A few thoughts on Restall’s Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest

While this very well shows my age, the myths that Restall debunks in his 2003 study constituted the history taught to me during my time in high school in the 1980s.  During that period of my life, anytime the subject of the Spanish conquest of Mexico came up, my mind filled with images of a small group of bold, adventurous, and cruel Spanish soldiers fighting hordes of Aztecs en route to a quick and very bloody conquest of Montezuma’s empire.  Luckily, having taken a few history courses since those days, my understanding of the Conquest has enlarged a bit, but not so much that Restall’s book did not manage to surprise me from time to time.  Those surprises included:

*Surprise #1, as shown in chapter one, Cortes’ campaigns followed standard conquest procedures as developed during previous campaigns in the Mediterranean and North Africa.  Cortes, far from being unique among Spanish conquerors, constituted one among many Spanish adventurers/conquerors who simply remained faithful to the tried-and-true rules of conquest.

*Surprise #2, as shown in chapter three, the myth of the white conquistador should not have surprised me as much as it did, but the sheer numbers of Native Americans that participated at times in the Conquest shocked me.  Having some exposure to Native American histories in North America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it should have occurred to me that the American Indian technique of using foreigners to aid them in fighting against their own Native enemies would know no geographic boundaries.  Alas, it did not, but thankfully Restall corrected my lack of historical imagination.

*Surprise #3, as shown in chapter four, the “myth of completion” caught me off-guard as Restall shows that the conquistadors provided the illusion of success and completion to their conquests as a means of receiving royal-sponsored spoils.  However, that success and completion failed to materialize for many, many years to come.  And, in one particular case involving the Seminole Indians of Florida, completion never occurred for either Spain, or, technically, the United States.

Vividly written as well as clear and thoughtful in its expression, Restall’s study adds fascinating complexity to the previously conventional telling of the Spanish Conquest of Central and South America.  No longer the story of a few valiant Spanish soldiers’ daring, Restall offers a truer, more complex history of the Conquest that should serve as a starting point for all such histories to come.