In this unit's materials, you have been reading the accounts of the Spanish military invasion of the Americas and the imposition of Spanish imperial control. It seems almost an inevitable march and a foregone conclusion. But what happens when things go wrong?
I. Conquistadors sometimes fight over the spoils of war. You already have learned about Cortes and his men deciding to make a claim for themselves in Mexico, completely ignoring the fact that Governor Velasquez of Cuba had revoked his charter for conquest. This set up the encounter with Narvaez and an ultimate appeal to the king
ex post facto for the rights to Mexico.
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| Pizarro |
In Peru, events took a more dramatic turn. In 1537 (just five years after their successful conquest of the Inca empire), the long term partnership between Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro broke down and led to all out civil war between their supporters. Why? In one word, "greed." Of course there were also tensions between those who had been in on the original conquest and those who came after - we will see this throughout the empire, but rarely does this tension erupt into outright civil war.
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| Almagro |
Click here for a link to an interesting website about the wars between the Almagrists and Pizarrists.
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Illustration from Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera
de los reynos de Chile (1558)
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II. The Indians sometimes win! Being a conquistador isn't always a walk in the park and sometimes victory can be elusive. Take Chile for example. Try as they might, the Spaniards were never able to defeat the Araucanians (neither could the Incas, for that matter). The Mapuche, after an initial defeat, put together an alliance that kept the Spaniards out. In the end, the Spaniards drew a line on a map (the Bio-Bio River) and called it a day. Their colony of Chile lay to the north of the line and to the south were the
indios bravos (or "wild" Indians). Modern Chile and the Mapuche people continue to have a sometimes rocky relationship.
Click here to learn more.
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| colonial architecture in Valladolid |
III. And sometimes everything goes wrong. The conquistadors who settled in Valladolid in the eastern Yucatan knew going into the conquest that there were no great riches to be had (well, at least according to Spanish standards, the Mayas found the Yucatan to be quite rich), nevertheless, they expected to settle down and make a decent living from their encomiendas. But the Itza Mayas kept resisting and even overran Valladolid in what has come to be called the Great Maya Revolt (although how you can "revolt" when you have yet to be pacified is another question). No sooner had the encomenderos come to an uneasy peace with the local Mayas (well, those Mayas who stayed, quite a few migrated southward out of Spanish territory), when new troubles come in the guise of humble Franciscan missionaries. The friars made the mission field of the Yucatan an experiment in spiritual conversion, and they had the backing of the king in this endeavor. Needless to say, there will be great animosity between the friars and the settlers. It never quite reaches the all out civil war in Peru, just the butting of heads over everything. The Franciscans go a bit crazy and bring the Inquisition to the local Indians, accusing them of apostasy and idolatry (they aren't having much success in the eastern Yucatan with the whole conversion experience), which is against the rules. Local encomenderos will go so far as to help their commended Indians dig up ancient or manufacture new "idols" to give to the Franciscans to prove that they are good Christians who aren't continuing to worship the old gods. Once again, there is depopulation of Indians. Three decades after the military conquest, several elderly conquistadors of Valladolid will appeal to the king for aid and a small pension by describing their extreme poverty. The most compelling evidence they give? They cannot afford to provide even a small dowry for their daughters to marry or to enter a nunnery.
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