I recently bought a book by the title of “Who is Who of the Conquistadors”. It is packed with the names of over 2000 conquistadors that came to Mexico between 1519 and 1521. This book is invaluable for anyone researching the History of Mexico and definitely for anyone researching their ancestors.
The author, Hugh Thomas, made a short biography almost for every conquistador and when available he writes the names of the parents and or whom they married.
So far I have yet to search all of the names of my ancestors that lived around that time to see if they come out. One that I knew might be listed was my 16th great grandfather Alonso de Estrada.
In his short biography, the author includes the name of his wife Maria Gutierrez Flores de la Caballeria and goes on to also include the names of his children and whom they married.
Cover of Book, Who is Who of the Conquistadors:
Description of the book Who is Who of the Conquistadors:
Until recently, only a few leaders were well known among the Spanish warriors who brutally subjugated the Mayan and Aztec empires of Mexico. Now over 2,000 biographies shed dramatic new light on the conquistadors who made 1519-1521 the bloodiest two-year period in the Western Hemisphere. The world’s leading authority on the subject tells who they were, what roles they played, their histories, backgrounds, and relationships, based on previously unpublished material in both Mexico and Spain. – Amazon.com
Table of Contents of book Who is Who of the Conquistadors:
Here is the table of contents of this book so that you may know exactly what it contains.
1. Conquistadors who went to New Spain in the expedition of Hernan Cortes in March 1519
2. Conquistadors who reached New Spain from Cuba with Francisco de Salcedo (Saucedo) c. July 1519
3. Conquistadors who reached New Spain in the fleets of Francisco de Garray
4. Conquistadors who went to New Spain with Martin de Calahorra
5. Conquistadors who reached New Spain with Panfilo de Navarez in April 1520
6. Conquistadors who went to New Spain with Hernando de Medel
7. Conquistadors who went to New Spain with Pedro Barba
8. Conquistadors who went to New Spain with Rodrigo Mejoron de Lobera
9. Conquistadors who went to New Spain with Juan de Najera
10. The Vessel of Francisco de Rosales
11. The Vessel of Antonio de Carmona
12. The vessel of Francisco de Saavedra
13. The ship of Juan de Cordoba and Luis Fernandez de Alfaro
14. Conquistadors who went to New Spain with Juan Suarez
15. Conquistadors who went to New Spain with Julian de Adereta, Thanks to Rodrigo de Bastidas
16. Conquistadors who went to New Spain with Juan de Burgos
17. Conquistadors who went to New Spain with Juan Ponce de Leon
18. Persons whose moment of departure for the conquest has not yet been ascertained
19. Persons of indirect interest for the conquest of Mexico who were not directly involved in the campaign
20. Conquistadoras
21. Important hearings about the conquest at the time or soon after
22. Unpublished testimonies of Hernan Cortez
This book contains a list of bibliographies used by the author and also an index that will let you find anyone very fast.
About the Author of Who is Who of the Conquistadors:
Hugh Thomas has written numerous histories on the Spanish speaking world, including The Spanish Civil War, for which he won the Somerset Maugham Prize in 1962, Cuba or the Pursuit of Freedom, The Conquest of Mexico and The Slave Trade. His book The Unfinished History of the World won the first National Book Award for History in 1980. Hugh Thomas was chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies 1979-89 and was awarded a peerage as Lord Thomas of Swynnerton in 1981. – Amazon.com
Get Your Copy of Who is Who of the Conquistadors:
At the moment of writing this the only place that I could find it was at Amazon.com and was selling starting at $43.00 used and $81.39 new. If you are interested in buying this book click here BUY NOWÂ to buy from Amazon.
In the comment area let me know that names of the ancestors that you find within the pages of this book.
Other Related Books of Interest:
Descendants of Conquistadors and First Spanish Settlers of New Spain
Hello Mr Garza, I am a descendent of Lazaro martin del Campo, San Juan de Los Lagos Jalisco, mex. I am the 14th generation. I would like to get information on how to look up in detail and what is the best and easy software I can use to chart my ancestry. I would appreciate your content.
Thank you
Jose
If youa re new to genealogy consider buying my book or a similar one so that you learn fast. Also I only use Family Tree Maker to chart my tree since creating citations is very easy.
Hi Moses read it and it very interesting I think it’s hernan cortez I found my Serrato family on ancestry
Maria Teresa Cortez is marries to Francisco serrato my 5 great grandfather Im still looking for info thanks for your help primo
Good luck and glad you like the post.
Moises, thank for the advice on this book, it seems to be great but quite expensive, in Mexico is available at AMAZON at more than $24,000 MXP for a hard cover book. Do you now for any PDF version available
I know, when I first bought it it was 40 dollars. It’s crazy of how expensive they are selling it.
Here: https://ia902505.us.archive.org/22/items/thomas-h.-quien-es-quien-de-los-conquistadores-ocr-2001/Thomas,%20H.%20-%20Qui%C3%A9n%20es%20qui%C3%A9n%20de%20los%20conquistadores%20%5Bocr%5D%20%5B2001%5D.pdf
Thank you for the link. I will update the psot to include it soon.
Thanks for the link!…free e books are awesome
Moises, does the book on conquistador’s mention my 13th great grandfather – Francisco “Conquistador de Nueva Galicia, Fundador of Santa Maria de los Lagos” Tavera de la Vega. He was born in 1530 in Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Catilla-La Mancha, Spain and died in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, MX,
Thank you,
Lisa Gonzalez Morales
I looked and did not find him there.
Wikitree has a family tree for Francisco Tavera de Vega, one of their group projects. You can reach it by googling Francisco Tavera de Vega. I haven’t been able to find what other early settlers there are. Tavera is my 12th great grandfather.
Wikitree is great to find aditional clues.
he's also my 13th great grandfather. Found this post while doing some research on my ancestry. Ancestry. com gave me the ancestor hint on him 😉
This is a excellent book to read. Accurate in a lot of details but at the same time way off the mark on a few others. But over all give it a B plus. But them were are very involved in this book. as our family appears many many times. The family De Zuniga Y Ramirez De Arellano.
Moises, I went to Amazon for the book of conquistadors and it currently sells for $330, used. I sure would like to find one for the amount you paid. Is there any other resource for reading this book? I tried my local libraries and had no luck.
Yes, the price is really high. Other than libraries I don’t think there is a way.
Buenas tardes, amigo
I’m a descendant of Lopez de Elizalde and de Luebana lineage from Nueva Galicia
Any insight on Martin de Luebana who was arrested with Martin Cortes 1566?
Can’t find any records on my conquistador ancestors.
Much as gracias.
I don’t have anything on them.
HI, Moises! I recently started reading your blog and started listening to your podcast. My family is not Mexican but I’m still finding a lot of info by looking through the catholic records and the padrones records. Thank you for these tips since they seem to apply to other hispanic countries too!
According to my research my paternal Spanish ancestor was a conquistador named Juan Anton de Recino (or Resino). Unfortunately, I can’t afford the almost $300 the book is going for. If you could please do me the favor of looking to see if he’s mentioned in the group that was sent with Panfilo de Navarez in April 1520? According to my other research he later joined Hernan Cortes after Navarez’s group was defeated by Cortes and went on to join Pedro de Alvarado in the conquest of Guatemala/El Salvador.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for your kind words. I did find his name in the book but that was it, it does not have anything on him. He is listed on page 229.
Thank you so much for the information! I just wanted confirmation of his name before I tracked down the book later on to make a copy of the page for myself.
Thank you for taking the time to look! Keep up the content.
You are welcome.
Is there any information on the two Madrid who joined Cortés in Cuba! One was killed in the battles with the Aztecs? The other survived and joined Coronados expedition north! He did not go back to Mexico with Coronado because of the Inquisition! Also Villegas who was also a Conquistador with Cortez! And Coronado?
Yes they mention: Alonso de Madrid – hunchback, died int he siege. and Francsico Madrid, from Madrid, perhaps the same as he who went to La Espanola in 1494, became a notary public in Havana in 1519. That is all that is mentioned in the book.
I am a descendent of Alonso de Avalos thru my mothers maternal line.
Our families have deep roots in the Southern part of Jalisco, Mexico, formerly known as the “Provincia de Avalos”. Could you please let us know if there is any mention of Alonso de Avalos or his descendants. I believe he maintained somewhat of a less violent relation with Indigenous peoples and it is mentioned that he was favored amongst the natives.
Only one Alonso de Avalos is mentioned in the name index. The son of Pedro Lopez de Saavedra and Isabel Alvarez Regon.
Hi Moises, I traced one of my lines back to Diego de Vallejo. When his grandson, Francisco, was appointed Escribano to Guatemala his bloodline was examined closely. His grandfather, Diego, was noted to have been one of the first conquistadors of the said province (Guatemala) but I have not heard of him previously and I can't find anything about him. By chance, is he listed in the book?
Kind regards,
Justin
The only Vallejo listed in the book is Pedro de Vallejo.
I just used your link to Amazon, and the price was starting from $391.91, a little bit out of my price range!
I noticed that too. Back then I bought my copy for about 50 bucks, that was 8 years ago. Check worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.
FYI: I noted the date of this blog post as July 1, 2015, and you included a link to it on your most recent email, 10/25/2023. The price of this book is now $399.95 at Amazon. Supply must have been low and demand must have increased during the past 8 years. It is available at certain libraries, especially university libraries.
The problem is that it is out of print. Alexa Vargas found the Spanish verion and it has a creative commons licence available for free as a PDF. Look for her comment here, I will update the post soon to include it.