Awestruck Conquistador Describes Alien World of Tenochtitlan (1519) // Memoir of Bernal Diaz

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Extracts taken from "THE MEMOIRS OF THE CONQUISTADOR BERNAL DÍAZ DEL CASTILLO
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF CONTAINING A TRUE AND FULL ACCOUNT
OF THE DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST OF MEXICO AND NEW SPAIN."
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL SPANISH BY
JOHN INGRAM LOCKHART, F.R.A.S.

Image credits:

[MrKmas]

I love stuff like this. People talk about history as a sequence of objective events over hundreds of years but hardly anyone ever contextualises what it was like to live at those times. Being able to hear what they thought and understand what motivated them to do what they did makes it seem a lot more real and grounded in the world we can see today.

[markusandrews]

They say that the best accounts of history aren’t the ones that pretend to be unbiased, but the ones that openly state their bias. That’s why Diaz’s account is so good.

[iammaxhailme]

Oh, how I wish I could go back in time and just see Tenochtitlan from afar, it sounds like the most beautiful city... unless you're being sacrificed...

[FancyTophatDude]

Wild that they went from "wow, the most important royal of this land is showing us all of the splendor of his kingdom that rivals anything we've ever seen back home, how gracious" to "we gotta kidnap this dude right now, don't qsk questions" basically on the same day

[jmiquelmb]

It’s so interesting that Moctezuma had dwarfs as buffoons in his court, because the Spanish Habsburgs did the same

[paradox]

It's likely no human will ever experience anything like this again.

The only comparison would be stepping on an alien world never before seen by human eyes.

[AlexXimtra]

must've been so crazy to see a completely alien world... what a sight it must've been

[laserdiscisawesome]

I honestly have a lot of respect for Bernal Diaz. He was no scholar and definitely was no historian but he was a soldier and I want to say, as much as the average conquistador had, an appreciation for who the Aztecs were

[buzzyinurface]

This story is absolutely insane because it really happened. One of those times in history that you wonder what it would be like to live through, and you wonder if you’d realize the historical magnitude of what you’re experiencing.

[nampam]

there are things in Bernal Dias' work that have the ring of truth where imagination could not have produced them: one in particular, Dias describes, as an aside, how difficult it is to see and avoid arrows and darts (from atl atl) in a battle in a corn field that by chance occurred during a plague of flying locusts. No author, novelist or screen writer could ever imagine such a thing.

[bristleconepinus]

Diaz was so traumatized by the continuous running battle and the ferocity of the Aztec warriors that he slept in his clothes, on the floor until he died in Guatemala when he was well into his eighty's. He had a bad case of PTSD from all the things he saw and did.

[pablolloyd]

This channel is incredible. Intriguing to hear first hand accounts like this.
Can’t believe this is free.

[kylebarton]

I have his book but had to watch the video because you always do such a great job.

[coulie]

It's truly one of the most remarkable things I'd ever read. Right up there with Caesar's Gallic Wars, which, as mentioned here, Cortes had studied. Same with John Smith's accounts of VA and New England. Unbelievable audacity.

[jackswicegoodiii]

HBO has been itching for a series to match the success of Game of Thrones. Well...here you go. This would be epic!

[wayneanderson]

I read his book about a decade ago. It was shockingly brutal, & truthful. Absent of the propaganda of "glorious victory" of most military histories. He had a steel trap mind for memory. He is so detailed in his account, reporting failure as much as success, that the account rings true.

[DarthCody]

"Then, the great lord Moctetsoma did take a hit of the royal bong and fell into a deep sleep..."

[wehosrmthink]

I read this book in English, loved it. In Spanish it’s even better. Quite funny, too. Written by an 84 year old!

[soapmaker]

There's an eyewitness account of a Spaniard that I read in which they described the human sacrifice ceremonies of the Aztecs in great detail. The priests would dance around wearing the flayed skin of the victims. The blood was collected in gourds. The flesh was cooked in a special dish. Really dark stuff. Entire sections of the city covered in human skulls.

[evilemperorzurg]

It’s amazing how much they had in common and how much was different.

I can imagine a Spanish soldier having a great time at the banquet, reminded of feasts back in Spain, and then a hush falls over the table and their veins turn to ice as human flesh is presented on a platter.