Libraries

The first part is known as Hispania Victrix; the second part is titled Historia de la conquista de México. The defense that the author adopted through his work in the two parts is due to his political project: The figure of Hernán Cortés is the culmination of the great theopolitical Spanish project.

Historia de las Indias describes both the American territories, illustrated with rich ethnographic information as well as its history: López de Gómara includes Columbus travels, and the documentation of the foundation of the continent. Nevertheless, he defines the great historical project from the perspective of the Divine Providence: by describing the wonder of God’s creation, the discovery and conquest of the Spanish people as the summit of this creation. One of the virtues of the chronicle of López de Gómara is his style, even though the order in which he presents the information is not well done, although it is plenty of geographical data about the flora and fauna of the American territories.

In the catalogue of the Inca Garcilaso, folio 523v, appears the name of López de Gómara. Therefore the Inca in his Comentarios sanctions the sympathy of this author for the conqueror Diego Centeno.  According to the Inca, López de Gómara defends the version of Diego Centeno instead of the one of Francisco de Carvajal, who was a Pizarro follower.