A Knight's Tale: Reminiscences of the Arms Investiture Ceremony in the Work of Bernal Díaz del Castillo

Abstract

In the following pages we propose an investigation of the point of encounter between chivalry and American chroniclers through the work of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, by means of analyzing the reminiscence, in his book, of the chivalric ideal and the characteristics of the institution of chivalry, with the intention of tracing all evocations of the latter or its influences, in later time and different spaces, particularly regarding the different participants who joined the ceremony of investiture, the ritual regarding it, and the privileges and obligations thereof derived.