Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of the argumentative mechanisms put forward in the Letters from Mexico(Cartas de Relación) written by Hernán Cortés to Charles V in order to legitimize the territorial conquest of what would become the New Spain and, in doing so, of the New World. It seeks particularly to show the use of the rhetorical concept of inventio in the transition from a conceptual appropriation of the New World (through the elaboration of the very concept of “New World”) to its territorial control (with the foundation of Veracruz and the creation of the New Spain).