Then I hit the first of (hopefully) many items that from now on will post with my friend and partner discussions, Grant, a new blog we created together for the occasion. DOUBLE called MALTA. And as the name suggests, opinions twice. Each week a topic. I will defend a position, and Grant usually the opposite. Let's say my partner in this adventure is for those who have some reluctance to get into places like Antizp.org see or hear Intereconomía Federico Jiménez Losantos (let them hehe). For all this I think it might be interesting to see the two side of the coin, and each one chooses what is more convincing him or leave their point of view in the comments, which will always be well seen. I encourage you to grumble, in fact, and maticéis what you please.
Finally, I leave you with the first delivery. Henceforth, I recommend you go directly Doble Malta, as in Once upon a time a liberal just hang mine, and I do not think all.
was the year 1511 AD After the expedition led by Basque Núñez de Balboa to found Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien, the first European city stable Americas, which sent advanced back to Cuba under the command of Juan de Valdivia. had, however, the misfortune of encountering a fierce storm that shattered the vessel, leaving a complicated situation to which it contained. Only eight reached the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in a boat crammed. On arrival, the Maya of the area they were in a violent manner, normal reaction to the foreign presence in the wild, killing six others. The English were as dead to all that advanced climbers (some a priori quite logical), but is wrong. Eight years later, in 1519, when Hernán Cortés the beginning, ultimately, successful conquest of Mexico, came to his ears the news that two English lived with the Maya. Geronimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero had fared better than their peers to issue years ago and survived in hostile land.
It is said that Geronimo de Aguilar was friar Ecija born twenty years before the events are recounted here, with only thirty when he learned that he was still alive among savages. On the other hand, Gonzalo Guerrero was harquebusier, from Palos de la Frontera and a decade older than his fellow expedition. Their stories overseas had a similar start, although as time went on their ways they could not become more divergent.
When in 1519 Hernán Cortés sends a group of English to find his fellow castaways, Geronimo de Aguilar, eager to reunite with their mates and not having never lost the Catholic faith that had been inhospitable place, the chief requested permission to who had served as a slave for the past eight years to be reunited with his brothers. Mayan chief granted such a request in order to achieve peace with the English, "brave men" with whom desirable to have a good relationship. Peace, as we know, failed.
Gonzalo Guerrero, on the other hand, had spent all that time so very different. Participant in local life is very active, married a Mayan princess and having raised a family, he had surrendered completely to the native culture, even to pierce the ears. They remained with the Mayans, who helped to the point of being an important element in the resistance of these against the English, their true compatriots, which helped him earn the nickname Renegade (with some merit, in my opinion .)
Meanwhile, Geronimo de Aguilar returned with their peers and away from returning to Spain continued to fight in what became known as New Spain, and was very helpful knowledge of Mayan languages. Both Gonzalo Guerrero and Jeronimo de Aguilar died a few years later in America, but on different sides, making the end of the day what everyone thought he should do, without asking anything in return, without receiving anything material for his exploits. His bravery and determination led them however to appear in the pages of history, now forgotten by too many and manipulated by unscrupulous people.
Without doubt that both were the only survivors had a reason. Or rather many. One of them, serve as an example of how real was the conquest of America. Where young and not so young, or Avilés Viscaya, of Badajoz and Calatayud, sailed anywhere in search of a better future and the strengthening and expansion of an unshakable faith. It is the story of men who were found seasoned on the other side of the world, still unknown to other men who were hiding in the lush nature surrounding them. Tribes and nations vying among themselves, make sacrifices and small genocide before anyone came to conquer. The clash of cultures came waves of blood, violence and juicy booties for some fortunate. But also a new society, the mixture (which did not occur in other conquests), unworkable if all the atrocities they tell us they were real.
However, the most important lesson should be to ask who are we to judge noses, in the XXI century, the actions perpetrated five centuries ago by our ancestors that we consider "bad" based on our current values \u200b\u200b . We should, by therefore focus, in any case, those virtues that were once valued and today are entirely absent or trampled. The Geronimo de Aguilar embodying or many others. Even the most vile of the conquerors built their thinking and actions on solid values. Men were much more respectable than what Spain now swarm the present, where all these heroes of the story would hardly be reflected by the prevailing moral relativism that sees the brave, arrogant, the honest, crazy and patriotic facade.
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GRANT never interested me much about the English conquest of America, basically because I have always felt clumsy and cumbersome work: go far as you can, what you can and prey when the silver mines are exhausted you get home. I have no objection to this approach. I'm not criticizing, because time and circumstances were different. But do not praise things that are so bad: if you want to loot a group of unfortunates less advanced than you, at least do style (for details see Roman Empire).
Spain's history is the history of cutrismo. So. Spain is one of the ugly ducklings of Europe (it is not the ugliest), and its rise and fall is quite far from the glamor of epic battles and philosophical and scientific advances that some believe to see. But Spain has always been black and dirty, feral and hipercatólica. Probably few empires to escape similar descriptions, but the criticism must begin at home. The adventure of the Americas is just one example of that when talking about the alleged deeds of any nation is confused with strength barbarism, ignorance with courage, moral fanaticism, amorality with intelligence. Yes, there were some positive aspects, and comparatively there are things that came out not so bad after all (at least in South America are indigenous, for example). But we must recognize that the conquest of America was a fudge, which was not known, or did not want to create a system of social organization that was not based on the kleptocracy (special mention deserve some Jesuits and other people with true convictions Morales, who did try to do something constructive with the new world).
Anyway, the story is what it is and one can only learn from it. One of the most valuable lessons of the conquest of America (and not only at the hands of the English) is that, contrary to what many believe infantilized cretins, there are cultures and cultures. Despite all that crap that proclaim from the rooftops about the equality of all social organizations, the reality is imposed, and says there are strong and weak, wise and foolish, and lazy workers. Some cultures are able to rise to the occasion and others not. But there is no injustice, as all humans from the same point of departure. Some rode it better than others, and Native Americans were a disaster, as would the English a couple of centuries later.
Perhaps what I mean with all this is that while the conquest of America may like more or less in their execution, is as absurd goats as proud of it. Are things that happened too long ago and, like it or not, these events would not be our situation is today. I leave the "what if" for people with more imagination and desire to manipulate in his favor.
