This book is called Ambivalent Conquests because the purpose of the book is to portray a different image/view of how things were seen during the conquest. Ambivalent means that there are contradicting opinions or views expressed rather than the ones that were inscribed in one's mind's in the first place. The reason for this confusion of ideas is due to many myths that were created by people who believed the conquest was just a major war-like demolition by the Spanish. This book demonstrates an example of an ambivalent conquest in the very beginning of the book. The Spaniards are making their way to the 'el Gran Cairo', or the 'Great Cairo" (pg.6). The Indians greeted the Spanish with enthusiasm and were also very welcoming upon their arrival, they even offered to get more ships to get the Spanish all ashore (pg. 6). This is an example of an ambivalent conquest because it has been stated previously with other conquests that the Indians were tense, anxious and very territorial with the arrival of Spanish. Thus, it is an ambivalent feeling given to the audience when Clendinnen states that the Indians were fearless of the Spanish.
The definition of “ambivalent” is to have mixed or conflicting ideas on a subject, which is why the title of Clendinnen’s book is so fitting to the topic it discusses. Ambivalent Conquests not only covers the history of the Spanish conquest of the Yucatan peninsula, but the various motivations that drove each party involved. The first people to officially set foot on the Mayan Yucatan were not conquerors—or even explorers for that matter—but Spanish settlers driven by economical needs. More specifically: Slaves. There were very few native slaves available at the time of this first expedition, and many men who would need them to make a decent living had grown tired of waiting. One of these men was Bernal Diaz, who had been promised a handful of slaves from the Governor of Cuba. Restless, he and about a hundred others set out on an expedition to capture slaves of their own. So the first venture to the peninsula was not an attempt to conquer the Maya, but simply an exploratory party in search of people to enslave (p.5). The first attempt to actually conquer the Yucatan would come in the year 1526. Inspired by rumors from the first explorations of the area of large towns with large supplies of gold and other valuables, and bolstered by the successes of the pacification of Mexico, Francisco de Montejo would try his luck at conquest (p.20). So while this initial attempt was still driven by economic goals, they were very different from the first explorer’s motivations. The explorers wanted to grab some slaves—maybe dabble in a little trade— and go. While Montejo’s settlers wanted to actually pacify the region and use it to establish their wealth. These two expeditions motivations, while categorically similar, conflict with one another and are merely a hint at what is to come later in the Clendinnen’s book Ambivalent Conquests.
The book is titled Ambivalent Conquests because of it's telling of mixed feelings by Spaniards about the conquests in the New World. We can see these mixed feelings in their exploration of Cape Catoche and Campeche. At their first exploration in Cape Catoche, we are told of Córdoba and his men's cautious arrival, being wary of interacting with the Indians. Clendinnen describes the arrival by saying, “...clutching their weapons, and moving in the loose but conscious formation they adopted so naturally in situations of potential threat...” (p. 7) We can see the ambivalence in the way that Córdoba approached this exploration of new territory. The Indians were very welcoming at first, only to ambush the Spanish soldiers as they came onto land. This attack forced the Spaniards to retreat back to their ships and move on. After sailing for a few weeks, they came across what was to be known to them as Campeche. The men were in dire need of water and needed to fill their casks. As they were refilling the casks on the shore, the Indians of Campeche approached them and beckoned them to follow them into the town. The Spaniards were even more cautious this time, not wanting another ambush like the one at Cape Catoche. Clendinnen describes this ambivalence by stating, “It was a formidable dilemma...After a rapid consultation the Spaniards took the only course open to them.” (p. 9) This course was following the Indians into town. Although the Indians at Campeche did not attack the Spaniards, they gave them warning which ultimately pushed the men back and on their way again. Clendinnen's description of these two particular events show exactly how these conquests were indeed ambivalent.
I believe that “Ambivalent” from the book’s title refers to both the feelings of the Spanish during their early endeavors on the Yucatan, and the feelings of the natives who felt the touch of this new influence. The book discusses the attitudes of the Spanish on the Cordoba expedition, weighing the potential acquisition of wealth and status against the risk that would be required to attain it. Cortes describes many of these setbacks such as tropical storms, the danger the local coral beds posed to ships, and the danger of potentially hostile natives whose motives often could not be determined due to lack of effective means of communication. Cortes also mentions needing to risk going ashore to prematurely replenish their provisions of fresh water. This was due to the casks leaking supposedly because of a combination of careless construction and lack of knowledge of proper curing techniques for wood of that region. (Clendinnen 9.). There was no guarantee of success even if the men braved these challenges. If however, they found a suitable region, the leaders of the expedition could become as powerful as the Governor of Cuba, holding vast amounts of land and influence over the indigenous people. The Spanish also have conflicting feelings about the natives, believing them primitive because of their usual nakedness and cultural differences. This however, is still contrasted as they show more approval and acceptance when making contact with properly clothed natives who “showed a proper sense of shame” when naked (Clendinnen 4.). The natives too, are shown to have ambivalent views about the conquest. News had spread of the intentions of the Spanish even before they had intentionally arrived on the Yucatan. Thus some natives such as those encountered at Cape Catoche were hostile and very violent (Clendinnen 7.). Others were peaceful and subservient, taking a great liking to European commodities such as wine and copper items.
Ambivalent means to have mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone. The ambivalence in Clendinnen’s title, I believe, refers to both the Spaniards bland efforts at conquering the Yucatan peninsula and also the superficial acceptance by the Maya of the practice of Christianity. The book itself is structured in two parts, part 1: Spaniards, explains the Spanish settlements in the New World, the encomienda system and how it came to an end, and also the missionaries’ effort to convert the Indigenous to Christianity. This part shows the Spaniards view of the conquest and Natives. Part 2: Indians, on the other hand, shows the opposite; how the Indians viewed the Spanish settlers and their religion. Thus the exposure of both points of views creates an Ambivalent Conquest, an uncertain, doubtful, equivocal, and inconclusive event that will always be too ambiguous for us to fully understand.
Aida, I agree with your analysis as I believe that Ambivalent Conquests is a very fitting title for a book that covers a period of time whose events have been so highly debated over time. As you said, there were two different perspectives to take into account as there always two sides to every story: the natives and the European conquistadors. At the beginning of the book, the feelings between the two parties were very clear as Columbus took the freedom to scrounge through the cargo of canoes being driven by the natives as"We can be sure that the news of the strangers, of their uncouth and piratical ways, ran through the whole complex system, although only a hint of that disquiet survives in the records" (4). That shows that the natives clearly disapproved of the European intentions although the contrary would be that Europeans felt a right to raid whatever they pleased as they felt they had the necessary justification; this book was given as the ambivalence described in the book really epitomized the time period and contrasting mindsets of the Spanish and the natives.
I believe the concept of “Ambivalent Conquests” relates back to our discussions on Malintzin’s reputation in modern day Mexico. Who was Malintizin? A traitor? An exceptional woman? The mother of the Mezticas? Many of these same questions can be asked by both Spanish and Maya in the Yucatan Peninsula of the period covered by Inga Clendinnen. Who are we and what is our goal?
Certainly the “conquest” itself was ambivalent. The first voyages were for slaves (4) and exploration (15), not settlement. Only later would Montejo come with a charter to pacify the region. He and his men crisscrossed the Yucatan in search of gold, silver and precious stones, only to be hindered by the terrain and the lack of tangible wealth. They left. The terrain would continue to play a role in the later Spanish settlement, as even the early Franciscan friars were mostly confined to towns, as opposed to the more free-ranging of their brethren in Mexico (53), and make pacification intensely difficult.
Thus, the integration of population, religious instruction, and political leadership did not occur in the Yucatan as it had in the regions conquered by Cortés. Indeed, the later arrivals were interested only in encomiendas, which “did not disturb the internal organization of the native political structures” (38). The conflict between the encomenderos and the Franciscans occurred as the friars’ efforts at punishing idolatry deprived the encomenderos of labor. Who was on whose side here? Clendinnen mentions the contradiction of the Maya running for protection to the early Franciscans from their encomendero overlords with the later protection the encomenderos offered the Maya from the persecution following the revolt of 1546 (127).
The term “conquest” implies a unified purpose carried out with distinct goals in mind. The “conquest” of Yucatan was hardly that. The Franciscans and encomenderos squabbled constantly over how to treat the Maya. The Franciscans argued amongst themselves. The Maya appeared to adopt Christianity – then dropped all pretenses and admitted to practicing pagan religions. The terrain protected the Maya from full political integration and the Spanish and Maya populations remained somewhat separate, yet Spanish control was evident and “fragile bridges brought Indians into the Spanish milieu. Few settlers were interested in making the reverse journey” (44). The pacification of the Yucatan was quite a different breed than that of the Aztec empire to the north.
the book is called Ambivalent Conquest because the language barriers and how the indians felt about the Spaniards actually felt about the Yucatan natives and how the Yucatan natives actually felt about the Spaniards was not Ambivalent. The book starts off with a quote of one of the spaniards saying "When the Spaniards discovered this land, their leader asked the Indians how it was called; as they did not understand him, they said uic atban, which means, what do you say or what do you speak, that we do not understand. And then the Spaniard ordered it set down that it be called Yucatan... " This quote sets a president of what this book is about and it ambivalent encounters and understanding between the Yucatan natives and the Spaniards.
When Cordova and his men got ambushed, according to the Spaniards but that also could ambivalent because one must also consider the Yucatan native's point of view, the Spaniards took it as an ambush because Yucatan native's leader was so welcoming. The Yucatan would tell the Spaniards "cones catoche, cones catoches" which the Spaniards took as "come to our house"(p.7). The Spaniards felt it was all a set up. All of this contradictions and mixed fillings between the Spaniards and Yucatan natives is best described by this quote, "In a country so full of promise, and hazard, communication by sign language could no longer be regarded as adequate" (p.8).
I agree with you in that there were indeed language barriers and mixed feelings between the Spaniards and the Yucatan natives. However, I think that it goes a little bit deeper than initial interactions and communication barriers. A better way to understand why the book is titled Ambivalent Conquests is to study the behavior of Landa. Clearly, Landa did not think of the Yucatan Mayas as anything less than humans, as Clendinnen points out that “with the Indians of the Yucatan he had a special relationship.” (123) Furthermore, It was his relationship with some of those Indians that “…were among the most emotionally rewarding of his life.” (123). Clendinnen goes on to declare that Landa “was prepared to accept the Indians as responsible moral beings,” (126) which was more than his contemporaries could do. Of course, Landa also felt that he was justified in torturing over 4,500 natives in three months (76). I think that it is actions committed by persons such as Landa that pave way for the book to be titled Ambivalent Conquests. Certainly, formulating special relationships with a people and then torturing those same people to a point at which fellow Christians were astonished evokes ambivalence. I agree with you that military ventures are a reason why the book is titled what it is titled; after all, conquest is half of the title. However, there is more to the ambivalence in the Yucatan during this period than Cordova’s escapades. Studying Landa’s experiences offer some insight into additional ambivalence in the area during the period.
“Why is this book called Ambivalent Conquests?” Seemed like an easy question to answer, yet it’s actually quite difficult to put into words. For starters, Ambivalent is to be at a state of having simultaneous, conflicting feelings toward a person or thing. In other words, the term also refers to situations where mixed feelings of a more general state are experienced, or where the experiences of uncertainty or indecisiveness concerning to a situation—much like this paragraph. As the title suggests, Inga Clendinnen’s book focuses on the Mayan culture in the Yucatan peninsula in the years following the Spanish conquest. Clendinnen’s book is divided into two parts, one of the Spanish and the other from the indigenous. While the conquerors were assimilating the Mayan, the Mayan people were assimilating to the Old World Christian religion imposed by the Spanish. According to Clendinnen’s research, she argues that the Mayan developed a passive resistance to the spiritual conquest. Such passive resistance led the Friars to mistreat the indigenous with forcible conversions, thus, created internal conflicts within the Spanish.
This book is called Ambivalent Conquests because the purpose of the book is to portray a different image/view of how things were seen during the conquest. Ambivalent means that there are contradicting opinions or views expressed rather than the ones that were inscribed in one's mind's in the first place. The reason for this confusion of ideas is due to many myths that were created by people who believed the conquest was just a major war-like demolition by the Spanish.
ReplyDeleteThis book demonstrates an example of an ambivalent conquest in the very beginning of the book. The Spaniards are making their way to the 'el Gran Cairo', or the 'Great Cairo" (pg.6). The Indians greeted the Spanish with enthusiasm and were also very welcoming upon their arrival, they even offered to get more ships to get the Spanish all ashore (pg. 6). This is an example of an ambivalent conquest because it has been stated previously with other conquests that the Indians were tense, anxious and very territorial with the arrival of Spanish. Thus, it is an ambivalent feeling given to the audience when Clendinnen states that the Indians were fearless of the Spanish.
The definition of “ambivalent” is to have mixed or conflicting ideas on a subject, which is why the title of Clendinnen’s book is so fitting to the topic it discusses. Ambivalent Conquests not only covers the history of the Spanish conquest of the Yucatan peninsula, but the various motivations that drove each party involved.
ReplyDeleteThe first people to officially set foot on the Mayan Yucatan were not conquerors—or even explorers for that matter—but Spanish settlers driven by economical needs. More specifically: Slaves. There were very few native slaves available at the time of this first expedition, and many men who would need them to make a decent living had grown tired of waiting. One of these men was Bernal Diaz, who had been promised a handful of slaves from the Governor of Cuba. Restless, he and about a hundred others set out on an expedition to capture slaves of their own. So the first venture to the peninsula was not an attempt to conquer the Maya, but simply an exploratory party in search of people to enslave (p.5).
The first attempt to actually conquer the Yucatan would come in the year 1526. Inspired by rumors from the first explorations of the area of large towns with large supplies of gold and other valuables, and bolstered by the successes of the pacification of Mexico, Francisco de Montejo would try his luck at conquest (p.20). So while this initial attempt was still driven by economic goals, they were very different from the first explorer’s motivations. The explorers wanted to grab some slaves—maybe dabble in a little trade— and go. While Montejo’s settlers wanted to actually pacify the region and use it to establish their wealth.
These two expeditions motivations, while categorically similar, conflict with one another and are merely a hint at what is to come later in the Clendinnen’s book Ambivalent Conquests.
The book is titled Ambivalent Conquests because of it's telling of mixed feelings by Spaniards about the conquests in the New World. We can see these mixed feelings in their exploration of Cape Catoche and Campeche. At their first exploration in Cape Catoche, we are told of Córdoba and his men's cautious arrival, being wary of interacting with the Indians. Clendinnen describes the arrival by saying, “...clutching their weapons, and moving in the loose but conscious formation they adopted so naturally in situations of potential threat...” (p. 7) We can see the ambivalence in the way that Córdoba approached this exploration of new territory. The Indians were very welcoming at first, only to ambush the Spanish soldiers as they came onto land. This attack forced the Spaniards to retreat back to their ships and move on. After sailing for a few weeks, they came across what was to be known to them as Campeche. The men were in dire need of water and needed to fill their casks. As they were refilling the casks on the shore, the Indians of Campeche approached them and beckoned them to follow them into the town. The Spaniards were even more cautious this time, not wanting another ambush like the one at Cape Catoche. Clendinnen describes this ambivalence by stating, “It was a formidable dilemma...After a rapid consultation the Spaniards took the only course open to them.” (p. 9) This course was following the Indians into town. Although the Indians at Campeche did not attack the Spaniards, they gave them warning which ultimately pushed the men back and on their way again. Clendinnen's description of these two particular events show exactly how these conquests were indeed ambivalent.
ReplyDeleteI believe that “Ambivalent” from the book’s title refers to both the feelings of the Spanish during their early endeavors on the Yucatan, and the feelings of the natives who felt the touch of this new influence. The book discusses the attitudes of the Spanish on the Cordoba expedition, weighing the potential acquisition of wealth and status against the risk that would be required to attain it. Cortes describes many of these setbacks such as tropical storms, the danger the local coral beds posed to ships, and the danger of potentially hostile natives whose motives often could not be determined due to lack of effective means of communication. Cortes also mentions needing to risk going ashore to prematurely replenish their provisions of fresh water. This was due to the casks leaking supposedly because of a combination of careless construction and lack of knowledge of proper curing techniques for wood of that region. (Clendinnen 9.). There was no guarantee of success even if the men braved these challenges. If however, they found a suitable region, the leaders of the expedition could become as powerful as the Governor of Cuba, holding vast amounts of land and influence over the indigenous people. The Spanish also have conflicting feelings about the natives, believing them primitive because of their usual nakedness and cultural differences. This however, is still contrasted as they show more approval and acceptance when making contact with properly clothed natives who “showed a proper sense of shame” when naked (Clendinnen 4.). The natives too, are shown to have ambivalent views about the conquest. News had spread of the intentions of the Spanish even before they had intentionally arrived on the Yucatan. Thus some natives such as those encountered at Cape Catoche were hostile and very violent (Clendinnen 7.). Others were peaceful and subservient, taking a great liking to European commodities such as wine and copper items.
DeleteAmbivalent means to have mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone. The ambivalence in Clendinnen’s title, I believe, refers to both the Spaniards bland efforts at conquering the Yucatan peninsula and also the superficial acceptance by the Maya of the practice of Christianity. The book itself is structured in two parts, part 1: Spaniards, explains the Spanish settlements in the New World, the encomienda system and how it came to an end, and also the missionaries’ effort to convert the Indigenous to Christianity. This part shows the Spaniards view of the conquest and Natives. Part 2: Indians, on the other hand, shows the opposite; how the Indians viewed the Spanish settlers and their religion. Thus the exposure of both points of views creates an Ambivalent Conquest, an uncertain, doubtful, equivocal, and inconclusive event that will always be too ambiguous for us to fully understand.
ReplyDeleteAida, I agree with your analysis as I believe that Ambivalent Conquests is a very fitting title for a book that covers a period of time whose events have been so highly debated over time. As you said, there were two different perspectives to take into account as there always two sides to every story: the natives and the European conquistadors. At the beginning of the book, the feelings between the two parties were very clear as Columbus took the freedom to scrounge through the cargo of canoes being driven by the natives as"We can be sure that the news of the strangers, of their uncouth and piratical ways, ran through the whole complex system, although only a hint of that disquiet survives in the records" (4). That shows that the natives clearly disapproved of the European intentions although the contrary would be that Europeans felt a right to raid whatever they pleased as they felt they had the necessary justification; this book was given as the ambivalence described in the book really epitomized the time period and contrasting mindsets of the Spanish and the natives.
DeleteI believe the concept of “Ambivalent Conquests” relates back to our discussions on Malintzin’s reputation in modern day Mexico. Who was Malintizin? A traitor? An exceptional woman? The mother of the Mezticas? Many of these same questions can be asked by both Spanish and Maya in the Yucatan Peninsula of the period covered by Inga Clendinnen. Who are we and what is our goal?
ReplyDeleteCertainly the “conquest” itself was ambivalent. The first voyages were for slaves (4) and exploration (15), not settlement. Only later would Montejo come with a charter to pacify the region. He and his men crisscrossed the Yucatan in search of gold, silver and precious stones, only to be hindered by the terrain and the lack of tangible wealth. They left. The terrain would continue to play a role in the later Spanish settlement, as even the early Franciscan friars were mostly confined to towns, as opposed to the more free-ranging of their brethren in Mexico (53), and make pacification intensely difficult.
Thus, the integration of population, religious instruction, and political leadership did not occur in the Yucatan as it had in the regions conquered by Cortés. Indeed, the later arrivals were interested only in encomiendas, which “did not disturb the internal organization of the native political structures” (38). The conflict between the encomenderos and the Franciscans occurred as the friars’ efforts at punishing idolatry deprived the encomenderos of labor. Who was on whose side here? Clendinnen mentions the contradiction of the Maya running for protection to the early Franciscans from their encomendero overlords with the later protection the encomenderos offered the Maya from the persecution following the revolt of 1546 (127).
The term “conquest” implies a unified purpose carried out with distinct goals in mind. The “conquest” of Yucatan was hardly that. The Franciscans and encomenderos squabbled constantly over how to treat the Maya. The Franciscans argued amongst themselves. The Maya appeared to adopt Christianity – then dropped all pretenses and admitted to practicing pagan religions. The terrain protected the Maya from full political integration and the Spanish and Maya populations remained somewhat separate, yet Spanish control was evident and “fragile bridges brought Indians into the Spanish milieu. Few settlers were interested in making the reverse journey” (44). The pacification of the Yucatan was quite a different breed than that of the Aztec empire to the north.
the book is called Ambivalent Conquest because the language barriers and how the indians felt about the Spaniards actually felt about the Yucatan natives and how the Yucatan natives actually felt about the Spaniards was not Ambivalent. The book starts off with a quote of one of the spaniards saying "When the Spaniards discovered this land, their leader asked the Indians how it was called; as they did not understand him, they said uic atban, which means, what do you say or what do you speak, that we do not understand. And then the Spaniard ordered it set down that it be called Yucatan... " This quote sets a president of what this book is about and it ambivalent encounters and understanding between the Yucatan natives and the Spaniards.
ReplyDeleteWhen Cordova and his men got ambushed, according to the Spaniards but that also could ambivalent because one must also consider the Yucatan native's point of view, the Spaniards took it as an ambush because Yucatan native's leader was so welcoming. The Yucatan would tell the Spaniards "cones catoche, cones catoches" which the Spaniards took as "come to our house"(p.7). The Spaniards felt it was all a set up. All of this contradictions and mixed fillings between the Spaniards and Yucatan natives is best described by this quote, "In a country so full of promise, and hazard, communication by sign language could no longer be regarded as adequate" (p.8).
I agree with you in that there were indeed language barriers and mixed feelings between the Spaniards and the Yucatan natives. However, I think that it goes a little bit deeper than initial interactions and communication barriers.
DeleteA better way to understand why the book is titled Ambivalent Conquests is to study the behavior of Landa. Clearly, Landa did not think of the Yucatan Mayas as anything less than humans, as Clendinnen points out that “with the Indians of the Yucatan he had a special relationship.” (123) Furthermore, It was his relationship with some of those Indians that “…were among the most emotionally rewarding of his life.” (123). Clendinnen goes on to declare that Landa “was prepared to accept the Indians as responsible moral beings,” (126) which was more than his contemporaries could do. Of course, Landa also felt that he was justified in torturing over 4,500 natives in three months (76). I think that it is actions committed by persons such as Landa that pave way for the book to be titled Ambivalent Conquests. Certainly, formulating special relationships with a people and then torturing those same people to a point at which fellow Christians were astonished evokes ambivalence.
I agree with you that military ventures are a reason why the book is titled what it is titled; after all, conquest is half of the title. However, there is more to the ambivalence in the Yucatan during this period than Cordova’s escapades. Studying Landa’s experiences offer some insight into additional ambivalence in the area during the period.
ReplyDelete“Why is this book called Ambivalent Conquests?” Seemed like an easy question to answer, yet it’s actually quite difficult to put into words. For starters, Ambivalent is to be at a state of having simultaneous, conflicting feelings toward a person or thing. In other words, the term also refers to situations where mixed feelings of a more general state are experienced, or where the experiences of uncertainty or indecisiveness concerning to a situation—much like this paragraph.
As the title suggests, Inga Clendinnen’s book focuses on the Mayan culture in the Yucatan peninsula in the years following the Spanish conquest. Clendinnen’s book is divided into two parts, one of the Spanish and the other from the indigenous. While the conquerors were assimilating the Mayan, the Mayan people were assimilating to the Old World Christian religion imposed by the Spanish. According to Clendinnen’s research, she argues that the Mayan developed a passive resistance to the spiritual conquest. Such passive resistance led the Friars to mistreat the indigenous with forcible conversions, thus, created internal conflicts within the Spanish.