Histories of Infamy

by Roa-de-La-Carrera, Cristian A.

• ISBN13: 9780870818134
• ISBN10: 0870818139
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-12-30
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Colorado

Summary

This volume analyses Francisco López de Gómara's (1511-ca1559) attempt to convince readers of the Spanish conquest's worth through eloquent defence of colonisation ideology, despite public outcry against conquistadors' atrocities.

Author Biography

Cristian A. Roa-de-la Carrera is an associate professor of Spanish at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction	1	(20)
Gomara and the Politics of Consensus	21	(56)
History as Influence: The Emperor and the Conqueror	21	(4)
Historiography and Empire-Building	25	(7)
In the Service of the King: Historians and Administrators	32	(7)
Contested Histories in a Changing Discursive Landscape	39	(7)
The Authority of Discourse: The Historia general and the World of Fernando Cortes	46	(8)
The Limits of Consensus: Gomara Under Attack	54	(23)
Territories of Redemption in the New World	77	(54)
Geography and Culture in the Colonial World	77	(7)
Territoriality and Sacred History	84	(11)
History, Cartography, and Dominion: Establishing Rights of Conquest	95	(11)
The Indies and Human Diversity	106	(11)
To Inherit the World: Human Intellect and Dominion	117	(14)
Exchange as a Narrative of Imperial Expansion	131	(56)
Christian Rhetoric, Economic Ends	131	(3)
The Discovery and the Historical Tradition	134	(10)
The Humble Beginnings of the Empire	144	(10)
Exchange as a System of Colonization	154	(11)
Justice and the Dynamics of Intercultural Relations	165	(8)
Searching for a Common Good: Imperialism as a Form of Reciprocity	173	(14)
Gomara and the Destruction of the Indies	187	(52)
Ruling the Indians: The King and His Despots	187	(5)
The Infamy of Spain and the Conquistadors	192	(9)
Imperialism and Desire	201	(14)
Lordship and Masculinity	215	(7)
The Patriarchal Life of the Conquistador	222	(17)
Bibliography and References Cited	239	(16)
Index	255