Diaz Clan


 * Clan Surname: Diaz
 * Origin: Spain (name rumored to be of Jewish origin)
 * Titles:
 * Head Clan/Family
 * King/Queen of Diaz
 * Descended from: Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1496-1584)
 * Founder: Carlos Diaz
 * Current Head: Carlos Diaz
 * Founding Year: 2007 CE.
 * Ethnicity: Hispanic, and Native American descent

The Diaz Clan are members who are descended from Bernal Diaz del Castillo who was a conquistador, who wrote an eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards under Hernán Cortés.

The First Diaz
Bernal Diaz del Castillo who was a conquistador, who wrote an eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards under Hernán Cortés, himself serving as a rodelero under Cortés. Born in Medina del Campo (Spain), he came from a family of little wealth and he himself had received only a minimal education. Upon returning to Cuba, he enlisted in a new expedition, this one led by Hernán Cortés. In this third effort, Díaz took part in one of the legendary military campaigns of history, bringing an end to the Aztec empire in Mesoamerica. In it he describes many of the 119 battles in which he claims to have participated, culminating in the fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521.

As a reward for his service, Díaz was appointed governor of Santiago de los Caballeros, present-day Antigua Guatemala. He began writing his history in 1568, almost fifty years after the events described, in response to an alternative history written by Cortés's chaplain, who had not actually participated in the campaign. He called his book the Verdadera Historia ("True History"), in response to the claims made in the earlier work.

Díaz died in 1584, without seeing his book published. A manuscript was found in a Madrid library in 1632 and finally published, providing an eye-witness account of the events, often told from the perspective of a common soldier. Today it is one of our most important sources for understanding the campaign that led to the collapse of the Aztec Empire and the Spanish conquest of Mexico.