Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
2-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Program
Liberal Studies
Advisor
Clare Carroll
Subject Categories
European History | Intellectual History | Latin American History
Keywords
Hernan Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, Humanism in the Americas, Age of Exploration, Imperialism, Colonial Latin America
Abstract
This thesis examines how the process of exploration, discovery, conquest and colonization of the Americas by Spain developed along with a vision of empire that involved the formulation of political theories, laws and policies by the governing elites, while responding to the actions by the conquistadors on the field. Although events on both sides of the Atlantic were not necessarily coordinated, the interests of the Court and the conquistadors intersected and were justified through a discourse that had been shaped by Humanist intellectual currents.
The thesis intends to show how the Castilian imperial vision was an experiment that began to take shape out of political necessity, through trial and error, and whose success became dependent on the efficacy in communication between the Crown and its agents in the Americas. This imperial ideology became explicit and acquired a universal character when Charles I became Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
The thesis will discuss the influence of Humanism among intellectuals, Crown advisors and conquistadors with regard to how they understood their actions within a framework of imperial quest. Another important element is to show that the creation of an imperial vision was not only a political enterprise but also a literary project. The Spanish empire is imagined on paper before it was built on the ground.
The case of Mexico allows us to see how the political and ideological aims of the Crown were in sync with the personal interests of the conquistadors, with Cortés not only acting as an agent of imperial policies but also as contributor to the imperial vision itself. Conversely, the conquest of Peru provides an example in which the aims of the conquistadors did not align completely with those of the Crown, which along with the native resistance and their own internal divisions, contributed to creating a chaotic situation that was not resolved until decades later, when the Crown put an end to the civil war among conquistadors and captured the last stronghold of the Incas.
Recommended Citation
Yau-Wen, Penelope, "Spain's Vision of Empire through Conquest, Ideology, and Law in the Sixteenth Century" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5726