Antonio De Herrera Y Tordesillas

Born: 1549

Death: 1626

Biography:

Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas was a chronicler, historian, and writer of the Spanish Golden Age. He was born in 1549 in Spain and died on March 28, 1626, or March 27, 1625. He is best known for his work 'General History of the Deeds of the Castilians on the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea Known as the West Indies', also known as 'Décadas'. This work is considered one of the best written on the conquest of the Americas, although Herrera never visited or lived in any part of the Americas. He was the Chief Chronicler of Castile and the Americas during the reigns of Philip II and Philip III. Herrera is considered the most prolific historian of his era, with his works also including a general history of the world, a history of Portugal, and a description of the Americas. He also translated works from Italian and Latin into Spanish and his own 'Descripción de las Indias Occidentales' into Dutch. However, modern historians do not give much value to Herrera's work, describing him as an official historian who was not impartial, an opportunist, a schemer, and greedy. They also note that he plagiarized entire works which were unpublished at the time and had no interest in Native American civilization.