Crónica de Indias

The logbook which Columbus kept during his first voyage is deemed the earliest crónica de Indias

A crónica de Indias is a Spanish chronicle (crónica) whose subject matter is the New World (the Indias) during the Age of Discovery or time of Spanish conquest, colonisation, or Catholic proselytisation. These crónicas were especially known in the 16th century, and, like Spanish crónicas generally, constitute an historical genre of Spanish non-fiction with popular and scholarly relevance today. The author of such a work is known as a cronista de Indias, though from 1526 onwards, said term was also an official position bestowed upon select chroniclers (cronistas) by royal appointment. The office was later termed cronista mayor de Indias from 1571.

Background

The cronistas were men of the Spanish Empire who, during a time of great illiteracy in said region, happened to be literate. These included clergy and laity, conquistadors or other martial men, officials or office-holders, and even those born in Spanish America (including criollo, Amerindian and Mestizo men). Some of them wrote first-hand accounts (of things which they themselves witnessed or participated in), some wrote second-hand accounts (based on oral or written accounts by eyewitnesses or direct participants), whilst others still wrote accounts even further removed from their subject. Some of them published their work themselves, whereas some left theirs as manuscripts (often posthumously published for them, sometimes centuries later). Virtually all were beholden to personal biases or ideologies (providencialismo, Spanish monarchism, so on), or some other authorities (a caudillo, a Spanish institution, their family, so on), often resulting in heavily skewed crónicas.

The crónicas, then, do not invariably agree in their accounts, and do not necessarily present only facts. But as modern scholars may account for such shortcomings, they therefore remain a mainstay of academic work (in history, anthropology, so on) on the period and area. In addition to strictly chronicling historical events, some crónicas further included descriptions of natural geography (features, flora, fauna, so on) and of human geography (peoples, their politics, customs, languages, so on). Most crónicas were written in Spanish, whilst some were wholly or partly written in other Romance or Amerindian languages (Latin, Italian, so on). Most were written in the Latin script, though a few further featured Mesoamerican scripts. Most were written in prose, though a few were laid out in verse (as epic poems).

The earliest crónica was the logbook kept by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage in 1492–1493. The first official crónicas were either Peter Martyr's Decades, written by 1525, or else Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo's Historia, written by 1542. The latest crónicas were written or published in the 18th century.

List

The following is a list of cronistas and their crónicas. It includes any work so identified by modern or contemporary literature, along with pertinent dates and information. As of August 2026, it listed 26 works.

Tabular list of cronistas de Indias and crónicas de Indias, along with: dates of writing and publishing, yes/no information on whether the cronista was ever in the New World, notes, citations.

Cronista	Crónica	Date written	Date first published	Was in Indias?	Notes
Aguilar	Relación breve	1559 to 1571	1903	Yes	—N/a
Acosta	Historia natural y moral	?	1590	?	Divided into a "natural" part (geography, fauna, flora) and a "moral" part (history, religion, institutions of Mexico and Peru); one of the earliest scientific syntheses of the New World.
Aguado	Recopilación historial	1575 to 1578	20th century	Yes	Franciscan who spent over fifteen years as a missionary in the Nuevo Reino de Granada; covers events of 1524 to 1569 in present-day Colombia and Venezuela.
Alva Ixtlilxóchitl	Historia de la nación chichimeca	circa 1640	?	Yes	Written by a mestizo cronista descended from the rulers of Acolhuacan and Tenochtitlan; recounts the Chichimec lineage, favouring the Texcoco perspective on the conquest.
Alvarado Tezozómoc	Crónica mexicana	circa 1598	1878	Yes	Grandson of Moctezuma II and Nahuatl interpreter at the Real Audiencia of Mexico; based on oral tradition and pre-Hispanic codices.
Álvarez Chanca	Carta al cabildo de Sevilla	1494	?	Yes	A physician from Seville who took part in Columbus's second voyage; one of the earliest European sources on the Caribbean.
Betanzos	Suma y relación de los incas	by 1551	1880 (partial)	Yes	An interpreter for Pizarro, married to a noble Inca woman, giving him privileged access to the Cuzco elite.
Cabello de Balboa	Miscelánea Antártica	1576 to 1586	?	Yes	Combines biblical and European history with Inca history, from the creation of the world to Atahualpa's death in 1532; includes the legend of Naymlap.
Cabello de Balboa	Verdadera descripción de las Esmeraldas	1583	?	Yes	Documents a 1577 expedition to evangelise the indigenous and Black communities of the Esmeraldas region (present-day Ecuador).
Cadena	Los actos y hazañas valerosas	1563 to 1564	?	?	An epic poem celebrating the conquest of Nueva Andalucía (present-day eastern Venezuela); possibly the oldest poem written in the Americas in a European language.
Calancha	Crónica moralizada de los agustinos del Perú	?	1638	Yes	The first and most important Augustinian crónica in Peru; a moral and providentialist interpretation of events.
Carvajal	Relación del nuevo descubrimiento del famoso río Grande de las Amazonas	after 1541	1894	Yes	A Dominican friar, eyewitness and survivor of Francisco de Orellana's 1541 expedition down the Amazon.	—N/a
Carvajal	Relación del descubrimiento del río Apure hasta su ingreso en el Orinoco	?	1648	Yes	A Dominican friar; provides extensive geographic and ethnographic information on the Llanos region of Venezuela.
Casas	Memoriales	?	1516	Yes	First crónica on la defensa de los indios; first to propose a república de españoles and república de los indios
Casas	Historia	1527 to 1561	1875 to 1876	Yes	—N/a
Casas	Brevísima relación	1539 to 1542	1552	Yes	Crónica most credited for the Spanish black legend
Castellanos	Elegías de varones ilustres	?	1589 (1st part)	Yes	An historical poem of over 113,000 verses, said to be the longest in the Spanish language; covers the discovery and conquest of the Antilles, Venezuela and the Nuevo Reino de Granada.
Cervantes de Salazar	Crónica	1557 to 1564	1914	Yes	—N/a
Cieza de León	Crónica del Perú	?	1553 (1st part)	Yes	Based on the author's direct experience as a soldier and on oral testimony of the quipucamayoc; parts 2–4 remained unpublished until the 19th and 20th centuries.
Cisneros	Descripción exacta de la provincia de Venezuela	?	1764	?	Describes the geography, economy and main towns of the province of Venezuela, commissioned by the Real Compañía Guipuzcoana.
Cobo	Historia del Nuevo Mundo	1613 to 1653	1890 to 1895 (partial)	Yes	A Jesuit who lived over sixty years between the viceroyalties of Peru and New Spain; a 43-book encyclopedia of the natural and cultural history of the continent.
Columbuspulkgarsdsdsd	Carta a Luis de Santángel	Feb 1493	1493	Yes	The first written and published account of the discovery of the New World; fifteen editions in several languages before the end of the 15th century.
Columbus	Diario	Aug 1492 to Mar 1493	?	Yes	First crónica written
Cortes	Cartas	?	1519 to 1526	Yes	First crónica on the conquest of the Aztecs
Diaz de Guzman	La Argentina (Anales del descubrimiento, población y conquista del Río de la Plata)	circa 1612	?	Yes	A mestizo of Spanish and Guaraní descent, considered the first historian born in the Río de la Plata and Paraguay region.
Diaz del Castillo	Historia verdadera	1550 to 1568	1632	Yes	—N/a
Duran	Historia de las Indias de Nueva España e Islas de Tierra Firme	1576 to 1581	?	Yes	Also known as the Códice Durán; based on oral testimony and indigenous manuscripts in Nahuatl.
Ercilla	La Araucana	?	1569 to 1589	Yes	First crónica written as an epic poem
Fernandez de Enciso	Suma	?	1519	Yes	First crónica on the continental Indias; first on nautical matters published in Spain
Fernandez de Oviedo	Sumario	Nov 1523 to Apr 1526	Apr 1526	Yes	First crónica on flora or fauna
Fernandez de Oviedo	Historia	1532 to 1542	?	Yes	First official crónica; first by the cronista de Indias
Fernandez de Palencia	Primera y segunda parte de la Historia del Perú	?	1571	Yes	An official crónica commissioned by viceroy Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza; withdrawn from circulation shortly after publication for its controversial content.
Fernandez del Pulgar	Continuation of Herrera y Tordesillas's Décadas	from 1686	never published	?	Cronista mayor de Indias from 1686; an apologetic work aimed against the Spanish black legend, unpublished until his death.
Fuentes y Guzman	Recordación florida	late 17th century	19th century	Yes	A three-volume crónica by a criollo cronista of Santiago de Guatemala, great-grandson of Bernal Díaz del Castillo; combines the conquest and colonisation of the Kingdom of Guatemala with a detailed geographic, social and economic description; considered the masterwork of Guatemalan criollo historiography.
Gongora Marmolejo	Historia de todas las cosas que han acaecido en el reino de Chile	1572 to 1575	?	Yes	A soldier under Pedro de Valdivia; valued for its objectivity.
Grijalva	Itinerario de la armada	1518	?	Yes	Written by the fleet's chaplain; the earliest direct account of the existence of the Aztec Empire.
Guaman Poma de Ayala	Primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno	1600 to 1615	?	Yes	A roughly 1,200-page manuscript addressed to King Philip III, combining Spanish and Quechua text with nearly 400 drawings to recount pre-Hispanic Andean history and denounce the abuses of Spanish colonial rule; unknown in the Danish Royal Library until its rediscovery in 1908, it is today considered one of the most important sources on the indigenous perspective of the conquest.
Gumilla	El Orinoco ilustrado	35 years of exploration	1741 (expanded 1745)	Yes	A Jesuit missionary who spent 35 years exploring the Orinoco basin; the leading European source on the region until Humboldt's explorations.
Herrera y Tordesillas	Descripción	?	1601	No	An official crónica; first by the cronista mayor de Indias
Herrera y Tordesillas	Décadas	1596 to 1615	1601 to 1615	No	An official crónica; second by the cronista mayor de Indias
Jimenez de Quesada	El Antijovio	?	1567 (posthumous)	Yes	A refutation of the Italian historian Paolo Giovio, written by the founder of the Nuevo Reino de Granada.
Jimenez de Quesada	Compendio historial	his last years	lost, never published	Yes	A crónica on the conquest of the Nuevo Reino de Granada, now lost; known only through references by other cronistas.
Landa	Relación	circa 1565 to 1569	1864	Yes	Crónica most representative of those with Maya informants or co-authors
Lizarraga	Descripción breve de toda la tierra del Perú, Tucumán, Río de la Plata y Chile	late 16th/early 17th century	1908	Yes	A Dominican preacher-general who travelled the territories from Quito to Chile and the Río de la Plata over more than fifty years.
Lopez de Cogolludo	Historia de Yucatán	1647 to 1656	1688 (posthumous)	?	A Franciscan; combines the military conquest of Yucatán with the evangelising campaign, drawing on the writings of Diego de Landa.
Lopez de Gomara	Historia general	circa 1545 to 1552	1552	No	An official crónica
Lopez de Jerez	Relación	late 1527 to early 1528	1844	Yes	First crónica on the conquest of the Inca
Lopez de Jerez	Verdadera relación	Nov 1532 to Jul 1533	Jul 1534	Yes	First crónica on the conquest of the Inca
Lopez de Velasco	Geografía y descripción universal de las Indias	1571 to 1574	1894	?	A cosmographer and cronista mayor of the Consejo de Indias; kept confidential, it remained unpublished until the 19th century.
Marino de Lobera	Crónica del Reino de Chile	?	1865	Yes	A soldier in the campaigns of Valdivia, Villagra and García Hurtado de Mendoza; revised and stylised near the end of his life by the Jesuit Bartolomé de Escobar.
Martyr d'Anghiera	Decades	by 1525	?	No	First official crónica
Mena	Conquista	?	early 1534	Yes	First crónica on the conquest of the Inca
Mendieta	Historia eclesiástica indiana	1571 to 1596	1870	Yes	A Franciscan who lived over fifty years in New Spain; his sharp criticism of colonial rule delayed publication.
Molina (El Almagrista)	Relación de la conquista y población del Perú	circa 1552	1873 (partial)	Yes	A veteran of the conquest of Peru who accompanied Diego de Almagro to Chile; also known as "Destrucción del Perú".
Molina (El Cuzqueño)	Relación de las fábulas y ritos de los Incas	probably 1575 to 1583	?	Yes	Commissioned by the bishop of Cuzco; records oral testimony thanks to the author's fluency in Quechua.
Munoz Camargo	Historia de Tlaxcala	1576 to 1591	?	Yes	A mestizo historian who combined an alphabetic narrative with pictographic sections; presented in person to Philip II in 1585.
Nunez Cabeza de Vaca	Naufragios y comentarios	?	1542 (expanded 1555)	Yes	The first extensive historical narrative covering the territory of the present-day United States.
Obregon	Historia de los descubrimientos antiguos y modernos de la Nueva España	1584	1924	Yes	Covers exploratory expeditions in northern New Spain and later incursions towards Nuevo México.
Oviedo y Banos	Historia de la conquista y población de la Provincia de Venezuela	1705 to 1720	1723	?	Written as an armchair historian rather than as a direct witness to the events described.
Pane	Relación acerca de las antigüedades de los indios	circa 1498	?	Yes	Considered the first book written on the American continent; records Taíno myths and rites.
Pigafetta	Relación	1523 to 1524	1524	Yes	First crónica on the Magellan circumnavigation
Pizarro	Relación del descubrimiento y conquista de los reinos del Perú	completed 1571	?	Yes	A cousin of Francisco Pizarro; provides valuable ethnographic information and a detailed description of Atahualpa.
Remesal	Historia general de las Indias Occidentales y particular de la gobernación de Chiapa y Guatemala	from 1614	1619	Yes	A Dominican; centres much of the narrative on Bartolomé de las Casas, causing controversy among Guatemalan criollos.
Rodriguez Freyle	El Carnero	completed 1638	1859	Yes	Recounts a century of the history of present-day Colombia, mixing history with scandalous anecdotes.
Sahagun	Historia general	1547 to 1569	1829 to 1830	Yes	Crónica most representative of those with Mesoamerican informants or co-authors
Santa Cruz Pachacuti	Relación de antigüedades deste reyno del Pirú	?	1879	Yes	Written by an indigenous nobleman; one of the three great Andean ethnohistorical testimonies by an indigenous author, alongside Guamán Poma.
Sarmiento de Gamboa	Historia de los Incas	1572	1906	Yes	Commissioned by viceroy Francisco de Toledo; based on interviews with 42 indigenous authorities, intended to justify the conquest.
Sarmiento de Gamboa	Viaje al Estrecho de Magallanes	1579 to 1580	?	Yes	An account of an expedition to the Strait of Magellan, later used as a basis for attempts to colonise Patagonia.
Schmidel	Verídica descripción	?	1567 (in German)	Yes	A Bavarian mercenary on Pedro de Mendoza's expedition to the Río de la Plata; recounts the founding of Buenos Aires and Asunción.
Simon	Noticias historiales de las conquistas de Tierra Firme en las Indias Occidentales	?	1627 (1st part)	Yes	A Franciscan who lived over two decades in the Nuevo Reino de Granada; a demanding critic of other cronistas.
Solis y Rivadeneyra	Historia	early 1660s to May 1683	1684	No	An official crónica
Tapia	Relación	1539	?	Yes	—N/a
Titu Cusi Yupanqui	Instrucción del Inca Don Diego de Castro Titu Cusi Yupanqui	dictated 1570	?	Yes	The only surviving testimony left by an Inca sovereign on the Spanish conquest and the resistance at Vilcabamba.
Torquemada	Monarquía Indiana	1592 to 1613	1615	Yes	A Franciscan; based on earlier Franciscan sources, including those of Bernardino de Sahagún.
Vazquez de Tapia	Relación de méritos y servicios del conquistador Bernardino Vázquez de Tapia	?	?	Yes	A former encomendero and city councillor of Mexico City; combines a military account with legendary elements.
Vega	Florida	circa 1583 to 1589	early 1605	Yes	First crónica published by an Amerindian or Mestizo author
Vega	Comentarios Reales de los Incas	?	1609 and 1617	Yes	Combines oral accounts from the author's Cuzco maternal family with Spanish sources; a masterwork of Spanish-American colonial literature.
Vespucci	Mundus novus	early 1503	Apr 1503	Yes	—N/a
Vivar	Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile	completed 1558	1966	Yes	A soldier under Pedro de Valdivia; the earliest extensive account of the conquest of Chile.
Ximenez	Historia de la provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala	early 18th century	?	Yes	Includes the first transcription and Spanish translation of the Popol Vuh, the sacred text of the Maya-Quiché.
Zarate	Historia del descubrimiento y conquista del Perú	?	1555	Yes	A royal official, accountant of the Real Hacienda from 1544; a widely cited source, drawn on by the Inca Garcilaso.
Zorita	Relación de las cosas notables de la Nueva España	circa 1585	mid-19th century	Yes	A jurist who served as oidor in the Audiencias of Santo Domingo, Guatemala and Mexico; idealises pre-Hispanic political organisation.

Chroniclers and writings

General chroniclers and official cosmographers

The most prominent chroniclers of this genre include:

• Peter Martyr d'Anghiera (1455–1526)
  • De Orbe Novo ("Decades of the New World"), a work comprising eight decades written in Latin between 1494 and 1526. It compiled oral testimonies and letters from key figures of the exploration and conquest of the Americas, including Christopher Columbus, Hernán Cortés, and Francisco Pizarro. It is considered the first systematic chronicle of the New World, highly valued for its rigorous record of events despite its author never travelling to the Americas.
• Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (1477–1556)
  • Historia general y natural de las Indias ("General and Natural History of the Indies"), a fifty-volume chronicle based on the author's direct experience as a royal official in the Indies. It combines geography, ethnography, and natural history with the account of the main episodes of the conquest. Only partially published during his lifetime (1535), the complete work was not published until the 19th century.
  • Sumario de la natural historia de las Indias ("Summary of the Natural History of the Indies"), an abbreviated version published in 1526, focusing on the description of the flora, fauna, and indigenous customs of the New World, conceived as a report addressed to Emperor Charles V.

See also

• Crónica – on Spanish chronicles as literary works
• Cronista – on European chroniclers in general
• Iberian cartography, 1400–1600

Notes and references

References

1. Iwasaki F (2021). "Crónicas y cronistas de Indias". Centro Andaluz de las Letras. OCLC 1381455773.
2. "Diccionario biográfico electrónico". Historia hispánica. 2018. OCLC 1076520403.
3. Fernandez Lopez J. "Cronistas de Indias". Hispanoteca.
4. Kohut K (2009). "Las primeras crónicas de Indias y la teoría historiográfica". Colonial Latin American Review. 18 (2): 153–187. doi:10.1080/10609160903080188.
5. Gonzalez Boixo JC (1999). "Hacia una definición de las crónicas de Indias". Anales de Literatura Hispanoamericana. 28 (1): 227–237. ISSN 0210-4547.