Margarita de Austria y la difusión de la conquista de México en Europa

Abstract

Before Cortés’s letters were published, the conquest of Mexico was known in Europe through the Fourth Decade of Petrus Martyr de Angleria, surprisingly printed in Basel in 1521. It was a widely distributed work, but it has hardly aroused the interest of critics. This article focuses on the context of the printed dissemination of this work, placing special emphasis on the fact that it was dedicated to Margaret of Austria, who possessed an important collection of Mexica objects in her palace, and to whom another German print is dedicated, notifying the arrival in Tenochtitlan. Everything points to a propagandistic interest to consolidate the imperial prestige of Charles V superimposed on the curiosity for the Indies novelty.