ipl-logo

Summary Of Matthew Restall's Seven Myths Of The Spanish Conquest

910 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Men in colonial times

Matthew Restall’s book Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest takes a look at the history of the conquest of the New World, while at the same time, attempting to decipher through certain myths that have gained historical ground over time. He looks at what parts of these myths have some truth to them and what parts of them seem purely fabricated. While going through these myths, Restall starts from the beginning from the reader’s point of view. He does this in order to give the reader ideas of what the myths are, and where they come from. Restall then pushes aside what countless historians used to think to be true for hundreds or years, and shares a new, deeper look at some of the myths. The first myth that Restall discuses is “The Myth of Exceptional …show more content…

Cortes has been elevated in history with the use of the probanza de merito (The proof of merit), this was a written account of of all of the great deeds that a conqueror has achieved and the rewards that he deserves in exchange for these. Cortes, or any such Conquistador looking for a reward, would only write down the great things that he was able to accomplish and would never write of the negative and undesirable things that took place. Restall talks about the seldom recognized probanza written by Bernal Diaz about the Conquest of Mexico. At this time, these probanza’s were basically used as history books. Someone like Diaz wrote down all of Cortes’ merits and services while leaving out the negative, and with the probanza, the legend of Cortes was born. One such legend of Cortes was that he decided in 1519 in the Gulf of Mexico, he decided to torch his ships. Restall goes on to state that this was indeed not the case however. This shows that how even small myths can erupt from larger myths. While talking about these exceptional men, Restall picks at certain things that used to be thought of as historically accurate and strikes them down as pure fiction. He strives to show that these men were nothing more than simple explorers who ended up choosing the right time to sail. They will forever be linked to their Conquests, but Restall does a good job at distinguishing exactly what is truth, and what is

Show More
Related

Summary Of Buddy Levy's 'Conquistador'

1181 Words | 5 Pages

Cortes, as well as many other explorers during this time, was inspired by the Three G’s: God, gold, and glory. He planned to conquer the new lands for Spain, to convert the natives to Catholicism, and to obtain the riches of the land, mostly gold. Conquistador is basically a record of the last days of the Aztec civilization, as the two groups, the Aztecs and the Spaniards, clash, and the Spaniards ultimately come out on top.

Read More

Research Paper On Cabeza De Vaca's Voyage

869 Words | 4 Pages

The beginning of Cabeza de Vaca’s voyage was very promising; he had strong ships, a team of 600 men, and ample amount of horses, food, and resources. Their motive of finding new land to call home and spread the message of Christianity was going to come true. Before arriving to the new land, they were very prestige and well off. However, after a sequence of events, these things changed.

Read More

Spanish Conquistadors Research Paper

537 Words | 3 Pages

In the late 1400's, conquistadors started their first voyages to the “New World”. They sought gold, resources, and to convert any indigenous peoples they came across. The Spanish, the conquistadors were heroes for spreading Catholicism and returning new resources. Yet, from the point of view of the natives and Bartholome de Las Casas, they were villains. The conquistadors massacred the natives; enslaving those who escaped.

Read More

How Did Bartolome De Las Casas Treat The Americans

975 Words | 4 Pages

The Black Legend made the Spanish seem un-Christian. It made them look as if they were torturing Natives. Another important thing is that the Spanish seemed to only care about the wealth that was coming in. All of these things led to the Black Legend and de las Casas point of view. He made it seem as if they only cared about money, and

Read More

Myths In Ronald Wright's Stolen Continents

668 Words | 3 Pages

“Myth is an arrangement of the past” (Wright 2009) our entire idea of North America’s history is based on stories. Stories of travel, war, treasure hunts, death and appropriation of land. In Ronald Wrights book Stolen Continents, Wright argues that the stories we know are one sided, He in fact calls them myths. These myths reflect one half of the people involved in our history. He argues that the Europeans took the new world in the name of their countries from the indigenous peoples who had discovered it long before them.

Read More

Miguel Hidalgo: An Epic Hero

1195 Words | 5 Pages

events”(The Definition). Miguel Hidalgo can be seen as an epic hero in modern society because he has courage, has affected many people from his actions, and rose to a high position. Miguel Hidalgo showed a great deal of courage during his existence. Without his courage, he would of never been able

Read More

Cabeza De Vaca Transformation

800 Words | 4 Pages

Cabeza de Vaca became a healer to the Indians and went to various places tending to the sick. From this usefulness, he managed to keep himself alive along with three survivors of his shipwrecked company, who had also made the choice to be part of the conquistador expedition. He lived day to day as a prisoner serving others as masters, a will he thought he’d be imposing as a conquistador. Living on the other side of things gives new perspective and meaning to life and humanity. He had seen the cruelty and kindness of both Indians and Europeans.

Read More

The Broken Spears Summary

573 Words | 3 Pages

The Broken Spears, by Miguel Leon-Portilla, is an all-inclusive and compelling account of the Spanish conquest, told by the Aztecs also known as the conquered. Leon Portilla’s choice of events depicted in this book collides together giving the reader a broad view of the Spanish conquest. This book gives a history of emotional and spiritual human experiences, allowing the readers to comprehend, and relate to the Aztecs as they went through terror and faced their fears. This book provides an extensive amount of details concerning lack of leadership, bias and technological hardship that led to the Aztec defeat. After reading this book the reader will start to understand how and why the Aztecs suffered .

Read More

Devastation Of The Indies Analysis

867 Words | 4 Pages

On these islands I estimate there are 2,100 leagues of land that have been ruined and depopulated, empty of people.” (Las Casas) Nothing positive came from the people of Spain setting foot on the land of the Indians. Depopulation was just one of many hazardous effects that the Spaniards

Read More

Black Conquistadors Analysis

993 Words | 4 Pages

The role of historical explorers is often exaggerated, and many times, they are presented as mythical figures who have overcame great feats. Men such as Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes are recognized as such important figures due to external factors such as the symbolism of their name or their connections to the Spanish crown, respectively. In the novel, Estebanico states that often times, the Spaniards were not entirely truthful in their reports back to the Spanish crown. He indicates that though he fully wants to include the details of his relation with his Native American wife, Oyomasot, the other Castilians refused to include details that were contradictory to the rulings of the crown. (Lalami 234).

Read More

Spanish Empire Research Paper

925 Words | 4 Pages

Bartolome de Las Casas describes the arrival of the Spanish on American soil as “cruel Tygres, Wolves, and Lions, enrag'd with a sharp and redious hunger; for these forty years past, minding nothing else but the slaughter of these unfortunate wretches, whom with diverse kinds of torments neither seen nor heard of before, they have so cruelly and inhumanly butchered, that of three millions of people which Hispaniola it self did contain, there are left remaining alive scarce three hundred persons.” This account for Bartolome de Las Casas exemplifies the cruelty and imperialistic side of Spain. Spain was not just seeking new land, resources, and riches, instead they were seeking a way to exploit natives as they saw them as

Read More

Spanish Conquest Myth

203 Words | 1 Pages

In the first myth Restall talks about how the Spanish Conquest was enabled by only a few “exceptional” men. In reality, it was a handful of many explorers that all took part in these discoveries. He states that Spain and Portugal had discovered quite a bit before Columbus, Cortes, or Pizarro did. In chapter 3 Restall talks about the myth that the Spanish Conquest was accomplished by only a few white Spaniards. He debunks this by talking about how much of the actual military operations was undertaken by allies of the conquistadors.

Read More

Spanish Conquest Among The Americas Essay

513 Words | 3 Pages

The Spanish had an unintentional ally to speed the process of Spanish conquest among the Native inhabitants of the Americas: disease. Disease, and the appropriately named theory of "virgin-soil epidemics", was one of the main reasons that the Spanish were able to effectively conquer the Native Americans. Native Americans had not been exposed to Europeans for many years, and as a result their immune systems were completely defenseless in fending off common European diseases. What may have been a simple cold to the Spanish meant death to the Native Americans. Diseases such as smallpox, measles, influenza, typhus fever, and malaria were all slowly being introduced to the Americas and the Natives.

Read More

Spanish Imperialism Essay

751 Words | 4 Pages

In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was established in order to evenly divide unclaimed lands between Portugal and Spain. This led to the Line of Demarcation, in which the non-European world was divided into two zones. Portugal had rights to the eastern hemisphere, and Spain had rights to the western hemisphere. This allowed Spain to colonize areas in the New World. Even though they had this opportunity, they were not able to colonize specific areas in North America due to competition with other European countries.

Read More

Analysis Of The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account Of The Conquest Of Mexico

1506 Words | 7 Pages

This power imbalance and these payments are key in the subjugation of the natives. Furthermore, the paternalism of the Spanish toward the Indigenous peoples is obvious: “Captain [Cortes] stared at him [Cuauhtemoc]…then patted him on the head” (p.117). Post-conquest, and still today, “difficult relations” between the descendants of the Indigenous peoples and the “others” (p.117) still exist. The European view of the natives “as idolatrous savages” or, on the contrary, as “models of natural virtue” (p.175) demonstrate the versatile and often contradictory views held. Similarly, the Aztecs at times saw the Spaniards as gods, and other times as gold-hungry savages who “fingered it like monkeys” (p.51).

Read More

More about Summary Of Matthew Restall's Seven Myths Of The Spanish Conquest

Related Topics

Open Document