The travels of Pedro de Cieza de Léon, A.D. 1532-50

The travels of Pedro de Cieza de Léon, A.D. 1532-50, - contained in the first part of his Chronicle of Peru

THE work of Pedro de Cieza de Leon is, in many respects, one of the most remarkable literary productions of the age of Spanish conquest in America. Written by a man who had passed his life in the camp from early boyhood, it is conceived on a plan which would have done credit to the most thoughtful scholar, and is executed with care, judgment, and fidelity. But before examining the work itself, I will give some account of its authorof whom, however, little is known, beyond what can be gathered from his own incidental statements in the course of his narrative. Cieza de Leon is believed to have been born in the year 1519 in the city of Seville, where he passed the first fourteen years of his life. It has been conjectured that his father was a native of Leon,[2] in the north of Spain, but absolutely nothing is known of his parentage. In 1532, at the extraordinarily early age of fourteen, young Pedro embarked at Seville, and set out to seek his fortunes in the New World. At that time scarcely a year elapsed without seeing an expedition fitted out, to undertake some new discovery or conquest. Seville and Cadiz were crowded with adventurers, all eagerly seeking for a passage to that marvellous land beyond the setting sun. It was, indeed, a time of wild excitement. Every ship that returned from the Indies might, and not a few did, bring tidings of the discovery of new and powerful empires before undreamt of. People of all ages and of every grade in society flocked to the sea ports, and took ship for the Indies; excited beyond control by the accounts of those inexhaustible riches and fabulous glories, which penetrated to every village in Spain. Among the leaders of these expeditions there were some honourable knights, with courteous manners and cultivated minds, such as Diego de Alvarado, Garcilasso de la Vega, and Lorenzo de Aldana.[3] But the majority were either coarse and avaricious adventurers, or disappointed courtiers, like that young scamp Alonzo Enriquez de Guzman, whom I introduced to the notice of the Hakluyt Society in 1862. Cieza de Leon, at the time of his embarkation, was a mere boy, too young to be classed under any of these heads. His character was destined to be formed in a rough and savage school, and it is most remarkable that so fine a fellow as our author really was, should have been produced amidst the horrors of the Spanish American conquest. Humane, generous, full of noble sympathies, observant, and methodical; he was bred amidst scenes of cruelty, pillage, and wanton destruction, which were calculated to produce a far different character. Considering the circumstances in which he was placed from early boyhood, his book is certainly a most extraordinary, as well as an inestimable result of his labours and military services. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 48770
Author: Cieza de León, Pedro de
Release Date: Apr 23, 2015
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Translator: Markham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir, 1830-1916