historians had to to a tradeoff between being believed (authoritative) and the actual testimony (p.1)

The three main writers that will be discussed in this text are Bernal Diaz de Castillo, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas

the chronicles were usually written for pragmatic as well as academic purposes

the works in question were a lot about the legitimacy the rights and rewards to the conquest. Was it legitimate to enslave the Indians etc.?

Diaz was certainly influenced by Las Casas and Gomara (p212)

feared that more credence would be given to Gomara whom he despised and he was also conscientious against Las Casas, whom he refuted on two controversial episodes.

he argues that the innocent need to be protected from these barbarous people.

Two military actions in particular provided Bernal to underscore the holy nature of the war. Both testimony of other soldiers, for Bernal Diaz had not the events. One was Juan de Escalante's expedition Diaz was in Mexico) that ended with the public execution seditious caciques (native lords); the other was the Mayor feast under Alvarado's orders (when Bernal with Cortes, fighting off Painfilo

the other incident is where the Aztecs try to remove the cross but fail in trying to do so

he stressed the just, holy and fought by a valorous company of Spanish soldiers.