Conquistadors: A New History of the Discovery and Conquest of the Americas
19.99 €
In stock
Conquistadors: A New History of the Discovery and Conquest of the Americas
19.99 €
In the decades after Columbus' first expedition in 1492, Spain took control of a dozen modern American states and conquered two of the continent's most powerful civilizations, the Aztec and Inca empires. Hernan Cortez, Francisco Pizarro and other conquistadors have firmly entered history as examples of arrogance to foreign cultures, unbridled greed and often irrational cruelty. There was much of this in their actions, but it was not the only thing that drove these first true European colonizers. They were carriers of the medieval culture of chivalric romances, had complex ideas about rights, subjects and the limits of royal power, and could not have won their victories without the enthusiastic support of many natives.
Mexican historian Fernando Cervantes, himself a direct descendant of one of the conquistadors, set out to discern this real context behind the stamps and myths of Spanish colonization. Analyzing diaries, letters, chronicles, and the first human rights treatises in history, he tried to separate facts from self-promotion, the desire to slander competitors, and the centuries-long efforts of foreign - primarily Dutch and English - authors to portray the Spanish in the most unfavorable light possible. This book both makes us think about how history is written and sheds a whole new light on the events that turned a personal union of small European monarchies into one of the greatest empires of all time.
Mexican historian Fernando Cervantes, himself a direct descendant of one of the conquistadors, set out to discern this real context behind the stamps and myths of Spanish colonization. Analyzing diaries, letters, chronicles, and the first human rights treatises in history, he tried to separate facts from self-promotion, the desire to slander competitors, and the centuries-long efforts of foreign - primarily Dutch and English - authors to portray the Spanish in the most unfavorable light possible. This book both makes us think about how history is written and sheds a whole new light on the events that turned a personal union of small European monarchies into one of the greatest empires of all time.
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