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000940 Visit since May 31, 2004
| TRIUMPHS and TRAGEDY, a History
of The Mexican people (Chapter 1) |
by Prof. German Estrada
June, 2004 |
THE FOREFATHERS (part
10) continues..
V
The history of our nation,
believed José Vasconcelos,
the eminent Mexican thinker, begins with "with the
discovery and Conquest of the New World; before the
coming of the Spaniards, Mexico did not exist. We entered
the halls of civilization under the royal tiara of
Castilla; Vasconcelos, a Hispanist first and foremost,
exaggerated but did not entirely distort the truth.
As a young Mexican student, after visiting the "mother
country" for the first time, discovered, "the footprints
of Spain are present everywhere in our culture; we
are so much alike."
Like the inhabitants of the
New World, the European ancestors of the Mexicans,
inhabitants of a similar and remarkably varied geographical
terrain, which embraced the oak forest of the Pyrenees,
the bare, high plans and cliffs of Galicia, the untilled
wastes of Aragón,
and the deserts of Almería, were also bearers
of a rich and diverse cultural baggage, strikingly
different yet, at one and the same time, comparable
here and there to what they found in old Anahuac. Interestingly,
it seems that, on occasion, their mutual embrace, rather
than enhance the society they emerged, tended to countenance
and perhaps magnify common Achilles' heels. Two that
come to mind are religion and politics.
Iberians and Celts arrived in Spain, followed by Phoenicians,
Greeks, and then, about 2000 B.C .,
the Romans, who left behind Latin, mother of the Spanish
language, Roman law, the essence of Spanish statutes,
the Catholic faith, and a legacy of latifundia. After
the Visigoths, successors to the Romans, Moslems from
North Africa made their bow and stayed for seven centuries.
The Moslems or Moors instilled fresh vigor in Greek
and Roman culture, spurred science and mathematics,
and introduced and ornate architecture of mosques,
cupolas, and richly colored azulejos , or
tiles. Under their tutelage, the economy, both commerce
and agriculture, took a turn for the better. Quarrels
among the Moslems opened the door to the Reconquista,
the Christian crusade to purge Spain of infidels, which
went on until 1492, when Granada, the last Moorish
bastion, capitulated.
However, before the Reconquista
triumphed, Spaniards had also adopted Moorish customs,
including machismo. Women were kept apart from men
and secluded from world affairs, a formula which
the Reconquista, and the failure to modernize, hardened.
Earlier, when Spaniards were struggling to unite
Spain, women had enjoyed certain liberties, including
the right to participate in municipal affairs, which
they had often exercised. In time, nonetheless, women
had fallen more and more under the sway of the church
while men had placed them in pedestals, worshiping
them for their "beauty, honor, and loyalty" but denying
them schooling beyond prayer books. Women were "educated" for
matrimony: to be clean of body, discreet, humble, and,
when of the elite, to sing a bit and play a musical
instrument.
This tradition arrived with the Spaniards in the New
World.
The Reconquista reshaped the
Iberian Peninsula. Under Ferdinand and Isabella,
the Catholic kings of Aragón
and Castilla linked by marriage, a united Spain emerged.
Spanish was now the common language, but diluted by
countless words of Arabic origin, such as arroz (rice), azucar (sugar)
and aceitunas (olives). The Catholic faith,
the battle flag of the Christian crusaders, bound Spaniards
together.
Source: From the book Triumphs
and Tragedy, a History of the Mexican People by his
author Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, and with his authorization.
(W.W. Norton & Company. New York-London). We'll continue with this fascinating
book.
estradanav@yahoo.com
Prof. Germán
Estrada is the author of the best selling book,
"México
Mágico: Everything You Wanted To Know
About... But Nobody Told You..." available in Puerto
Vallarta at The Net House, Mail Boxes, Etc., Books,
Books as well as directly from the author by internet.
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