EXPLORER

Bernal Díaz del Castillo

1492 - 1584

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Bernal Díaz del Castillo (c. 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. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Bernal Díaz del Castillo is the 117th most popular explorer (down from 110th in 2019), the 388th most popular biography from Spain (down from 378th in 2019) and the 21st most popular Spanish Explorer.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo is most famous for his book The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, which was an eyewitness account of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

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Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, Bernal Díaz del Castillo ranks 117 out of 498. Before him are Gonzalo Pizarro, Fernão Mendes Pinto, Martín Alonso Pinzón, Carsten Niebuhr, Thomas Cavendish, and Sacagawea. After him are Juan de la Cosa, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, Calamity Jane, Lope de Aguirre, Hugh Glass, and Michael Rockefeller.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1492, Bernal Díaz del Castillo ranks 5. Before him are Marguerite de Navarre, Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, Pietro Aretino, and Juan Luis Vives. After him are Elizabeth Tudor, Andrea Alciato, John II, Count Palatine of Simmern, Sabina of Bavaria, Jean du Bellay, Martín de Azpilcueta, and Adam Ries. Among people deceased in 1584, Bernal Díaz del Castillo ranks 5. Before him are Ivan the Terrible, William the Silent, Charles Borromeo, and Francis, Duke of Anjou. After him are Yi I, Jan Kochanowski, Balthasar Gérard, Marcantonio Colonna, Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł, Mehmed II Giray, and Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

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In Spain

Among people born in Spain, Bernal Díaz del Castillo ranks 388 out of 3,355. Before him are Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon (1401), Ramiro I of Asturias (790), Thérésa Tallien (1773), Bernardino de Sahagún (1499), Joanot Martorell (1415), and Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1453). After him are Hosius of Corduba (256), Juan de la Cosa (1460), Ordoño I of Asturias (821), José María Aznar (1953), José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (1960), and Antoni Ramallets (1924).

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Among EXPLORERS In Spain

Among explorers born in Spain, Bernal Díaz del Castillo ranks 21. Before him are Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (1488), Benjamin of Tudela (1130), Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (1500), Ferdinand Columbus (1488), Gonzalo Pizarro (1510), and Martín Alonso Pinzón (1441). After him are Juan de la Cosa (1460), Lope de Aguirre (1518), Pedro de Mendoza (1487), Pánfilo de Narváez (1478), Juan de Grijalva (1480), and Sebastián de Belalcázar (1480).

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