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001582 Visit since July 1, 2005
| TRIUMPHS and TRAGEDY... A history of the Mexican people (part 37th). |
| By Prof. German Estrada - July 2005 |
III - A NEW SPAIN
His arrival in New Spain caused uproar. Business came to a virtual halt, six hundred Spaniards announced they were returning home, and encomenderos asked Spanish officials to suspend the legislation. Even the bishop of New Spain, himself an encomendero, insisted that the abolition of the encomienda would merely worsen the exploitation of the Indian. Deeming wisdom the better part of valor, Tello de Sandoval and colonial authorities declared the New Laws unenforceable. Bowing before this opinion, the crown set aside this legislation, though it did not abandon the idea of curtailing the powers of the encomenderos, declaring in 1549 that they could exact tribute from the Indians but no longer his free labor. Charles I, just the same, rule that encomiendas could be passed on to a son and, after 1555, to a grandson.
With most of the old encomenderos gone to their grave, Phillip II decided again to abolish encomiendas, thinking their criollos owners more tractable that their conquistador fathers. Phillip misjudged them. They were just as bellicose in the 1560s, when Phillip published his intentions, as their fathers had been twenty years earlier. The threatened loss of their Indian tribute enraged the encomenderos and encouraged a few of them to plot the independence of New Spain. Their leader was Alonso de Avila, the son of a famous conquistador. The conspiracy aborted, mainly because Martín Cortés, a wealthy encomendero and the fatuous son of the conqueror, could not make up his mind. Supposedly offered the crown of New Spain by Avila and his allies, Martín could say neither yes or no. Local authorities caught wind of the plot, beheaded Alonso and his brother, and displayed their heads on the end of pikes as a reminder to all not to tamper with the king's will. For his role, Martín was shipped back to Spain, there to be tried and acquitted. The plot to topple Spanish rule, at least as the crown saw it, rang down the curtain on the barbarous encomienda, though it survived, in somewhat modified form, into the eighteen century. In Yucatán, for instance, encomiendas were not abolished until 1786. By the time of their demise, in the eighteen century, of the 934 original encomiendas, a mere handful existed outside of Yucatán.
V
What the crown feared most in the New World was the rise of powerful individuals or representative institutions ready to defy its power. Come what may, the King and not a local nobility would dictate affairs. Cortés and his lieutenants might capture a New World, but only the king would rule it. The duty of the colonial Spaniard was to obey.
Still, reality had to be faced. That meant, initially, dealing with Cortés, at a time when rebellious nobles in Spain challenged the authority of the crown. For all his apprehension that Cortés might emulate his nobles at home, Charles I named him governor and captain general of New Spain. Charles I had little choice, since Cortés commanded the loyalty of the men who controlled New Spain. Yet Charles I hardly wanted adventurers in distant New Spain, by sea three months away, acquiring power and prestige. He lost no time, therefore, dispatching royal officials to watch over the crown 's share of the booty.
Unwittingly, Cortés helped the case of the crown. When he marched off to Honduras, a rival faction in Mexico City deposed his subordinates, started to take encomiendas away from his followers, and spread rumors of his death. These rivals even sent letters to Charles accusing Cortés of stealing a share of the royal tribute and of disloyalty to the king. Cortés came back to Mexico City to oust his rivals, but failed to convince Charles of his loyalty. Cortés, it appears in retrospect, proved a faithful governor, exploring the land for the crown, searching for mines, and promoting trade and commerce.
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).
** 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).
In the next issue we'll continue with Chapter III of this fascinating book: A NEW SPAIN
Prof. Germán Estrada
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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