- vesmiths
- Jun 19
- 2 min read
This is not a portrait of María de Valenzuela, wife of Pánfilo de Narváez. If there is no portrait of her anywhere, there should be. Surely, no wife was more loyal to her husband and protective of his interests, but to no avail. His blind ambition finally made her a widow. His friend, the New World historian Oviedo, had something to say about that.
When he [Narváez] had conquered and pacified Cuba, he lived prosperously on the island, having good possessions; and even afterward, when he got out of the prison and talons of Cortés, he found his wife, María de Valenzuela, then waiting upon him for some years, with the honor and reputation of Penelope; but instead of tangling and untangling for any doubts or fears that her husband would not return; when informed of the capture and misfortunes of her Ulysses, she set about to improve and husband his estate as the means of his relief. In this state did Narváez find matters on returning to his house; for besides what he had left, and beyond the increase of his property, the wife had laid up for him thirteen or fourteen thousand dollars in gold dust, which she obtained from the washing by the labor of his slaves and Indians. These facts he told me himself in Toledo, in the year 1525, the Imperial Majesty of Charles at the time being there. (Translation by Buckingham Smith, 1851)
For that time and place in the New World, María must have been an exceptionally determined and competent woman, given all the practical demands of running a large estate in a frontier, male-dominated society. Narváez recognized her talents and gave her power of attorney to handle his affairs during the years he was absent in Spain and Mexico. There must be more records about this remarkable woman yet to be discovered in the Spanish Archives. I hope that will include her portrait.
- vesmiths
- Jun 8
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 19
The 16th-century conquistadors in the New World were after precious metals and other treasures, slaves to replace the declining population of West Indian natives, new lands to cultivate with slave labor, and more pagan souls to convert to Christianity (and perform labor). For Narváez, gold and governing La Florida topped his list, since he had botched his chance to take over Cortés’s golden empire in Mexico. His friend, the historian Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, advised him to get over it and count his blessings:
If Pánfilo de Narváez had not forgotten the manner of his treatment in New Spain, and how, contrary to expectation his plans turned out, he would not have gone forth in quest of other whirlwinds and more fatigue but rested content with being an hidalgo, who, having come into these parts to gain a livelihood with sword and buckler, had won honor and renown, besides a woman of virtue and rank; God giving him children and an estate with which he might easily enough pass his days in keeping with his condition. He was a man of accomplishments, gentle breeding, and pure blood [a Christian]; on proper occasions, he had shown himself brave in arms as a soldier and skillful as a captain.
While he was entreating for justice and single combat with Cortés, I counseled him as a friend that he should tranquilly retire to his house into the bosom of his family, giving thanks to God for the sufficiency he possessed to go through this stormy world so full of troubles; but as his desires took him rather to lead the sons of others than to guide his own, what I said must have appeared less to his purpose than what he thought. And thus ended his career, driven on to his own and others’ destruction; nor did he lack age to need repose, having passed as many as I had, if not more, and his person appeared to me not a little worn. Although he thanked me for my advice, I saw it did not agree with him, which brought to memory what a husbandman asked upon a time while I was yet a young man: “Your Worships who are of the palace, I venture to say, know not why the ass is struck with the stick the third time?” To which I responded, saying, “It must be to make him get up.” The villager replied, “That is not the reason; it is because the ass does not remember the first time, and did not amend with the second.” (Translation by Buckingham Smith, 1851)
Such was the character and situation of Narváez at the time of his expedition: a man consumed by ambition, not very open to advice, and maybe still smarting from his failure against Cortés in Mexico.
- vesmiths
- May 31
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 25
When the 16th-century conquistadors came ashore to conquer and colonize a new territory in the New World, their leader was required to read aloud to the uncomprehending natives (whether any were present or not) a document or proclamation called the Requerimiento. Here is a translation of the one that Pánfilo de Narváez recited on April 11, 1528, after landing his force near Tampa Bay, Florida. https://www.loc.gov/item/11006933/ The message boiled down to: This is who we are, what we believe, and why we’re awesome. We’re taking over this land, and we’ll tell you what to think and do. You will obey us, or we’ll destroy you, and it’ll be your fault!
Just pretend there was no language barrier and try to imagine yourself a native listening to these words from armored, bearded men with formidable weapons, and mounted on huge animals. How likely is it that you would respond, “Sounds reasonable to me. Let’s get started!” In fact, all that exposition about who, what, and why is meaningless to you. But the threatening language at the end of the speech is alarming, so you resist them as best you can.
But you soon learn that what these guys are really after is a shiny yellow metal, like the small piece of it your people once found in a Spanish shipwreck. You’re nobody’s fool, and you realize that one way to get rid of these arrogant invaders is to tell them there is plenty of that gold stuff in the province of Apalache, far away from here. It works, and they leave! You’ve heard the Apalache warriors are pretty fierce, so maybe you’ll never see these Spaniards again. And you don’t for 11 more years until the even bigger Hernando de Soto army shows up. And some of them keep hanging around Tampa Bay much longer. It looks like your ancestral way of life will never be the same.
So, how did this bizarre ritual of the Requerimiento come about, and what was the point of it? The history behind it is fascinating, but it’s too involved to summarize in this space. Here’s a good reference:
The important insight for me is that some equivalent of the Requerimiento is still used by governments in modern times to justify their conquest of other peoples.
