Francisco de Aguilar (conquistador)
Encyclopedia
Francisco de Aguilar born Alonso de Aguilar, was a Spanish conquistador
who took part in the expedition led by Hernán Cortés
that resulted in the conquest of the Aztec Empire and the fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec
state in the central Mexican plateau
.
He was granted an encomienda
after the conquest, and several years later entered the Dominican Order
, adopting the name Francisco. Aguilar spent the remaining 40 years of his life as a Dominican friar.
While in his early eighties Aguilar wrote an account of the Aztec conquest drawing from his experiences, apparently urged to do so by his Dominican brethren. This account, known as Relación breve de la conquista de la Nueva España ("Brief Record [Account] of the Conquest of New Spain"), went unpublished in his lifetime, however a manuscript
copy of it was preserved at the royal library of El Escorial outside of Madrid, Spain. It was first published in 1900 by the Mexican historian and archivist, Francisco del Paso y Troncoso
.
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
who took part in the expedition led by Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
that resulted in the conquest of the Aztec Empire and the fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
state in the central Mexican plateau
Mexican Plateau
The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano or Altiplanicie Mexicana, is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico...
.
He was granted an encomienda
Encomienda
The encomienda was a system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas to regulate Native American labor....
after the conquest, and several years later entered the Dominican Order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
, adopting the name Francisco. Aguilar spent the remaining 40 years of his life as a Dominican friar.
While in his early eighties Aguilar wrote an account of the Aztec conquest drawing from his experiences, apparently urged to do so by his Dominican brethren. This account, known as Relación breve de la conquista de la Nueva España ("Brief Record [Account] of the Conquest of New Spain"), went unpublished in his lifetime, however a manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
copy of it was preserved at the royal library of El Escorial outside of Madrid, Spain. It was first published in 1900 by the Mexican historian and archivist, Francisco del Paso y Troncoso
Francisco del Paso y Troncoso
Francisco de Borja del Paso y Troncoso was an important Mexican historian, archivist, and Nahuatl language scholar....
.