Spanish soldier, and historian of the conquest of Mexico; born at Medina del Campo Valladolid. He was a common soldier with Pedrarias at Darien in 1514, and soon after went to Cuba. Later he was with Cordoba when Yucatan was discovered, and with Grijalva during his explorations of the Mexican coast in 1518. In the following year he enlisted under Cortés, and served in subordinate positions during the campaigns which led to the conquest of the Aztec empire. In 1568 he began to write Corónica de la Conquista de Nueva España, a simple, rough soldier’s narrative of the events in which he had taken part. The book was first published in 1632 at Madrid, some time after its author’s death. There are later editions, the best being that in the Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, vol. 25. Díaz died in Nicaragua.
