The Conquest of the River Plate (1535-1555)

Name: The Conquest of the River Plate (1535-1555)
Author: Ulrich Schmidel

By Ulrich Schmidel

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About This Book

The volume brings together two contemporaneous firsthand narratives of exploration and settlement along the River Plate and its tributaries. One narrative provides a voyage account—navigation and river travel, construction of boats, provision shortages, sickness, military engagements, diplomacy, and daily hardships—while the other offers commentaries that dispute those events and condemn aspects of colonial behavior. Presented as sequential chapters, the texts combine travelogue, ethnographic observations of indigenous peoples, accounts of councils and uprisings, legal and administrative disputes, and practical details of conducting prolonged riverine expeditions.

About the Author

Ulrich Schmidel

Ulrich Schmidel was a 16th-century German explorer and chronicler, best known for his detailed accounts of his travels in South America. His notable work, "The Conquest of the River Plate (1535-1555)," provides a vivid narrative of the early Spanish expeditions in the region, highlighting the challenges and encounters faced by explorers during this period. Schmidel's writings offer valuable insights into the cultural and geographical landscape of the Río de la Plata and Paraguay, making significant contributions to the understanding of early colonial history in South America.