THE PERSON OF HERNAN CORTES IN THE «HISTORY OF THE INDIES» BY LAS CASAS

Abstract

The article discusses the controversy over the characterization of Hernan Cortes in the «History of India» by the famous Dominican monk and one of the earliest indigenous human rights activists in pre-Columbian America, Bartolome de Las Casas. It was determined that the figure of the conquistador evokes mixed emotions in the author, especially before the Cortes invasion of Mexico, the monk uses mostly complementary motifs to describe the figure of the Spaniard, but as a treacherous invader.