Juan Díaz (1480–1549), born in
Seville
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, was a 16th-century
conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
and the chaplain of the 1518
Grijalva expedition, the ''Itinerario'' (itinerary route) of which he wrote.
He was one of the first Spaniards who explored the named ''Isla de Sacrificios'' near
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, where the expedition found evidence of
human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...
.
See also
*
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture
Human sacrifice was a common practice in many parts of Mesoamerica. The rite was not new to the Aztecs when they arrived at the Valley of Mexico, nor was it something unique to pre-Columbian Mexico. Other Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Puré ...
External links
''Itinerario de la armada del rey católico a la isla de Yucatán...'' text of Díaz's account, reproduced at
Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes
The Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library (MCVL; in , BVMC) is a large-scale digital library project, hosted and maintained by the University of Alicante in Alicante, Spain. It comprises the largest open-access repository of digitised Spanish-langua ...
from edn published by Joaquín García Icazbalceta
The Grijalva Expedition (1518)
1480 births
1549 deaths
Spanish conquistadors
History of the Aztecs
16th-century Spanish clergy
16th-century Mesoamericanists
Historians of Mesoamerica
16th-century Spanish military personnel
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