Salvador de Madariaga (1886–1978)

Rather dated; published 1947, and the paperback I have is a second printing – not a revised edition – from 1968. The book isn’t really about the rise of the Spanish American empire; it’s not a history (although there is quite a bit of history in it). Instead it’s more or less an apology/justification to the English speaking world for the Spanish colonization of Latin America.

Author Salvador de Madariaga takes two courses in his argument: it wasn’t as bad as all that, and tu show more quoque. In the “not as bad as all that” line of argument, de Madariaga points out that many of the complaints made about the Spanish empire were based on the assumption that the laws were actually enforced; de Madariaga claims the supposedly oppressive laws were actually more of guidelines. For example, the law against importing books that were on the Index was routinely ignored, with ships unloading crates of books while the Customs officials looked the other way. In a more dramatic example, it was supposedly illegal for Native Americans to attend university or take Holy Orders (to the extent that there was a Royal Proclamation against it, in addition to ordinary laws); de Madriaga cites numerous examples of native university students, and notes that a Bishop of Oaxaca was a native. One would think that a student here and there might be overlooked, and maybe a rural priest, but when a bishop was involved I’d have to concede de Madriaga’s point.

As for the tu quoque argument, yes, I’d have to concede the point there too. The Inquisition did operate in the New World, and there were a couple of people burned and somewhat more subjected to lesser punishments. But at the same time, Protestants in Europe were burning witches by the cartload. (As has been pointed out elsewhere, the Inquisition didn’t usually burn witches; it burned apostates – in Spain, that was cryptoJews and cryptoMuslims. Witches were heretics, not apostates, and didn’t get the death penalty as long as they renounced their heresy.) Similarly, natives in the Latin New World were often forced into what was essentially slavery, especially in rural areas; but natives in the English colonies were simply wiped out. De Madriaga claims, with considerable evidence, that Native Americans were better treated in the Spanish colonies than anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.

And de Madriaga does some apologizing too. In a section complaining of the predations of Morgan and other English pirates, he acknowledges that the English merely did to the Spanish colonists what the conquistadores had already done to the Aztecs and Incas. He also acknowledges something that would be extremely politically incorrect today – the temperament of the Spanish tended toward laziness and lack of technique. The riches of the Indies caused tremendous inflation in Spain, and suppressed native industries (ironworking and ship building, for example) as it became easier to buy iron and ships or hire foreign ironworkers and shipwrights.

This is scholarly work, with extensive footnotes and references; almost all in Spanish. It was relatively tough reading. To be sure, there are little delights here and there; in a discussion of the status of women de Madriaga recounts the tale of a noble lady of Lima whose honor was trifled with by a gentleman. She confronted the villain, and with a good Toledo sword inherited from an ancestor who’d fought in the Reconquista, killed him with a single stroke. Convicted of murder, she was awaiting the garrote when her friends swarmed the scaffold and carried her off to sanctuary in the cathedral. Ought to be a movie there. show less

This book is an exceptional biography of Columbus by Salvador de Madariaga, cites the challenges Colombus faced, his several voyages and accomplishments, and struggles between himself and the Spanish crown. This book is special in that the author introduces a subjective element based on thorough research and the exceptional intuition of de Madariaga. He enters into the "passion, dreams and heroism" elements with which he reconstructs the biography of Colombus. Given this is the sixth edition show more of the book, the author includes notes headin g each chapter where he addresses commentaries and corrections made by other sources and historians of Columbus. show less

I first read this as a schoolboy in 1948, not long after Collins published it in the repellent wartime economy standard; narrow margins, close-set type, paper like newsprint. I was then at the stage where you read anything, with no concept of literary merit, just to find out what people do. I recently re-read it, and it holds up surprisingly well. Wikipedia says it has been judged the best of de Madariaga's twelve novels. A number of Aztec aristocrats were not slaughtered by the Spaniards show more but intermarried with them; Heart of Jade (her name was really "Womb of Jade", but you couldn't have got away with that as a title in 1944) is the fictionalised story of one such, and if you don't mind long books it remains an informative and well-written story of one aspect of the conquest of Mexico. show less

Though over 50 years old, this edition remains an important contribution to Spanish history. While it covers the entire story of the country the focus is on recent history. Repeatedly expressions klike "not altogether over" appear its pages. A friend recently participated as an American in an English language for Spanish speakers taught in Spain. The "Anglos" were warned that only one topics was off limits. "The civil war". One senses from this book that history is always present in this show more country. Excellent show less