He monastery of San Juan de los Reyesconsidered the most representative building of the Elizabethan Gothic style in Toledo, was built by order of the Catholic Monarchs under the direct patronage of Queen Isabella I of Castile with the intention of making it a royal mausoleum, in commemoration of the Battle of Toro and the birth of Prince John. It is here, in this emblematic place of the capital of Toledo, that the famous author of historical novels is located Luis Zueco (Borja, Zaragoza, 1979) will present his new work, ‘The Map of a New World’ (Ediciones B).
The meeting will be this Thursday, at 8:45 p.m., as part of I Historical novel cycle ‘Toledo, light of Europe’with the conference entitled ‘Isabel La Católica y Toledo’, in which the writer from Zaragoza, with more than 300,000 copies sold, will investigate the most important female character in the history of Spain, of whom he already spoke in his previous novel, ‘The Queen’s Picture’, and with which he ends his biography on her figure in ‘The Map of a New World’.
– From what we can see, and you are an example, history and historical novels continue to have an appeal. In your opinion, what is the reason for this? Perhaps we look in the past for the references that we lack in the present?
-Yeah. People are very interested in history, even though they’ve tried to tell us that they’re not. What happens is that what they want is for the narrative to be fluid, attractive and more understandable, and that’s where the historical novel comes in, which makes it more accessible to the general public.
-After several novels on various themes of the Middle Ages, he is now interested in the figure of Queen Isabella the Catholic. What is it about this character that has left such a mark on the history of Spain? Why do you think she stands out more: because of her lights or her shadows?
-Because of her enlightenment, without a doubt. She is a fundamental character. We are talking about the queen and the most important woman in our history, as well as in the whole world. All this, by the way, at a very important time, which gives her even more value, which is precisely at the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity. Isabel is a woman born a medieval princess and who ends up being the first modern queen, with the union of the two great crowns of Castile and Aragon, the taking of Granada and the Canary Islands, the discovery of America and the laying of the foundations for Spain to become the greatest power in the world.
-More specifically, in his new novel “The Map of a New World,” the second part of the biography of Isabella the Catholic, he investigates the last years of her reign and the voyages to the new world that gave way to Modernity. Could this historical event have been one of the most transformative in human history?
-Yes, of course, because until that time, no one knew what the world was like. They knew that it was spherical, but they were wrong about the dimensions and no one thought that America existed. From then on, everything changed completely and a new era began, that of globalization, which brought us to where we are today. In fact, we are the children of that important period and it is fortunate that Spain, together with Portugal, was the protagonist of a great transformation.
-The protagonists of your novel question some of Christopher Columbus’ discoveries, since no maps support the thesis of his voyages. How important were these objects for the future of a kingdom or a nation?
-At that time there were no treasure maps, the treasure is the map itself. Each ship that arrived in the Castilian and Portuguese ports was capable of changing the world, when it told of the discoveries of a new island, a pass, a current, a cape, … That is why it was necessary to constantly redraw and modify the old ones. All this lent itself to a lot of espionage, of fighting to obtain news of the territories and their riches, that is why there is no period, like the modern era, where these objects had so much power.
– Compare all this with some current negationist currents that openly declare themselves to be earthlings. Don’t you think that in the 21st century there are unequivocal signs that humanity is going backwards in some respects? Are there still dragons on today’s maps?
-It’s curious. If before, in the Middle Ages and in modern times, what was lacking was information, now, on the contrary, we have a lot of it and we don’t know how to manage it, and that’s why crazy theories like that of flatearism resurface. again. Since ancient times, it has been known that the world is spherical and there is no debate. That is why it is so important to document and know the world, and there, history and historical novels are essential, so as not to make mistakes and not to be manipulated.
-What has not changed from that time until today is the constant transfer of products from one end of the planet to the other and even people as commodities. When was there more desire for power and wealth: at the nascent birth of the modern era or today?
-Human feelings are timeless: power, ambition, revenge, wanting to get rich at all costs. Something that is seen from time to time, when the future of humanity was through the economy and trade, with the circulation of goods on a large scale. We Spaniards reach the Far East by the Manila galleon or by great transoceanic voyages with very expensive distant products. All this appears in the novel, where we see that if, finally, America is discovered, it is not out of a desire for conquest, but to open a new trade route.
-You came to present your novel in Toledo, an essential city to understand the era of the Catholic Monarchs and later the capital of the Spanish Empire with your grandson Charles V. But, in your opinion, what importance did Toledo have at that time?
-It has a fundamental role. Toledo is one of the most important cities in the history of Spain and you only have to walk through its streets to realize it. At the time of the Catholic Monarchs it was almost the epicenter and on Thursday I present my novel precisely at the monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, which was thought to be its first burial place. In fact, Spain cannot be understood without Toledo.
-As an expert in heritage and culture, and owner of two castles – Grisel and Bulbuente – which are now hotel establishments, how do you assess the current situation in Toledo in this sense? Do you think that mass tourism is compatible with heritage and coexistence with the inhabitants of the historic center of a city with these characteristics?
-Tourism is changing and has reached limits that we must rethink in order to be respectful of the heritage and, above all, of the people who live in the cities we visit. There is still a long way to go, but we are already aware that we cannot continue like this and that we must seek quality tourism, sustainable and respectful of neighbors and places.
