Hernando Cartes, Spanish conquistadores invaded Mexico in 1519. Cortes and his men, mostly of humble origin, preached Chris-tianity, hunted for gold, and con-verted or killed the natives. The Aztec civilization succumbed in less than a decade, the crucial blow corn-ing when Cortes, with a force of 900 men, captured Tenochtitlan in 1521.
Bernal Diaz del Castillo (1498- 1593) was a foot soldier who rose to serve as an aide to Cortes and later became a government official in New Spain. In True History...