Cortes

CORTES Cortes: The Life of the Conqueror was written by Cortes’ assistant, chaplain, and secretary, Francisco Lopez de Gomara. The text, an epic written in a courtly style that tends to simultaneously enumerate and generalize the presented accomplishments, follows the life of Hernan Cortes, briefly touching on his early life and spending the majority of its pages detailing the explorer’s various conquests in Mexico. The author, since he was a companion, advisor, and secretary …

…epic poetry. He describes the life (briefly) and exploits (mainly) of Hernan Cortes in New Spain from his own biased point of view as a secular priest who views history as a unitizing struggle for universal Christianity, which may serve to veil baser motives. It is my opinion that texts such as his, while they provide an accurate representation of his own culture, work to undermine and discredit the other cultures portrayed in the text.