The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 28, July 1924 - April, 1925 Page: 134
344 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
he hoped to receive another government, being reluctant to
march under the standard of another; that he had himself come
to solicit the conquest of Florida, and though he found it had
already been granted to Hernando de Soto, yet, on account of
his oath, he could not divulge what they desired to know.
As soon as Cabeza de Vaca had an opportunity he spoke with
the Emperor; and gave him an account of all that he had gone
through with, seen and could by any means ascertain."
II. ,SKETCH OF GONZALO FIE RNANDEZ DE OVIEDO, FIRST OFFICIAL
CHRONICLER OF TI-IE NEw WORLD9
Like so many other strong men of his race, Gonzalo Fernandez
de Oviedo y Valdez came of Asturian stock. His father, Gonzalo
Fernandez de Oviedo, was "in quality an hidalgo," and was em-
ployed in various positions of trust and confidence about the
court of Ferdinand and Isabella, and the son was born at that
court, then at Madrid, in August, 1478. The Prince, Don Juan,
son of Ferdinand and Isabella, and heir apparent to the thrones
of Castilla and Aragon, was two months his senior, and at the
age of thirteen young Oviedo was appointed Mozo de Camara,
or Chamberlain to this young prince. In this capacity he was
present with the royal family at the siege of Granada, saw Colum-
bus as a suitor at Isabella's court, and witnessed his return in
triumph from his first voyage to the New World. It was then,
he says, with his youthful imagination fired by stories of the
new found land beyond the Ocean Sea, that he determined to
become its historian, and began a correspondence with Vicente
Yafiez Pinzon with that end in view.
The untimely death of his young prince, in his sixteenth year,
however, for the time turned Oviedo's thoughts into other chan-
nels; he became a soldier in Italy, where he met and knew some
of the greatest artists and intellectuals of that day, visited Rome,
and finally entered the service of Fadrique, King of Naples,
whose close friend he became. An expedition to Sicily under
9This sketch of the life of the earliest historian of the land we now
call Texas is condensed from that contained in the introduction to the
Madrid edition of his Historia General y Natural de las Indias, Tomo I,
pp. IX-CVII, written by Don Jose Amador de los Rios, of the Royal
Academy of History, at Madrid, and entitled Vida y Escritores de Gon-
zalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes.134
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 28, July 1924 - April, 1925, periodical, 1925; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101087/m1/138/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.