The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940 Page: 348
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GOMARA ON THE CORONADO EXPEDITION
A. GROVE DAY
Francisco L6pez de G6mara, who was born about 1510 and died
about 1555, was one of the foremost historians of the Indies
although he never visited the New World. He was a native of
Seville, the city having a monopoly on the Indies trade. He
obtained his education at the University of Alcali, where he took
orders. When Fernando Cortes, conqueror of Mexico, returned to
Spain for the last time, G6mara became his household chaplain,
continuing in the service of his son after the death of Cort6s.
G6mara's two great works, Historia de las Indias and Crdnica
de la Conquista de Nueva Espaia, were both published in the
same year, 1552. They were written in a succinct and gracious
style that immediately attracted a large number of readers, and
in the next year or two were reprinted many times. The books
were soon attacked, however, as being entirely too laudatory of the
deeds of CortBs at the expense of actual facts, and although the
Historic was dedicated to Charles V, both books were suppressed in
Spain from 1553 to 1727. In spite of this official ban, the works
enjoyed wide circulation. An Italian edition was published in
1556 and English and French translations in 1578.
G6mara's account of the Coronado expedition is a valuable and
interesting secondary source which in its time was widely read.
The passages from the Historia (Biblioteca de Autores Espajoles,
edited by Enrique de Vedia, vol. 22, Madrid, 1852, chapters 212-
215 passim) translated below are important because this was
almost the only work through which the people of Europe could
learn of the discoveries of Coronado in the American continent
north of New Spain. What the cartographers and learned men
of the Old World in the sixteenth century knew of this region,
they knew only through the pages of G6mara and Giovanni Bat-
tista Ramusio; and the influence of G6mara's account of Cibola
and Quivira may be seen on any map published in the later
sixteenth century.
TRANSLATION
All New Spain and New Galicia being now converted, friars
went out from many places to preach to and convert Indians
[ 848 ]
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940, periodical, 1940; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101111/m1/372/?rotate=270: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.