The Spanish soldier Bernal Díaz del Castillo (ca. 1496-ca. 1584) was a member of the expedition that conquered the Aztec empire. His "A True History of the Conquest of New Spain" is the most complete contemporary chronicle of that event.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo was born in Medina del Campo of a respectable although not distinguished family. He was enchanted by tales of the fortunes to be found in newly discovered America, and in 1514 he left for the New World in the entourage of Pedrarias, who had been appointed governor of Castilla del Oro (the Isthmus of Panama and adjacent mainland of South America). Díaz was soon disenchanted with the prospects in this area and moved on to Cuba. While based there, he participated in two expeditions which explored the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico in 1517 and 1518, respectively.

In 1519 Díaz...