As luck would have it, just as I was finishing reading what is perhaps the most canonical biography of Hernán Cortés, by Esteban Mira, and a few days before the commemoration of Hispanic Heritage Day, the controversy arose. broke out at the non-invitation of the King of Spain. at the inauguration of the new president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum. There is no doubt that Cortés was one of the most controversial figures in History, since at the beginning of the 16th century he led the expedition which, with the aim of “conquering” and evangelizing – today we would say that of usurping legitimate empire power – putting an end to the Mexican confederation to make it New Spain.
Of course, Hernán Cortés was a man of his time and his actions must therefore be understood in their historical context. This is the problem I have with the doctrine of annulment. Another thing is that today we prefer to put forward, above warlike ardor – as the Franco regime did during “Columbus Day” – other values such as humanity, indulgence or peace. So this should not make anyone ask for forgiveness for the atrocities or pain caused by our ancestors. Misdeeds that no one can doubt if we look at the history of Cortés himself in his “Letters of Relationship”, without forgetting the denunciation writings of Father Bartolomé de Las Casas, in which the cruelties committed by Cortés are explained and its strengths. in Cholula or Tenochtitlan, apparently shockingly brutal. Today, giving priority to the zeal of the “conquerors” to glorify the crown of Spain or to spread the Christian faith, as classic pre-liberal and pre-democratic Spanish historiography did, seems absurd to us.
