HST31027 - Cannibals and Christians: Mexico and Spain c.1492-1600

HST31027: Cannibals and Christians: Mexico and Spain, c.1492-1600

40 credits (semesters 1 and 2)

Module Leader: Dr Caroline Pennock (2024-25)

Module Summary

In 1521, less than thirty years after the ‘discovery’ of the Americas by Columbus, Hernando Cortés and his famous ‘conquistadors’, along with thousands of Indigenous allies, brought about the collapse of the huge Aztec empire which dominated Central Mexico. The module looks at this extraordinary clash of cultures and the settlement of Mexico by Spain which followed, putting it in the context of the relationship which developed between Europe and the 'New World' in the sixteenth century. Drawing on a wide range of perspectives, from sailors, conquistadors, priests, historians, explorers, missionaries, administrators, and the Indigenous people themselves, we will explore themes such as the cultural and military encounter, its intellectual and cultural impact, trade and exchange, migration, evangelisation and empire. Through discussion of primary and secondary materials students you will get to know the sixteenth-century ‘discovery’, invasion and settlement of Central and South America, particularly Mexico, in the period c.1492-1600.

Aims

This special subject aims to introduce you to the key themes in the sixteenth-century cultural encounter between Spain and the Americas, through the intensive study of key primary and secondary source materials. The focus will be the 'discovery', conquest and early settlement of Central and South America, particularly Mexico.

Teaching

Seminar discussion of primary and secondary sources will help you to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the historiography of this period and of the principal varieties of primary source material available to historians. Through discussion of these primary and secondary materials students will develop their understanding of the encounter between Spain and the Americas, particularly Mexico, in the period c.1492-1600.

Assessment

Please see this page for further information about assessment. 

Selected Reading

• David Carballo, Collision of worlds: a deep history of the fall of Aztec Mexico and the forging of New Spain (Oxford, 2020). 

• Hugh Thomas, The Conquest of Mexico (London, 1994).

• Camilla Townsend, Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs (Oxford, 2019). 

• Camilla Townsend, Malintzin’s Choices: an Indian woman in the conquest of Mexico (Albuquerque, 2006).

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

• Demonstrate a broad understanding of the key developments in the sixteenth-century discovery, conquest and early settlement of Central and South America, particularly Mexico.

• Deploy a range of independent study skills, including the ability to evaluate and critically analyse a substantial body of primary sources relevant to the topic and use it to produce independent arguments in both oral and written forms.

• Demonstrate an awareness of some of the key concepts, challenges and debates of colonial/imperial history and historiography.

• Explore key themes in the history of encounter such as: cultural encounter, otherness, trade and exchange, migration, and empire.

• Engage with the methods and challenges of accessing Indigenous perspectives on the early modern American encounter.