Bernardo de Vargas Machuca (

Simancas Simancas is a town and municipality of central Spain, located in the province of Valladolid, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated approximately 10 km southwest of the provincial capital Valladolid, on the r ...

, 1555 -

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, 1622) was a Spanish soldier, writer, naturalist,

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and

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

Biography

Bernardo de Vargas Machuca was born in

, a town in the present-day

Province of Valladolid Valladolid () is a province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 525,398 across a total of 225 municipalities, an area of , meaning a population density of 64.77 people ...

, in 1555 (some sources say 1557), to Juan Vargas, warden of the castle in that town, and Angela de Soto. He completed his studies in the city of

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, enlisting at a very early age in the Spanish Army. He served in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and in the colonization of the Americas. During his stay in the American continent he lived in

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, capital city of the

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. After retiring from his military career he settled in the new capital of the

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, Madrid. During this period he wrote and published several works in which he collected his impressions and research, including ''Milicia y descripción de las Indias'' (The Indian Militia and Description of the Indies) in 1599, also known as ''Milicia Indiana'', a manual intended for Spanish officers serving in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

. He also published in 1621 ''Compendio y Doctrina Nueva de la Gineta'' (Compendium and New Doctrine of Gineta Horsemanship), one of the main studies on Jineta horsemanship of the time, dedicated to Count Alberto Fúcar (Albert Fugger), member of the German House of Fugger, and another essay written around 1603 titled ''Defensa de la conquista de las Indias'' (Defense of the Conquest of the Indies), in which he refutes and rejects the ideas and arguments in

Bartolomé de las Casas Bartolomé de las Casas, Dominican Order, OP ( ; ); 11 November 1484 – 18 July 1566) was a Spanish clergyman, writer, and activist best known for his work as an historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman, then became ...

’s

A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies ''A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies'' () is an account written by the Spanish Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas in 1542 (published in 1552) about the mistreatment of and atrocities committed against the indigenous peoples of ...

(1552), although it was never published. He died in the Spanish capital in 1622.

Works

*''Milicia y descripcion de las Indias'', 1599 *''Libro de exercicios de la gineta'', 1600 *''Defensa de la conquista de las Indias'', 1603 *''Compendio y doctrina nueva de la Gineta'', 1621

References

{{Reflist Spanish soldiers Spanish writers