Fernando Cervantes

A detailed recounting of the Conquistador Era, Columbus-de Soto, placing this activity within the history of Castile and the politics of Europe. While the author might have ended with too rosy as a reconsideration of the conquistadors and their motivations for my tastes, he does a great job of putting forth the case that the conquistadors and their exploits are much more complex than they appear at first glance.

Highly recommended to those interested in the history of Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburgs, or any of the affected areas in the Americas. The last section of the book is recommended as reference for those interested in the later independence movements of the same areas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.… (meer)

Cervantes explores the development of the concept of devil worship or satanism as it was applied to native americans by the Spanish invaders. Specifically he looks at how the logical leap was made from observing that native Americans worshiped in their ways to declaring that those ways constituted demon worship. Does it logically follow that people who worship in a non-Christian way therefore worship the devil? The books is very heavy in philosophy. A good grounding in the beliefs of Thomas Aquinas makes this work more accessible.… (meer)