Dr. Teofilo F. Ruiz, University of California, Los Angeles

Website: http://www.history.ucla.edu/people/faculty?lid=869

Dr. Ruiz, who interestingly enough grew up in Cuba across the street from Ernest Hemmingway, presented on the historical background in medieval Spain which set the tone for the arrival of settlers and conquerors in the "new world." Here are a few highlights of the points Dr. Ruiz made:

• Castile, during the period leading up to and after 1492, was a "monolithic religious society." The key events during this period were the conquest of Grenada, the expulsion/conversion of Jews, and the so called "discovery" of the "new world".
  
• "Columbus was crazy!" He was obsessed with prophecy and his own role in it. Also, no one with knowledge of the ocean at Columbus's time believed the Earth was flat.
  
• The conflict between the Spanish and Aztecs was the result of a mutual misunderstanding.
  
• Many Spanish conquerors wanted to conceive of the Natives as other than human to assuage guilt at conquering them. However, the prevailing idea was that the Spaniards conceived of the Natives as humans without advanced civilization, thereby giving a mandate to the Spaniards to civilize them. (Prof. Ruiz compared this to similar actions in the 19th century and even contemporary events like the attempt to bring democracy to Iraq).
  
• There is no way that Tenochtitlan was conquered by the Spaniards. Instead, the Spanish counted on large numbers of Native allies.
  
• The name Mexico (and New Mexico) comes from the term that the Aztecs called themselves (Mēxihcah). Also, the Aztecs originated from what is now the Southwestern United States.
  
• This violent encounter was also a place of creation for a combination of cultures, as in Acoma, where both Native culture and Spanish culture combined to form something that is both new and vibrant.

Labels: 2008 Spring Lecture Series: Medieval New Mexico, Campus

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