grant his prayer, toequip an armament for a voyage of discovery to the islands and richcountries of the South seas. His distinguished patrons likewise usedall their influence with his majesty to obtain this appointment for him. The emperor, however, replied, that Cortes must be satisfied with therich marquisate he had conferred upon him, for he had now also tothink of those with whose assistance Cortes had accomplished hisundertakings, and who certainly deserved a reward for their exertions. [Pg 333] From this moment Cortes began gradually to fall in his majesty'sfavour. Some ascribed this to the president of the council of the Indies, cardinal de Siguenza, who had, in a consultation with his majesty, declared himself against conferring the appointment of governor on Cortes. Others ascribed it to the comendador-mayor ofLeon and his wife Doña Maria de Mendoza, who felt piqued at themanner in which Cortes had latterly neglected them. However this may have been, I cannot say; but his majesty adhered to his first determination,and refused to grant Cortes his request. The emperor atthis time was about to embark at Barcelona for Flanders, being accompaniedby a great number of distinguished personages, and the three patrons of Cortes persevered in their endeavours to obtain the appointmentin question for him, until at length his majesty forbade the earlof Nassau to speak another word about it, remarking to him at thesame time that the marquisate he had conferred upon Cortes produceda larger annual income than he (the earl) obtained from his whole territoryof Nassau. [Pg 334] We will now wish his majesty a good voyage, and say a few words respecting Cortes' marriage with Doña Juana de Zunniga. The banquets which took place on this occasion were of the most sumptuousnature, and the presents which Cortes made his bride, as I have beeninformed by persons who saw them, were so expensive and magnificent,that nothing in Spain had ever before been seen like them. Even the empress Isabella, it is said, expressed a wish, from the descriptionswhich had been given her of these presents by the jewellers, to possess similar ones, and that she had accepted with indifference several preciousstones which Cortes had presented to her, because they were notequal in beauty and value to those he had given to his wife. Cortes, upon the whole, experienced a great deal of vexation during his stay in Spain. Above all, it is said, the empress changed her previousfavorable sentiments with regard to Cortes, when she learnt hisungrateful conduct towards the comendador-mayor of Leon, his wifeDoña Maria, and the cardinal de Siguenza; and that he had keptback jewels of much greater value than he had presented to her. Yetshe commanded the council of the Indies to promote his interests inevery possible manner. An agreement was also signed between him and the crown, namely, that he should equip a couple of vessels, athis own expense for a certain number of years, for the discoveryof new islands and countries in the South Sea, with the condition, however, that he should have a certain share of the profits arising therefrom. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32475/32475-h/32475-h.htm 220/282
1/25/22, 8:50 PM The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo written by himself, containing a true an… About this time also the comendador-mayor of the order of Alcantara, Don Pedro de la Cueva, was staying at the imperial court. This wasthe same gentleman who was some time previously commanded by hismajesty to repair with a considerable body of troops to New Spain,there to make an inquiry into the conduct of Cortes, with full power,if he found him guilty, to cut off his head. At present, however, hegave every proof of sincere joy at the distinguished title and the many favours which had been conferred upon him by the emperor, and henow daily courted the company of the marquis Don Hernando Cortes.He likewise told Cortes that he might congratulate himself on having come to Spain; for he assured him that if even he had not found himguilty of any offence, he would still have had to pay all the expenses of the armament, which would have amounted to above 300,000 pesos. Besides all I have above related, many other things were written tous by persons who were present in Spain at the time, and by Corteshimself, but I will not go into them here; and though the latter expatiated a good deal on the many favours which had been bestowed uponhim at court, yet he never mentioned a word why he was not appointedgovernor of New Spain. [Pg 335] A few days after he had been created marquis, Cortes despatched the cavalier Juan de Herrada to Rome in his name to kiss the feet of his holiness pope Clement, and beg his acceptance of a valuable present in jewels and gold trinkets. He ordered Herrada to take alongwith him two Indian buffoons, and likewise wrote a lengthened epistleto his holiness, in which he gave him a full account of the countrieshe had discovered and subdued; of the great services he had above allrendered to God, and then to his majesty; of the idol worship practised among the Indians, and what a great number of the latter had already been converted to Christianity. What he further told his holinessI cannot say; but we learnt from Herrada, when he afterwardsreturned to New Spain, that Cortes had begged his holiness to remit acertain portion of the tithes. I ought also to mention that this Juan de Herrada was an excellentsoldier, and that he had accompanied us on our expedition to theHonduras. After his return from Rome he went to Peru, where DonDiego de Almagro appointed him governor to his younger son DonDiego, and otherwise placed implicit confidence in him. He likewise commanded the small but determined body of men who put the elderPizarro to death, and afterwards became a chief officer under Almagrothe younger. At Rome, Herrada, with his fine presents and Indian buffoons, metwith the best reception; and his holiness declared, during the audience which he granted him, that he could not sufficiently thank the Almightythat he lived in an age when so many extensive countries were discovered,and so many heathens converted to our holy religion. He saidthat Cortes and his troops had rendered the greatest services to God,to our master the emperor Don Carlos, and to the whole of Christendom,and we were deserving of the highest rewards. His holiness even ordered a solemn procession and a day of thanksgiving, and sent especial bulls, by which he granted us absolution of our sins, and gave other indulgences to the cloisters and churches. He likewise confirmedand approved of everything Cortes had done in New Spain, only herefused to grant the latter's request with respect to the tithes. This is all I know of the contents of the letter which his holiness wrote to Cortes; but everything I have above related of this missionto Rome I learnt from Herrada himself and from another soldier whohad accompanied him named Campo. They staid altogether eight days at Rome, and his holiness, with the cardinals, were highly delighted with the performances of the Indian buffoons. His holinesseven created Herrada a count palatine, presented him with a large sumof money for his journey back, and gave him a letter to our emperor, in which he requested his majesty to bestow upon him some lucrative commendary; but as Cortes, on his return to New Spain, had no longer the power to [Pg 336] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32475/32475-h/32475-h.htm 221/282
Page 1 and 2:
1/25/22, 8:50 PM The Project Gutenb
Page 3 and 4:
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170: 1/25/22, 8:50 PM The Project Gutenb
Page 219: 1/25/22, 8:50 PM The Project Gutenb
Page 271 and 272:
Page 273 and 274:
Page 275 and 276:
Page 277 and 278:
Page 279 and 280:
Page 281 and 282:
show all

The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo Vol. 2

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?