TO:    Fr. Diego de Sandoval

The Monastery of St. John of the Rock

Santa Cruz de la Seros, Jaca

Province of Huesca, Aragon

Kingdom of Spain

My dear brother,                                                          23 April, Anno Domini 1519

Let us give thanks to the Virgin Mary that our ship, the San Lazaro, has come safely to shore on the peninsula that is called Yucatan. Oh, mi hermano, if only you could see this New World for yourself, then you and the other monks would no longer doubt the extraordinary tales you have heard; rather, you would read them as pale reflections of a land stranger than any fantasy.  If only you were here by my side, you would no longer regret that our older brother Bernal – arrogant drunk that he is – inherited all the old hidalgo’s lands and our family home. Here there is opportunity for us, too, to become wealthy.

Yours,

Gonzalo de Sandoval

TO:    Fr. Diego de Sandoval

The Monastery of St. John of the Rock

Santa Cruz de la Seros, Jaca

Province of Huesca, Aragon

Kingdom of Spain

16 November, Anno Domini 1521

My dear brother,

I pray this letter finds you in the best health. This expedition has exceeded all of hopes for it. Stout Cortez has brought me, a humble country lad but a true Spaniard, to a land filled with potential. I have become a rich man, and taken a village for myself. It is along the Coatzacoalcos River, which the savages call Guaspaltepque. At the same time as I send this this letter, I shall have delivered a chest containing two hundred pesos to our mother, so you need not worry about her. My only sorrow is not to have you here, too, sharing in this splendor.

Yours,

Gonzalo de Sandoval

TO:    Fr. Diego de Sandoval

The Monastery of St. John of the Rock

Santa Cruz de la Seros, Jaca

Province of Huesca, Aragon

Kingdom of Spain

My dear brother,                             20 November, Anno Domini 1519

I pray your studies of St. Augustine are going well. I, for my part, have found both my patron saint and my adoptive father in Hernan Cortez. The men all call him “stout,” and this is an accurate description of the good soldier. The way he deals with the savages is most admirable. As soon as we saw the heathens massed together worshipping one of their grotesque idols, without a moment’s hesitation the great man turned to me and said, ‘my son, can you build a fire?’ Together, he and I led the men forward and set about their temple-fortress with burning brands. In a day we razed it to the ground, gods and all.

Hail Mary,

Gonzalo de Sandoval    

TO:    Queen Dona Juana and to the Emperor, Charles V, Her Son,

by the Justiciary and Municipal Council of the Muy Rica Villa de la Vera Cruz

                                      5 December, Anno Domini 1521

Most High, Mighty and Excellent Princes, Most Catholic and Powerful

Kings and Sovereigns:

Your Royal Highnesses, it is my great honor, as Lieutenant under the command Hernan Cortez, to inform you that the conquest of Coatzacoalcos is at last complete. After pacifying Huatusco, Tuxtepec and Oaxaca, I have founded the town of Medellin in the name of The Crown. Alas, many of the heathens perished before we were able to receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord, but we may rejoice that many of those remaining have already been baptized.   

Your most loyal vassal, as I always shall be,

Gonzalo de Sandoval

Aurelia Diaz

TO:     Aurelia Diaz, daughter of the honorable Alonzo Diaz,

at The Court of Emperor, Charles V, Kingdom of Spain

13 February, Anno Domini 1522

My dearest Aurelia,

It is many years since we played together in the gardens of the Archduke: I doubt if you would remember me, I the second son of a provincial landowner and you the most beautiful daughter of a wealthy courtier. I, however, have always remembered you with affection and admiration, whenever I smell the sweet fragrance of oranges. Now, my lovely Aurelia, I am a match for you in marriage. I have founded a town on the great expedition of Cortez that will be immortalized by our historians. I have become a wealthy man. I send you, as a token of my esteem and regard, a casket of precious Mexican jewels. I hope that you will agree to marry me when I return to Spain.

Forever yours,

  Gonzalo de Sandoval

Works Cited

Cortes, Hernan. Letters from Mexico. Trans. Anthony Pagden. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986. Print.

Robinson, Henry Morton. Stout Cortez: A Biography of the Spanish Conquest. New York, The Century Co., 1931. Print.

 Madariaga, Salvador De. Hernan Cortes Conqueror of Mexico. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1941. Print.

Marks, Richard Lee. Cortes: The Great Adventurer and the Fate of Aztec Mexico. New York: Alfred A. Knopf  New York, 1993. Print.

 Images:

Title-page from Cortez’s Third Letter to Charles V. New York Public Library. Stout Cortez: A Biography of the Spanish Conquest. 1^st ed.  By Henry Morton. New York, The Century Co., 1931. Print.

Flanders, John of. Queen Juana of Castille. Photo : Brunel, Lugano. Letters from Mexico. Trans. Anthony Pagden. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986. Print.

Drawing from: Solis, Antonio de. Historia de la Conquista de Mexico. Trans. Thomas Townsend. 1724. Courtesy of the British Museum. Letters from Mexico. Trans. Anthony Pagden. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986. Print.