RHETORICAL CONQUESTS: Cortes, Gomara, and Renaissance Imperialism

This study examines Hernan Cortes, first as the author of Cartas de relacion (1519-1526), and then as the protagonist of Francisco Lopez de Gomara’s Historia de la conquista de Mexico (1552). It analyzes how these accounts represent his speech acts, including some of his key speeches; how they allow him to define the conquest in different ways to different audiences; and how they represent him as controlling the speech acts of others, most notably those of Moctezuma.