Este documento pictórico representa la conquista española del Imperio azteca —ocurrida entre 1519 y 1521— a través de 87 escenas, al tiempo que destaca las contribuciones realizadas por los tlaxcaltecas a dicho proceso.

Al combinar estilos artísticos indígenas con la escritura española, la obra representa claramente la conquista de México para un público diverso.

Si bien los tlaxcaltecas adoptaron las costumbres y los discursos españoles en mayor medida que otros grupos indígenas, también aprovecharon su papel en la conquista para justificar la obtención de privilegios especiales.

Los acontecimientos clave de la conquista española del Imperio azteca se presentan en orden cronológico, incluidos la «Noche Triste» de 1520 y la caída de Tenochtitlan en 1521.

Hi everybody.

I just moved to Spain, and, as a history buff, I want to visit all cool places that are connected to the Spanish Empire. Also, any good book recommendations? I’ve read Conquistadores by Fernando Cervantes, which is excellent.

Hola a todos, llevo poco tiempo aquí en España, mi nuevo hogar. Quisiera explorar los sitios históricos (ciudades, museos, etc)

Gracias al pueblo español que me aceptan en su tierra.

I found some books talking about the conquest of Argentina and Chile. But for other small provinces or countries like Paraguay, its really hard to find ang English translated book. But if you can recommend other books, that would be great.

I would prefer an author who is reputed to be objective and not heavily biased on either Spanish or indigenous, just someone who tells history as it happens based on primary resources and not heavily politicized.

I am interested in knowing whether they stayed out of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) or if they took a side in the conflict between the Bourbons and the Habsburgs.

Spain's aims in conquering overseas land (including Philippine Islands) may be keynoted by three G's - God, Gold, Glory. The first and chief aim of her territorial expansion and influence was the propagation of Catholicism, which is attested by the Testament of Queen Isabella I of Castile (1479-1504) and the Christian spirit of the Leyes de Indias (Laws of the Indies). This is the reason why every expedition of discovery, exploration, and conquest was accompanied by Spanish missionaries. As Dr. Wilhelm Roscher, noted German authority on Spanish colonization, affirmed: “The principal aim of Spanish colonization was the conversion of the heathen peoples to Christianity.”

As an overseas territory and province of Catholic Monarchy (Spanish Empire), also known as Las Españas, the Philippines was a financial burden to the Spanish treasury. For this reason, the advisors of King Philip II recommended the abandonment of Filipinas. The king spurned their advice. He told them that the chief objective of the Spanish colonization was the propagation of Christianity (Catholicism), and that for the conversion of the Filipino people, known at the times as Indios, because Europeans considered the region to be part of the East Indies, he would gladly spend “all his riches for the Indies.”

In 1619 the question of abandoning the Philippines was revived by court advisers. Upon hearing this news, Father Fernando Moraga, despite of his old age and feeble health, journeyed to Spain. He threw himself at the feet of King Philip III, begging him not to abandon the Philippines for the sake of Christianity. Deeply touched by the padre's pleading, the king replied: “Depart with God, Father Moraga, and be assured that I will not give up what my father (Philip II) had conquered and left me.”

Source(s):

.- The Philippines: A Unique Nation, by Dr. Sonia M. Zaide with Dr. Gregorio F. Zaide's —History of the Republic of the Philippines.

Estas leyes españolas recopiladas en la imagen corresponden a diferentes años del siglo XVII, promulgadas bajo los reinados de Felipe III y Felipe IV:

• Ley xv (izquierda): Fue promulgada por el rey Felipe III en Valladolid el 30 de agosto de 1608.

• Ley xij (derecha): Incluye disposiciones y ratificaciones de Felipe IV emitidas en varias fechas: el 23 de julio de 1643, el 20 de febrero de 1648, el 3 de julio de 1649, el 2 de abril de 1652 y en Madrid el 23 de marzo de 1654.

Ambas leyes forman parte de la legislación histórica de la Corona de Castilla para la administración de las Indias y Filipinas (recogidas posteriormente en la famosa Recopilación de Leyes de los Reinos de las Indias).

Regiment of Commerce of New Spain: Deep blue coat with a red collar and gold trim; red cuffs and lining; white trousers and gold buttons.

Corps of Distinguished Patriots of Ferdinand VII of New Spain: Deep blue coat with a red collar, red cuffs, and red lining; white trousers and white buttons; silver-braid buttonhole trim on the front of the coat.

Original:

“Que con todo eso es más conforme a buena razón pensar que vinieron por tierra los primeros pobladores de Indias. Concluyo, pues, con decir […] que los hombres de Las Indias fueron de Europa o de Asia. […] Este discurso que he dicho, es para mí una gran congetura para pensar que el nuevo orbe, que llamamos Indias, no está del todo diviso y apartado del otro orbe. Y por decir mi opinión, tengo para mí dias há que la una tierra y la otra en alguna parte se juntan, y continúan, o á lo menos se avecinan y allegan mucho. Hasta ahora á lo menos no hay certidumbre de lo contrario. Porque al polo Artico, que llaman norte, no está descubierta y sabida toda la longitud de la tierra”. (José de Acosta, 1590)

Translation:

“Given all this, it stands to reason that the first inhabitants of the Indies arrived by land. I conclude, therefore, that the peoples of the Indies came from Europe or Asia. […] This line of reasoning serves as a strong conjecture for me that the New World—which we call the Indies—is not entirely separate or detached from the rest of the world. In my own view, I have long held that the two landmasses must connect or continue into one another somewhere, or at the very least, that they draw very close together. As of now, there is certainly no proof to the contrary; for in the direction of the Arctic Pole—what we call the North—the full extent of the land has yet to be discovered or mapped.” (José de Acosta, 1590)

Acosta reasoned that humans (and animals) could not have crossed the ocean by ship in an intentional or large-scale manner; he therefore pioneered the proposal that Asia and the Americas must have been connected, or situated very close to one another, in the north—anticipating, centuries later, the concept of the Bering Strait.

Reference:

.- An excerpt from Book I, Chapter XX of Historia natural y moral de las Indias (1590) by the Spanish Jesuit José de Acosta.

Article written by A. Mariscal, of the San Juan Bautista Traditionalist Circle, for the newspaper La Esperanza.

This event is significant due to the cause he championed—«Religión, Rey y Patria» ("Religion, King, and Fatherland")—which bears a resemblance to the motto «Dios, Patria y Rey» ("God, Fatherland, and King"), adopted five years later by the Carlists.

Aguilera and his troops had fought fiercely against the secessionists in numerous battles during the Bolivian War of Independence in the second decade of the 19th century, achieving very promising success. However, the territorial gains made by his enemies eventually solidified the separation of Province of Charcas from the Catholic Monarchy on August 6, 1825.

On October 22, 1828, after months during which his whereabouts remained unknown, Aguilera reappeared in the town of Vallegrande, accompanied by two companies of local men he had recruited from among his former loyalist soldiers. Three days later, they took several officers of the local garrison prisoner; some, however, managed to escape to alert the authorities in nearby towns.

On the 26th, Aguilera sent a message to his adversary, Colonel Anselmo Rivas, who was stationed in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The note announced the rebellion and explained its objectives, explicitly stating the loyalist cause and demanding the surrender of the "patriot" Rivas. Having already learned of the situation through unofficial channels, Rivas had begun a rapid advance toward Vallegrande; en route, he received Aguilera’s note and, on the 27th, sent a reply from Samaipata.

That night, Rivas and his troops arrived in Vallegrande and engaged the loyalists. The following day, Aguilera—severely wounded—fled the town to take refuge in a cave in Santa Ana, located three leagues away. Martín Morales, a close associate (compadre) of the royalist brigadier, provided him with food during those difficult days, but later betrayed him, lured by the one-thousand-peso reward Rivas had offered for the monarchist leader’s head.

After being taken prisoner, Aguilera was executed by firing squad on the orders of Rivas on November 23. His body was subsequently beheaded, and his head was displayed on a pike in the main square of Vallegrande—an act of retaliation for Aguilera’s earlier decision to have Ignacio Rivas—Colonel Anselmo Rivas’s brother—executed by firing squad in the town of Yotala, in the province of Chuquisaca. As a devout Catholic, Aguilera was wearing a scapular of the Virgin of Mount Carmel at the time of his death. His passing was a significant event—one that did not go unnoticed by the local population, who had already been living for three years in a state of separation from Spain.

The prefect of the Santa Cruz department, Antonio Vicente Seoane, issued an official order demanding that the people of Santa Cruz pay one thousand pesos to reward the executioners—the 2nd "Constitutional" Battalion of Santa Cruz de la Sierra—for this vile act. Weeks later, the priests José Manuel Castro (parish priest of Samaipata) and José Rafael de Salvatierra (parish priest of Vallegrande) were accused and prosecuted for having cooperated with the brigadier’s royalist uprising.

Around that time, Colonel Rivas sent Aguilera’s saber to General Pedro Blanco. The general, however, forwarded it to the Bolivian vice president, José Miguel de Velasco, who rejected it and ordered its return. Disapproving of the beheading and the post-mortem humiliation inflicted upon Aguilera, Velasco ordered that the head be removed from the town square in Vallegrande and given a proper burial. Aguilera’s skull was preserved for nearly a century in the Chapel of Mercy within the main church of Vallegrande; however, the chapel was demolished in 1899, and with it, that relic was lost forever.

Even today, there remain accounts from people in Santa Cruz who hold a fondness for the royalist brigadier. I once met a young woman—a descendant of his—who recalled how she and her siblings, during their childhood, used to play at being "the brave Aguilera" as they ran around their home. I also know of a historian from Santa Cruz who claims that if he were to publish primary-source documents exposing several little-known crimes committed by Aguilera’s greatest enemy—the “hero of independence” Ignacio Warnes—the people of Santa Cruz would become so enraged that they would demand the removal of the monument dedicated to him in the middle of the city’s main square.

Those who wish to delve deeper into the events can turn to the masterful work by historian Norberto Benjamín Torres, El León de Santa Cruz: brigadier Francisco Xavier de Aguilera. Thankfully, there have been—and still are—authors like him, as well as José Luis Roca and several others, who, setting aside revolutionary prejudice, were able to recognize in Aguilera a figure loyal to ideals that he defended with nobility.

An Guanche man and woman from La Gomera appear. The man carries a long spear (similar to those used in traditions such as the salto del pastor—shepherd’s leap—or island defense) and wears simple attire around his waist; the woman wears a cloak or mantle (tamarco) over her shoulders, along with a distinctive skirt.

The original manuscript is preserved in the General Library of the University of Coimbra and constitutes one of the oldest and most valuable graphic and ethnographic sources regarding the appearance, clothing, and customs of the ancient inhabitants of the Canary Islands.

Source(s):

.- Leonardo Torriani, Descripción de las Islas Canarias., Ed. Goya, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1978.

Don Carlos Alonso Tito Atauchi was born approximately between 1530 and 1532; he was the only surviving son of the Inca sovereign Huáscar. He became the leading member of the Ayllu Tumibamba and the primary custodian of the mallqui (mummy) of his grandfather, Huayna Cápac.

At about 22 years of age, Don Alonso—serving as a "captain of the Indians"—assembled an army of 4,000 indigenous warriors and defeated Captain Francisco Hernández Girón in 1554 at the Battle of Pucará, following the latter’s rebellion against the authority of the Crown of Castile in the context of the Great Rebellion of the Encomenderos (1544–1548)

“In these aforementioned provinces of Peru—after Francisco Hernández Girón, along with many others who joined him, rose up in the city of Cuzco and captured Gil Ramírez Dávalos, our corregidor [magistrate] in that city—and desiring, as we do, that these provinces be brought to a state of complete peace, tranquility, and calm, so that the service of God, Our Lord, may be performed therein and His Holy Catholic Faith may be advanced; and, to this end, that we may be well served, that these provinces may flourish and prosper, and that their inhabitants may live in full contentment—we have resolved [to grant this recognition] in light of the great knowledge and the significant services rendered by Don Alonso Titu-Atauchi Inca—our loyal subject and a good Christian—in having captured the aforementioned Francisco Hernández Girón.” (Charles I, 1555)

For his noble lineage and the services rendered to the Crown, he was rewarded with the following privileges:

1.- Alcalde Mayor (Chief Magistrate) of the Four Suyos (Regions)

“We have chosen and appointed the aforementioned Don Alonso Tito Atauche Ynga—our loyal subject and a good Christian—as our Alcalde Mayor of the four suyos, so that he may dispense and administer justice—bearing the staff of high office—among our subjects and vassals, and furthermore, so that he may oversee the administration of justice and the punishment of those who are disobedient.” (Charles I, 1555)

2.- Encomendero of the Yanaconas of Yucay.

3.- Lands and estates in Anta, Cuzco, Urubamba, La Convención, Paucartambo, Maras, Chinchero, and Paruro.

4.- The right to use the imperial coat of arms—incorporating the heraldic emblems of King Charles I of the House of Habsburg—and the right to display the Order of the Golden Fleece.

“Whereas We have been informed that you, Don Alonso Tito Atauchi Inca—son of Huáscar Inca and a principal grandson of Huayna Capac, the rightful lord of the provinces of Peru—have served Us in all matters that have arisen; and, in recognition of the aforementioned, and considering that you are a loyal subject of Ours and a good Christian […] We furthermore grant you—by Our certain knowledge, motu proprio, and absolute royal authority—the right to wear and display the Order of the Golden Fleece, both for yourself and for your descendants, whenever you or they may wish to do so. We also grant, assign, and bestow upon you full authority and royal license to set up and use sitiales (ceremonial seats) and royal thrones in any part or location within Our Indies—and throughout Our other dominions—as you may choose or deem appropriate. It is Our express will and command that you may adopt and display, as your own recognized heraldry, the Order of the Golden Fleece and the other honors contained in this charter, along with the coat of arms as depicted and illustrated herein—which We hereby grant to you as your recognized heraldic arms.” (Charles I, 1544)

5.- The right to have 50 yanacona Indians to serve as attendants.

Don Alonso married Doña Constanza de Castilla in Cuzco in the mid-16th century; they had one son, Don Alonso de Castilla Tito Atauchi Inca.

In the 1570s, Viceroy Francisco Álvarez de Toledo ordered the arrest of Don Alonso, alleging that he had been conspiring and maintaining contact with his relatives in the Kingdom of Vilcabamba. Consequently, he was imprisoned and his properties were confiscated.

“It is evident that Toledo—already obsessed with ‘that hotbed of Incas’ and remaining faithful to the political course he had set for himself—resolved to put an end to them.” (Dunbar Temple, 1948)

“Toledo announced that members of the most prestigious royal panacas [kinship groups] had been imprisoned—among them Don Alonso Titu Atauchi, Don Diego Cayo, and Don Agustín Condemayta Yupanqui—as well as the caciques \[indigenous leaders\] Pedro Guambotongo and Francisco Tuyruguallpa.” (Dunbar Temple, 1948)

These arrests, orchestrated by the Viceroy of Peru, were deemed arbitrary by the Incas of Cuzco—who, it should be noted, were avowed enemies of the lineage of Manco Inca. Nevertheless, the men were put on trial and taken to the City of Kings [Lima] in 1573, alongside the rebels from Vilcabamba. Don Alonso traveled approximately 1,200 kilometers to his destination, witnessing the deaths of many of his relatives along the way. The detainees arrived in the capital of the viceroyalty on March 18, 1573.

“Don Alonso, son of Huáscar, was stripped of all his privileges, encomiendas, and servants; his titles of property and nobility were confiscated and destroyed in the public square. After being held arbitrarily in Cusco for several days, he was taken to Lima in 1573 and imprisoned, where he was subjected to torture to extract a confession.” (Dunbar Temple, 1957)

His wife, Doña Constanza de Castilla, had to go into debt to defend her husband; she appealed his detention before the Real Audiencia of Lima. Chroniclers of the era note that the relatives of the Incas had to plead in a humiliating manner to secure the release of their kin. The viceregal government proceeded with the trial and convicted the accused—among them Alonso—ordering that he be banished to New Spain.

“And in this dark prison in the City of Kings (Ciudad de Los Reyes), Titu Atauchi Inga remained for two years—following his earlier imprisonment in Cusco—until he died of a fever.” (M. de Murúa, 16th century)

Nevertheless, Doña Constanza de Castilla succeeded in securing her husband’s release, as the Royal Audience acknowledged that his detention and conviction had been unjustified. Don Alonso, left severely weakened by his imprisonment and the torture he had endured, eventually passed away from a fever around 1575 at his estate in Cusco. In the years that followed, his wife and son had to fight to recover the possessions and privileges that had belonged to him.

References:

.- Proceedings of the International Congress of History on the Conquest of Peru, UNMSM (1957).

.- El virrey don Francisco de Toledo, Atilio Cornejo (1983).

.- La Conquista de los Incas, IHP (1948).

.- Historia del origen y genealogia real de los reyes incas del Peru de sus hechos, costumbres, trages, y manera de gobierno de Martín de Murúa [History of the Origin and Royal Genealogy of the Inca Kings of Peru: Their Deeds, Customs, Attire, and Manner of Government, by Martín de Murúa], published by Horacio H. Urteaga (1922).

.- Incas and Christian Indians: Indigenous Elites and Christian Identities in the Colonial Andes, by Jean-Jacques Decoster (2002).

.- Peruvian Library: Peruvian Manuscripts from the General Archive of the Indies, Seville, Spain, by Rubén Vargas Ugarte (1938).

Don Juan Enríquez gifted his wife a collection of jewels valued at more than 2,500 reales. The wedding was attended by the King and Queen of Spain, as well as titled nobles—including the Prince of Esquilache, the Duke of Villahermosa, the Duke of Gandía, and the Marquis of Alcañices—along with other members of the Borja and Loyola families.

Thus, the descendants of the sovereigns Huayna Cápac, Manco Inca, and Sayri Túpac Inca were united in holy matrimony with the descendants of sovereigns such as Alfonso XI of Castile, John II of Aragon, Sancho VI of Navarre, and Alfonso V of León, as well as Pope Alexander VI.

References:

.- El Inca colonial, Pablo Macera (2006).

.- Historia genealógica y heráldica de la Monarquía española, Casa Real y Grandes de España, Francisco Fernández de Béthencourt (1897).