7 Myths Of Spanish Conquest Summary

For this book review I decided to review the work of Matthew Restall's Seven Myths of Spanish Conquest. Restall has written numerous books before but this one takes on a different meaning. For this book he debunks many of the theories for the success of the Spanish conquest on the Americas during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Understanding the distinctions in historical terms between what is a myth and actually true has proven to be a difficult task. Within this book's seven chapters Restall addresses a specific myth of the conquest namely, the myth of exceptional men, of the king’s army, of the white conquistador, of completion, of (mis)communication, of native desolation, and of superiority. Within each chapter the author eases the

norm of what he considers the most widely misinterpreted notion of the conquest by comparing the false and accurate accounts during the Spanish invasion. He starts how by explaining how sources then later interpretations contributed to the myth of the Spanish Conquest and how those myths were propagated.
Chapter one which is called "the Myth of exceptional men" is idea that the Spanish conquest was able to go through due to the likes of individuals such as Columbus, Cortes and Pizzaro.

People assume it was their tremendous courage, tactics and strategies that took over the indigenous people but Restall states other wise. In Restall states that these great men were simply following a standard procedure. He exemplifies that instead of those qualities by the men mentioned above the techniques to colonize and conquer had been developed throughout at least of a century of colonial expansion by Spain and Portugal. So Restall argues that these accounts were greatly exaggerated to boost the conquistadors accomplishments and make it seem that the Aztecs and Inca people gave little to no resistance. When in fact it was actually the other way around as the Aztecs put up a great battle with the Spanish conquistadors giving them quite a bit of trouble. I would agree with Restall claims that these great men overly boosted to give their names more of a lavish theme. Many great stories and deeds are blown out of line and not of their own fault but by story tellers passing the information

on.
Continuing along in the novel the second chapter titled "the Myth of the King's Army" Restall takes on another myth.

For this section the author talks about how the Spanish soldiers (conquistadors) weren't actually soldiers but artisans and professionals, simply armed entrepreneurs. They identified themselves as Andalusians, Castilians, Aragonese, Basque, Portuguese, Galician, and even Genoese, Flemish, Greek and Pardo. These so called conquistadors weren't even acting under the kings rule. Most of these people had very little combat military experience which they probably only gained during their conquest of the indigenous people. Again I would have to agree with Restall in that the Spanish conquistadors probably weren't entirely made up soldiers but rather simple people looking for greater pastures. We can take a look back in history and find similar examples as the men from the colonies during the American Revolution were simple as well. They weren't more than farmers with pitchforks looking for a new beginning having to take arms learning how to fight through the battles with the British. They were renowned soldiers yet having little experience but both successfully to fend for

themselves.
Moving forward in the book Restall entitles his next chapter "the Myth of the White Conquistador". In this section of the book the author debunks the claims that the Spanish conquistadors won the battle by themselves. With only a small number of Spanish soldiers they were in trouble against a vast numbered population of Aztecs and Inca warriors. Restall acknowledges how important it was for Africans to help the Spanish soldiers during the combat battles. The conquistadors even regarded the black conquistadors as good fighters. Unfortunately many of the black population was slaves due to the Spanish conquests. To ensure that the slaves fight to their full potential and help win battles the Spanish would offer freedom as an reward. People who survived the battles and then were position in a high ranking were sometimes rewarded with the coveted encomiendas, a grant by the Spanish Crown to a colonist in America conferring the right to demand tribute and forced labor from the Indian inhabitants of an area. What also wasn't mentioned was the help from the indigenous people for the Spanish conquistadors to help win over important battles. Some native empires aligned themselves with the Spaniards in order to conquer their traditional enemies thus thousands of native warriors participated in the bloody campaigns.