Histories of Infamy: Francisco López de Gómara and the Ethics of Spanish Imperialism

285 Pages·2005·0.918 MB·English

by  Cristián A. Roa-de-la-Carrera

Cristián A. Roa-de-la-Carrera
Translated by Scott C. Sessions
Francisco López de Gómara and the Ethics of Spanish Imperialism
Histories
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Histories
(cid:2)
(cid:2)of Infamy
Francisco López de Gómara and
the Ethics of Spanish Imperialism
Cristián A. Roa-de-la-Carrera
Translated by Scott Sessions
U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S O F C O L O R A D O
© 2005 by the University Press of Colorado
Published by the University Press of Colorado
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Boulder, Colorado 80303
All rights reserved
Printed in Canada
The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of
the Association of American University Presses.
The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in
part, by Adams State College, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State
College, Metropolitan State College of Denver, University of Colorado, University of
Northern Colorado, and Western State College of Colorado.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Ma-
terials. ANSI Z39.48-1992
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roa-de-la Carrera, Cristián Andrés, 1969–
Histories of infamy : Francisco López de Gómara and the ethics of Spanish imperialism
/ Cristián A. Roa de la Carrera ; translated by Scott Sessions.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87081-813-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. López de Gómara, Francisco, 1511–
1564. Historia general de las Indias. 2. America—Early accounts to 1600—History and
criticism. 3. America—Discovery and exploration—Spanish—Early works to 1800—
History and criticism. 4. Indians, Treatment of—Historiography. 5. Spain—Colonies—
America—Historiography. 6. Imperialism—History—16th century—Historiography. 7.
Mexico—History—Conquest, 1519–1540—Historiography. I. Title.
E141.G637 2005
970.01’6—dc22
2005022809
Design by Daniel Pratt
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Gabriela and Andrés
Acknowledgments
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vi
Acknowledgments
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Contents
ix Foreword
xv Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
ONE 21 GÓMARA AND THE POLITICS OF CONSENSUS
21 History as Influence: The Emperor and the Conqueror
25 Historiography and Empire-Building
32 In the Service of the King: Historians and Administrators
39 Contested Histories in a Changing Discursive Landscape
46 The Authority of Discourse: The Historia general and the
World of Fernando Cortés
54 The Limits of Consensus: Gómara Under Attack
TWO 77 TERRITORIES OF REDEMPTION IN THE NEW WORLD
77 Geography and Culture in the Colonial World
84 Territoriality and Sacred History
95 History, Cartography, and Dominion: Establishing
Rights of Conquest
106 The Indies and Human Diversity
117 To Inherit the World: Human Intellect and Dominion
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vii
AcknCoownlteedngtmsents
THREE 131 EXCHANGE AS A NARRATIVE OF IMPERIAL EXPANSION
131 Christian Rhetoric, Economic Ends
134 The Discovery and the Historical Tradition
144 The Humble Beginnings of the Empire
154 Exchange as a System of Colonization
165 Justice and the Dynamics of Intercultural Relations
173 Searching for a Common Good: Imperialism as a Form
of Reciprocity
FOUR 187 GÓMARA AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIES
187 Ruling the Indians: The King and His Despots
192 The Infamy of Spain and the Conquistadors
201 Imperialism and Desire
215 Lordship and Masculinity
222 The Patriarchal Life of the Conquistador
239 Bibliography and References Cited
255 Index
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viii
Acknowledgments
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Foreword
FRANCISCO LÓPEZ DE GÓMARA AND
THE LITERARY DYNAMICS OF INFAMY
ome years ago, Life magazine did an issue on the twenty-five
most significant events in world history. Near the top of the
list was the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the fall of the
Aztec empire and its capital city of Tenochtitlan. The article
made its case with a quote from the Spanish historian Francisco López
de Gómara, who claimed that after the creation of the world by God
and the coming of Jesus Christ on earth, the Spanish colonization of
Mexico was the third most significant event in the history of mankind.
Gómara’s cosmological design of history gave enormous prestige to
Spanish culture, Christianity, and imperialism, and claimed that the
conquest offered a kind of redemption for the “savage” Indians of
Mexico. A hidden purpose of Gómara’s claim was to place his magnum
opus, the Historia general de las Indias y Conquista de México, at the end
point in a sacred literary tradition that began with the book of Genesis,
peaked in the Christian Gospels, and became incarnated in the imperial
policies of Spain in the New World.
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