Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
Chapter Seven: Europe in the World, 1450-1600
CONTENTS
1. Ma Huan, Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shores, 1451
2
2. Alvise de Cadamosto on the slave trade, 1450s
3
3. Journal of Vasco da Gama on his first voyage to India, 1497-1498 CE
4
4. Journal of Christopher Columbus, 1492
5
5. Columbus’ letter to the King and Queen of Spain, 1494
6
6. Amerigo Vespucci, Letter describing his first voyage, 1497
6
7. Letter regarding the voyages of John Cabot, 1497
6
8. Antonio Pigafetta’s description of the death of Magellan, 1521
8
9. Letter of Francis Xavier to the Society of Jesus in Rome, 1552
10
10. The Memoirs of Mendez Pinto
10
11. Kirisitan monogatari, 1639
12
12. Spanish and Nahua accounts of the conquest of Mexico
13
13. Dõna Marina/Malintzin/La Malinche
14
14. Charles V, Emperor and King of Spain, Instructions for Viceroy Antonio de
15
Mendoza, 1535
15. Sidi Ali Reis, Mirat ul Memalik (The Mirror of Countries), 1557
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
16
1
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
1. Ma Huan, Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shores, 1451
Ma Huan accompanied the Chinese admiral Zheng He as an Arabic translator on three
of his seven voyages into the Indian Ocean, what the Chinese called the Western Sea. He
kept accounts of these voyages, and later published them. Here he is describing the city of
Calicut on the west coast of India, and Hormuz on the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The Country of Calicut
This is the great country of the Western Ocean ....
In the fifth year of the Yongle period the court ordered the principal envoy, the
grand eunuch Zheng He, and others to deliver an imperial mandate to the king of this
country and to bestow on him a patent conferring a tide of honor, and the grant of a silver
seal, also to promote all the chiefs and award them hats and belts of various grades.
So Zheng He went there in command of a large fleet of treasure-ships, and he
erected a tablet with a pavilion over it and set up a stone which said, “Though the journey
from this country to the Central Country is more than a hundred thousand li [about 30,000
miles] yet the people are very similar, happy and prosperous, with identical customs. We
have here engraved a stone, a perpetual declaration for ten thousand ages.”
The king of the country is an upper-caste man; he is a firm believer in the
Buddhist religion [actually, he was a Hindu] and he venerates the elephant and the ox…
The king has two great chiefs who administer the affairs of the country; both are
Muslims ....
The people are very honest and trustworthy. Their appearance is smart, fine, and
distinguished.
Their two great chiefs received promotion and awards from the court of the
Central Country.
If a treasure-ship goes there, it is left entirely to the two men to superintend the
buying and selling; the king sends a chief and an accountant to examine the account
books in the official bureau; a broker comes and joins them; and a high officer who
commands the ships discusses the choice of a certain date for fixing prices. When the
day arrives, they first of all take the silk embroideries and the open-work silks, and
other such goods which have been brought there, and discuss the price of them one by
one; and when the price has been fixed, they write out an agreement stating the amount
of the price; this agreement is retained by these persons ....
The Country of Hormuz
Setting sail from the country of Guli, you go towards the north-west; and you
can reach this place after traveling with a fair wind for twenty-five days. The capital
lies beside the sea and up against the mountains.
Foreign ships from every place and foreign merchants traveling by land all come
to this country to attend the market and trade; hence the people of the country are all
rich..
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
2
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
The king of this country, too, took a ship and loaded it with lions, a giraffe,
horses, pearls, precious stones, and other things, also a memorial to the throne written on
a golden leaf; and he sent his chiefs and other men, who accompanied the treasure-ships
dispatched by the Emperor, which were returning from the Western ocean; and they went
to the capital and presented tribute.
A colored version of one of Theodor de Bry’s images of the Americas, showing Spanish
soldiers overseeing enslaved Africans and indigenous Americans mining.
2. Alvise de Cadamosto on the slave trade, 1450s
Alvise da Cadamosto (1428-1423) was a Venetian explorer and merchant who led
voyages down the African coast for Prince Henry the Navigator. He discovered the Cape
Verdes islands, and sailed into the Gambian River, trading with west Africans. Later he
wrote a detailed report of his trips, in which he describes the trans-Saharan trading
network and the earliest Portuguese ventures in the slave trade. (From G.R. Crone, ed.,
The Voyages of Cadamosto, (1937)
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
3
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
These [Arabs] are the men who go to the land of the Blacks, and also to our nearer
Barbary. They are very numerous, and have many camels on which they carry brass and
silver from Barbary and other things to Timbuktu and to the land of the Blacks. Thence
they carry away gold and pepper, which they bring hither. They are brown complexioned,
and wear white cloaks edged with a red stripe: their women also dress thus, without
shifts. On their heads the men wear turbans in the Moorish fashion, and they always go
barefooted. In these sandy districts there are many lions, leopards, and ostriches, the eggs
of which I have often eaten and found good.
You should know that the said Lord Infante of Portugal [Henry the Navigator] has
leased this island of Argin to Christians [for ten years], so that no one can enter the bay to
trade with the Arabs save those who hold the license. These have dwellings on the island
and factories where they buy and sell with the said Arabs who come to the coast to trade
for merchandise of various kinds, such as woollen cloths, cotton, silver, and "alchezeli,"
that is, cloaks, carpets, and similar articles and above all, corn, for they are always short
of food. They give in exchange slaves whom the Arabs bring from the land of the Blacks,
and gold. The Lord Infante therefore caused a castle to be built on the island to protect
this trade for ever. For this reason, Portuguese caravels are coming and going all the year
to this island.
These Arabs also have many Berber horses, which they trade, and take to the
Land of the Blacks, exchanging them with the rulers for slaves. Ten or fifteen slaves are
given for one of these horses, according to their quality. The Arabs likewise take articles
of Moorish silk, made in Granada and in Tunis of Barbary, silver, and other goods,
obtaining in exchange any number of these slaves, and some gold. These slaves are
brought to the market and town of Hoden; there they are divided: some go to the
mountains of Barcha, and thence to Sicily, [others to the said town of Tunis and to all the
coasts of Barbary], and others again are taken to this place, Argin, and sold to the
Portuguese leaseholders. As a result every year the Portuguese carry away from Argin a
thousand slaves. Note that before this traffic was organized, the Portuguese caravels,
sometimes four, sometimes more, were wont to come armed to the Golfo d'Argin, and
descending on the land by night, would assail the fisher villages, and so ravage the land.
Thus they took of these Arabs both men and women, and carried them to Portugal for
sale: behaving in a like manner along all the rest of the coast.
3. Journal of Vasco da Gama on his first voyage to India, 1497-1498 CE
In 1497, the Portuguese crown sponsored a fleet of four ships led by Vasco da Gama on a
voyage to find a sea route to the Indian Ocean. He reached Calicut in 1498, returned
home with spices, and came back to India several years later with a much larger
expedition. His journal describes peoples that he met and events of the voyage in great
detail.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1497degama.html
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
4
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
4. Journal of Christopher Columbus, 1492
Like da Gama, Columbus kept an extensive journal of his travels, which was published
and then translated into many other languages shortly after he returned. This is an
extract from that very long document, noting the tedium of many days passed at sea, and
describing Columbus’s first impressions of the residents of the New World. The journal is
prefaced by a dedication to Isabella and Ferdinand; Columbus (who always speaks of
himself in the third person) describes his first act on landing as follows:
The Admiral landed in the boat, which was armed, along with Martin Alonzo Pinzon,
and Vincent Yanez his brother, captain of the Nina. The Admiral bore the royal standard,
and the two captains each a banner of the Green Cross, which all the ships had carried;
this contained the initials of the names of the King and Queen each side of the cross, and
a crown over each letter Arrived on shore, they saw trees very green many streams of
water, and diverse sorts of fruits. The Admiral called upon the two Captains, and the rest
of the crew who landed, as also to Rodrigo de Escovedo notary of the fleet, and Rodrigo
Sanchez, of Segovia, to bear witness that he before all others took possession (as in fact
he did) of that island for the King and Queen his sovereigns …
The entire extract can be found at:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.html
Columbus’s coat of arms, granted
to him by Isabella and Ferdinand.
The symbols at the top are those of
Aragon and Castile, and the islands
and anchors below represent his
voyages.
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
5
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
5. Columbus’ letter to the King and Queen of Spain, 1494
In this letter, written before his second voyage, Columbus sets out his ideas about the best
ways to govern the new colonies and handle the gold that he is certain will be found in
great abundance.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus2.html
6. Amerigo Vespucci, Letter describing his first voyage, 1497
Amerigo Vespucci was a Florentine merchant and adventurer who served as a ship’s
captain on several voyages. He also wrote colorful descriptions of his travels, many of
which were quickly published, leading the German mapmaker Martin Waldseemüller to
dub the New World “America.” Vespucci discusses a number of violent encounters with
native peoples along the northern coast of South America, and reports at the end of this
letter that two hundred of them were taken as slaves, and later sold at Cadiz in Spain.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1497vespucci-america.html
Letters- patent granted to John Cabot and his three sons for a voyage to discover new
lands by the king of England, Henry VII, at Westminster on March 5,1496. Photo
courtesy of the Public Record Office Image Library, UK (From Pathfinders and
Passageways, the Exploration of Canada, an extensive website run by Library and
Archives Canada:
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/explorers/index-e.html
7. Letter regarding the voyages of John Cabot, 1497
Italian diplomats and businessmen living abroad were often expected to report any news
of interest to the rulers of their home states in Italy. In 1497, Raimondo di Soncino, an
Italian living in England, sent the following letter to the Duke of Milan.
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
6
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
18th December, 1497.
My most illustrious and most excellent Lord,
Perhaps amidst so many occupations of your Excellency it will not be unwelcome to learn
how this Majesty has acquired a part of Asia without drawing his sword. In this kingdom
there is a certain Venetian named Zoanne Caboto [John Cabot], of gentle disposition, very
expert in navigation, who, seeing that the most serene Kings of Portugal and Spain had
occupied unknown islands, meditated the achievement of a similar acquisition for the said
Majesty. Having obtained royal privileges securing to himself the use of the dominions he
might discover, the sovereignty being reserved to the Crown, he entrusted his fortune to a
small vessel with a crew of 18 persons, and set out from Bristol, a port in the western part
of this kingdom. Having passed Ibernia, which is still further to the west, and then shaped
a northerly course, he began to navigate to the eastern part, leaving (during several days)
the North Star on the right hand; and having wandered thus for a long time, at length he hit
upon land, where he hoisted the royal standard, and took possession for his Highness, and,
having obtained various proofs of his discovery, he returned. The said Messer Zoanne,
being a foreigner and poor, would not have been believed if the crew, who are nearly all
English, and belonging to Bristol, had not testified that what he said was the truth. This
Messer Zoanne has the description of the world on a chart, and also on a solid sphere
which he has constructed, and on which he shows where he has been; and, proceeding
towards the east, he has passed as far as the country of the Tanais. And they say that there
the land is excellent and (the climate?) temperate, suggesting that brasil and silk grow
there. They affirm that the sea is full of fish, which are not only taken with a net, but also
with a basket, a stone being fastened to it in order to keep it in the water; and this I have
heard stated by the said Messer Zoanne.
The said Englishmen, his companions, say that they took so many fish that this kingdom
will no longer have need of Iceland, from which country there is an immense trade in the
fish they call stock-fish. But Messer Zoanne has set his mind on higher things, for he
thinks that, when that place has been occupied, he will keep on still further towards the
east, where he will be opposite to an island called Cipango [Japan], situated in the
equinoctial region, where he believes that all the spices of the world, as well as the jewels,
are found. He further says that he was once at Mecca, whither the spices are brought by
caravans from distant countries; and having inquired from whence they were brought and
where they grow, they answered that they did not know, but that such merchandize was
brought from distant countries by other caravans to their home; and they further say that
they are also conveyed from other remote regions. And he adduced this argument, that if
the eastern people tell those in the south that these things come from a far distance from
them, presupposing the rotundity of the earth, it must be that the last turn would be by the
north towards the west; and it is said that in this way the route would not cost more than it
costs now, and I also believe it. And what is more, this Majesty, who is wise and not
prodigal, reposes such trust in him because of what he has already achieved, that he gives
him a good maintenance, as Messer Zoanne has himself told me. And it is said that before
long his Majesty will arm some ships for him, and will give him all the malefactors to go
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
7
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
to that country and form a colony, so that they hope to establish a greater depot of spices in
London than there is in Alexandria. The principal people in the enterprise belong to
Bristol. They are great seamen, and, now that they know where to go, they say that the
voyage thither will not occupy more than 15 days after leaving Ibernia. I have also spoken
with a Burgundian, who was a companion of Messer Zoanne, who affirms all this, and
who wishes to return because the Admiral (for so Messer Zoanne is entitled) has given him
an island, and has given another to his barber of Castione, [perhaps Castiglione, near
Chiavari] who is a Genoese, and both look upon themselves as Counts; nor do they look
upon my Lord the Admiral as less than a Prince. I also believe that some poor Italian friars
are going on this voyage, who have all had bishoprics promised to them. And if I had
made friends with the Admiral when he was about to sail, I should have got an
archbishopric at least; but I have thought that the benefits reserved for me by your
Excellency will be more secure. I would venture to pray that, in the event of a vacancy
taking place in my absence, I may be put in possession, and that I may not be superseded
by those who, being present, can be more diligent than I, who am reduced in this country
to eating at each meal ten or twelve kinds of victuals, and to being three hours at table
every day, two for love of your Excellency, to whom I humbly recommend myself.
London, 18 Dec. 1497, your Excellency's most humble servant, Raimundus.
8. Antonio Pigafetta’s description of the death of Magellan, 1521
Antonio Pigafetta was a pilot on the voyage led by Ferdinand Magellan to circumnavigate
the globe. He kept an extensive journal, which is the source of most of our information
about Magellan’s voyage. Here he describes the events that led up to Magellan’s death in
the Philippines. For a longer extract from his journal, see:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1519magellan.html
In this island Fernando de Magalhaes [i.e. Magellan] did what he pleased with the consent
of the country, and in one day eight hundred people became Christian, on which account
Fernan de Magalhaes desired that the other kings, neighbors to this one, should become
subject to this who had become Christian: and these did not choose to yield such
obedience. Fernan de Magalhaes seeing that, got ready one night with his boats, and
burned the villages of those who would not yield the said obedience; and a matter of ten or
twelve days after this was done he sent to a village about half a league from that which he
had burned, which is named Matam, and which is also an island, and ordered them to send
him at once three goats, three pigs, three loads of rice, and three loads of millet for
provisions for the ships; they replied that of each article which he sent to ask them three of,
they would send to him by twos, and if he was satisfied with this they would at once
comply, if not, it might be as he pleased, but that they would not give it. Because they did
not choose to grant what he demanded of them, Fernan de Magalhaes ordered three boats
to be equipped with a matter of fifty or sixty men, and went against the said place, which
was on the 28th day of April, in the morning; there they found many people, who might
well be as many as three thousand or four thousand men, who fought with such a good will
that the said Fernan de Magalhaes was killed there, with six of his men, in the year 1521.
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
8
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
1590 engraving of Magellan by the Dutch engraver Crispin van der Passe, who
describes his actions (and death) in “Australis” a term used generically for lands of the
western Pacific.
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
9
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
9. Letter of Francis Xavier to the Society of Jesus in Rome, 1552
Francis Xavier (1506-1552) was one of the original members of the Jesuit order. In 1542,
he traveled to India as a missionary, working out of the Portuguese colony of Goa. In
1549, he went to Japan, where he stayed for two years and founded the first Christian
congregations. He hoped to go to China, but died before he was able to do so. Wherever
they were in the world, Jesuit missionaries were expected to send regular reports to their
superiors; these Relations, as they are usually called, provide some of the most extensive
material for understanding how Europeans viewed the world around them. In this letter,
Xavier talks in great depth about Japanese religious ideas and institutions, and both
Japanese and Chinese values.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1552xavier4.html
Title page of the first German edition of Mendez Pinto’s book, published in Amsterdam in
1671.
10. The Memoirs of Mendez Pinto
Ferdinand Mendez Pinto (1509?-1583?) was a Portuguese explorer and writer known
primarily through his own work, Pilgrimage (Peregrinação) which was published
posthumously. He claims to have been shipwrecked, enslaved, and captured in war many
times, and to have introduced firearms to Japan; it is impossible to say whether his
stories are true, though he was in Japan during the time that guns were first introduced.
He apparently left Europe about the same time as Francis Xavier, and traveled to India,
China, and Malacca as well as Japan. His report does provide a perspective on Asian
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
10
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
culture from a European who was not a missionary (though he did support the Jesuits
financially). In this extract, Pinto reports on a chance meeting in about 1540 with Inez de
Leyria, a Eurasian woman who had earlier been converted to Christianity by Portuguese
missionaries. Women were often quite numerous and prominent among early converts to
Christianity in Asia, just as they had been in the early years of Christianity in the Roman
Empire.
Chained together as we were, we went up and down the streets craving of alms, which
were very liberally given us by the inhabitants, who, wondering to see such men as we,
demanded of us what kind of people we were, of what kingdom, and how our country
was called. Hereunto we answered conformably to what we had said before, namely, that
we were natives of the kingdom of Siam, that going from Liampoo to Nanquin we had
lost all our goods by shipwreck, and that, although they beheld us then in so poor a case,
yet we had formerly been very rich; whereupon a woman who was come thither among
the rest to see us: "It is very likely," said she, speaking to them about her, " that what
these poor strangers have related is most true, for daily experience doth show how those
that trade by sea do oftentimes make it their grave, wherefore it is best and surest to travel
upon the earth and to esteem of it as of that whereof it has pleased God to frame us."
Saying so, she gave us two mazes, which amounts to about sixteen pence of our money,
advising us to make no more such long voyages since our lives were so short.
Hereupon she unbuttoned one of the sleeves of a red satin gown she had on, and baring
her left arm, she showed us a cross imprinted upon it like the mark of a slave. "Do any of
you know this sign, which amongst those that follow the way of truth is called a cross? or
have any of you heard it named?" To this, falling down on our knees, we answered with
tears in our eyes that we knew exceeding well. Then, lifting up her hands, she cried out,
"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name," speaking these words in the
Portugal tongue; and because she could speak no more of our language, she very
earnestly desired us in Chinese to tell her whether we were Christians. We replied that we
were, and for proof thereof, after we had kissed that arm whereon the cross was, we
repeated all the rest of the Lord's Prayer which she had left unsaid; wherewith being
assured that we were Christians indeed, she drew aside from the rest there present and
weeping said to us, "Come along, Christians of the other end of the world, with her that is
your true sister in the faith of Jesus Christ, or peradventure a kinswoman to one of you by
his side that begot me in this miserable exile"; and so going to carry us to her house, the
hopes which guarded us would not suffer her, saying, that if we would not continue our
craving of alms they would return us back to the ship; but this they spoke in regard of
their own interest, for that they were to have the moiety of what was given us, and
accordingly they made as though they would have led us thither again, which the woman
perceiving, "I understand your meaning," said she, "and indeed it is but reason you should
make the best of your places, for thereby you live"; so opening her purse, she gave them
two taeis in silver, wherewith they were very well satisfied; whereupon she carried us
home to her house, and there kept us all the while we remained in that place, making
much of us and using us very charitably.
Here she showed us an oratory, wherein she had a cross of wood gilt, as also candlesticks
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
11
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
and a lamp of silver. Furthermore she told us that she was named Inez de Leyria, and her
father Tome Pirez, who had been great ambassador from Portugal to the king of China,
and that in regard of an insurrection with a Portuguese captain made at Canton, the
Chinese taking him for a spy and not for an ambassador, as he termed himself, clapped
him and all his followers up in prison, where by order of justice five of them were put to
torture, receiving so many and such cruel stripes on their bodies as they died instantly,
and the rest were all banished into several parts, together with her father into this place,
where he married with her mother, that had some means, and how he made her a
Christian, living so seven and twenty years together, and converting many Gentiles to the
faith of Christ, whereof there were above three hundred then abiding in that town; which
every Sunday assembled in her house to say the catechism: whereupon demanding of her
what were their accustomed prayers, she answered that she used no other but these, which
on their knees, with their eyes and hands lift up to Heaven, they pronounced in this
manner: "O Lord Jesus Christ, as it is most true that thou art the very Son of God,
conceived by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary for the salvation of sinners, so thou wilt
be pleased to forgive us our offenses, that thereby we may become worthy to behold thy
face in the glory of thy kingdom, where thou art sitting at the right hand of the Almighty.
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. In the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost, Amen." And so all of them, kissing the cross, embraced one another,
and thereupon every one returned to his own home. Moreover, she told us that her father
had left her many other prayers, which the Chinese had stolen from her, so that she had
none left but those before recited; whereunto we replied that those we had heard from her
were very good, but before we went away we would leave her divers other good and
wholesome prayers. "Do so, then," answered she, "for the respect you owe to so good a
God as yours is, and that hath done such things for you, for me, and all in general."
Then causing the cloth to be laid, she gave us a very good and plentiful dinner, and
treated us in like sort every meal during the five days we continued in her house, which
was permitted by the Chifuu in regard of a present that this good woman sent his wife,
whom she earnestly entreated so to deal with her husband as Eve might be well entreated,
for that we were men of whom God had a particular care; as the Chifuu's wife promised
her to do, with many thanks to her for the present she had received. In the mean space,
during the five days we remained in her house, we read the catechism seven times to the
Christians; wherewithal they were very much edified; beside, Christophoro Borbalho
made them a little book in the Chinese tongue, containing the Paternoster, the Creed, the
Ten Commandments, and many other good prayers. After these things we took our leave
of Inez de Leyria and the Christians, a who gave us fifty taeis in silver, which stood us
since in good stead; and withal Inez de Leyria gave us secretly fifty taeis more, humbly
desiring us to remember her in our prayers to God.
11. Kirisitan monogatari, 1639
European missionaries and explorers wrote many reports of their encounters, but so did
the people who they met. This is from a popular Japanese book by an anonymous author,
describing early missionaries. It was published shortly after the ruler of Japan had
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
12
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
closed the country to foreigners and prohibited Christianity. (From George Elison, Deus
Destroyed: The Image of Christianity in Early Modern Japan (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1973), pp. 321-3)
In the reign of Mikado Go-Nara no In, the hundred and eighth Emperor since the
days of Jimmu, some time about the Koji Period, a Southern Barbarian [European] trading vessel came to our shores. From this ship for the first time emerged an unnamable
creature, somewhat similar in shape to a human being, but looking rather more like a
long-nosed goblin or the giant demon Mikoshi Nyudo. Upon close interrogation it was
discovered that this was a being called Bateren.
The length of his nose was the first thing which attracted attention: it was like a
conch shell (though without its surface warts) attached by suction to his face. His eyes
were as large as spectacles, and their insides were yellow. His head was small. On his
hands and feet he had long claws. His height exceeded seven feet, and he was black all
over; only his nose was red. His teeth were longer than the teeth of a horse. His hair was
mouse-grey in color, and over his brow was a shaved spot in the outline of a winebowl
turned over. What he said could not be understood at all: his voice was like the screech
of an owl. One and all rushed to see him, crowding all the roads in total lack of restraint.
And all were agreed that this apparition was even more dreadful than the fiercest of
goblins could ever be. His name was Urugan Bateren. Though at heart he planned to
spread the Kirishitan [Christian] religion, he seemed intent first to survey the wisdom of
the Japanese people. He brought with him all sort and manner of curious things from
South Barbary.
12. Spanish and Nahua accounts of the conquest of Mexico
In a few cases, accounts of initial encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples
have survived from both sides, allowing comparisons. One of these is the Spanish
conquest of Mexico, for which there are several accounts written by Spaniards, including
Cortés himself. The most detailed is that written Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492-1580),
who had been a soldier in Cortés’s army. The most important source providing the
perspective of native peoples is what is now known as the Florentine Codex, a manuscript
written by or under the direction of the Spanish friar Bernardino de Sahagún . It was
apparently originally written in Nahuatl, the language spoken in central Mexico, but this
version has been lost, and what survives is Sahagún’s Spanish-language revised version.
The work included many illustrations in Nahua picture-language, but scholars caution
that it must be used carefully, as it represented native voices filtered through a Spanish
lens. Extracts from Díaz and Sahagún are found at:
http://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/images/conquestofnewspain.html
http://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/images/florentinecodex.html
There is a long discussion of issues in interpreting Díaz’ account at:
http://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/unpacking/travelanalysis.html
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
13
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
Additional original sources about the conquest, and discussion about problems in
interpreting them, can be found at:
http://www.theaha.org/tl/LessonPlans/ca/Fitch/index.htm
Painting by an indigenous artist of Malinche and Cortés, from the Florentine Codex.
13. Dõna Marina/Malintzin/La Malinche
One of the most controversial figures in the Spanish conquest was a native woman who
served as one of Cortes’s translators. He makes only a brief mention of her in his letters,
but Bernal Días and some of the Nahuatl sources describe her in more detail. According
to these sources, she was an upper-class woman who was given to Cortés, accompanied
him on his conquests, and later married one of his captains. We do not know her original
name; the contemporary sources call her Dõna Marina or Malintzin or La Malinche. She
had a child by Cortés and one by her husband. She was viewed as important in both
Spanish and native accounts, though later Mexican opinion has varied widely. Some see
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
14
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
her as a traitor to her people, others as the mother of the mestizo culture that is the heart
of Mexico, and others as a feminist foremother. Twelve written and artistic depictions of
this controversial woman, beginning with Cortes’s letters and ending with contemporary
sculptures and poems, along with a discussion of their interpretation, can be found at:
http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/lessons/lesson6/lesson6.php?s=0
14. Charles V, Emperor and King of Spain, Instructions for Viceroy Antonio de
Mendoza, 1535
Antonio de Mendoza was a Spanish nobleman and diplomat appointed by Charles V to be
the first viceroy in New Spain. He is generally regarded as having been a capable
administrator; while in his post, he sponsored expeditions into the northern parts of the
colony and established several universities. Charles’s instructions to Mendoza were
detailed and extensive, and reveal both royal aims and the problems that had already
developed in the administration of the colony. (He speaks, of course, in the royal “we.”)
The sections here are only a small share of what Charles expected Mendoza to do; the
entire document can be found at:
http://www.college.emory.edu/culpeper/BAKEWELL/texts/mendoza-instructions.html
First of all, as soon as you arrive in the country and have begun to understand its
affairs, both spiritual and temporal, and in particular those related to the construction of
the churches necessary for the Holy Religion and to the conversion and instruction of the
native Indians of that land, as well as of other matters pertaining to the service of the
Lord Our God and the discharge of Our royal conscience, you should report whatever you
find lacking or needing attention to Us immediately, including your opinions in the
matter and those of the local prelates. In the meantime, with the help of the local clergy,
you should make provision in all of this to the extent that you can and see that it is
necessary….
Also, you should see if the towns are able to pay more gold, silver, and other
things of value than they currently pay; [and if so], you should inform them that their
assessment will be increased, payable in silver, gold, or its equivalent. Since I have been
informed that the Indians of that country pay their tributes in blankets, corn, and other
local goods that are difficult to turn into revenue, you should find a manner in which their
tributes can be paid by converting all those things into a certain quantity of gold or silver
yearly. This should be accomplished in such a manner that it increases Our revenue but
not their labor, and since this is a very important matter, you should place great care in it,
listing what they pay in tribute presently and what Our officials get for it when they sell it
or use it in payment, and what its value would be if commuted to gold or silver; and you
should send this list along with your report on the first ship to come….
Also, We are informed that in many places in the said province there are large and
wealthy mines of gold, silver, and other metals, and that in addition to the fifths paid by
private individuals who mine them with Our license and permission, We could increase
Our revenues greatly if Our officials in the said mines purchased for Us a large number of
slaves, either blacks or people purchased from the Indians who are held and reputed to be
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
15
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
slaves. And because this is a matter of great importance and We could receive great
benefit if it is correct, We charge and command you, after you have discussed this matter
with Our judges and officials in New Spain and with other persons who have knowledge
of it, to make provision as you think is most appropriate for this purpose. And if you
should see that to carry this out better it would be good to have a quantity of slaves sent
out from these kingdoms or other regions, you should advise Us of it, giving the number
and quality of the slaves desired and what you have begun to do in carrying this out, so
that I can make disposition in this matter quickly as is appropriate for Our service and the
good administration of Our treasury.
Two sixteenth-century Ottoman ships. The
smaller uses only triangular lateen sails; the
larger is rigged with a variety of sails, and can
also be powered by oars.
15. Sidi Ali Reis, Mirat ul Memalik (The Mirror of Countries), 1557
Western European Christians were not the only ones traveling, conquering, and
governing foreign lands in the sixteenth century. The Ottoman Empire reached its
greatest size during this era, ruling a multi-ethnic, multi-religious collection of
territories. The Turkish admiral Sidi Ali Reis served in the military of Sultan Suleiman
the Magnificent, fighting and engaging in diplomatic missions through much of south and
central Asia, and visiting Muslim holy sites wherever he went. Like Mendez Pinto, he
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
16
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
wrote of his conquests and adventures in vivid language, in a text that reveals his deep
faith and loyalty to his sovereign. A long excerpt can be found at:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/16CSidi1.html
We proceeded by the coasts of Djilgar and Djadi, past the towns of Keizzar or
Leime, and forty days after our departure, i.e., on the tenth of Ramazan, in the forenoon,
we suddenly saw coming toward us the Christian fleet, consisting of four large ships,
three galleons, six Portuguese guard ships, and twelve galleys, 25 vessels in all. I
immediately ordered the canopy to be taken down, the anchor weighed, the guns put in
readiness, and then, trusting to the help of the Almighty, we fastened the lilandra to the
mainmast, the flags were unfurled, and, full of courage and calling upon Allah, we
commenced to fight. The volley from the guns and cannon was tremendous, and with
God's help we sank and utterly destroyed one of the enemy's galleons. Never before
within the annals of history has such a battle been fought, and words fail me to describe
it…
The battle continued till sunset, and only then the Admiral of the infidel fleet
began to show some signs of fear. He ordered the signal-gun to fire a retreat, and the fleet
turned in the direction of Ormuz. With the help of Allah, and under the lucky star of the
Padishah, the enemies of Islam had been defeated. Night came at last; we were becalmed
for awhile, then the wind rose, the sails were set and as the shore was near . . . until
daybreak. The next day we continued our previous course….
God is merciful! With a favorable wind we left the port of Guador and again
steered for Yemen. We had been at sea for several days, and had arrived nearly opposite
to Zofar and Shar, when suddenly from the west arose a great storm known as fil Tofani.
We were driven back, but were unable to set the sails, not even the trinquetla (stormsail).
The tempest raged with increasing fury. As compared to these awful tempests the foul
weather in the western seas is mere child's play, and their towering billows are as drops
of water compared to those of the Indian sea. Night and day were both alike, and because
of the frailty of our craft all ballast had to be thrown overboard. In this frightful
predicament our only consolation was our unwavering trust in the power of the Almighty.
For ten days the storm raged continuously and the rain came down in torrents. We never
once saw the blue sky.
I did all I could to encourage and cheer my companions, and advised them above
all things to be brave, and never to doubt but that all would end well. A welcome
diversion occurred in the appearance of a fish about the size of two galley lengths, or
more perhaps, which the pilot declared to be a good omen. The tide being very strong
here and the ebb slow, we had an opportunity of seeing many sea-monsters in the
neighbor-hood of the bay of Djugd, sea-horses, large sea-serpents, turtles in great
quantities, and eels….
It was truly a terrible day, but at last we reached Gujarat in India, which part of it,
however, we knew not, when the pilot suddenly exclaimed: "On your guard! a whirlpool
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
17
Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789
Primary Sources
in front!" Quickly the anchors were lowered, but the ship was dragged down with great
force and nearly submerged. The rowers had left their seats, the panic-stricken crew
threw off their clothes, and, clinging some to casks and some to jacks, had taken leave of
one another. I also stripped entirely, gave my slaves their liberty, and vowed to give 100
florins to the poor of Mecca. Presently one of the anchors broke from its crook and
another at the podjuz; two more were lost, the ship gave a terrible jerk--and in another
instant we were clear of the breakers. The pilot declared that had we been wrecked off
Fisht-Kidsur, a place between Diu and Daman; nothing could have saved us…
Toward afternoon the weather had cleared a little, and we found ourselves about
two miles off the port of Daman, in Gujarat in India. The other ships had already arrived,
but some of the galleys were waterlogged not far from the shore, and they had thrown
overboard oars, boats, and casks, all of which wreckage eventually was borne ashore by
the rapidly rising tide. We were obliged to lie to for another five days and five nights,
exposed to a strong spring-tide, accompanied by floods of rain; for we were now in the
Badzad, or rainy season of India, and there was nothing for it but to submit to our fate.
During all this time we never once saw the sun by day, nor the stars by night; we could
neither use our clock nor our compass, and all on board anticipated the worst. It seems a
miracle that of the three ships lying there, thrown on their sides, the whole crew
eventually got safely to land….
He who wishes to profit by this narrative let him remember that not in vain
aspirations after greatness, but in a quiet and contented mind lieth the secret of the true
strength which perisheth not. But if in God's providence he should be driven from home,
and forced to wander forth in the unknown, and perchance be caught in the turbulent
waves of the sea of adversity, let him still always keep in mind that love for one's native
land is next to one's faith. Let him never cease to long for the day that he shall see his
native shores again, and always cling loyally to his Padishah. He who doeth this shall not
perish abroad; God will grant him his desire both in this world and in the next, and he
shall rejoice in the esteem and affection of his fellow-countrymen.
www.cambridge.org/wiesnerhanks
© Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
18