Narváez’s motivations

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.

The infamous Requerimiento

Moche gold rattle, Peru (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

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:

https://shc.stanford.edu/arcade/publications/rofl/issues/volume-5-issue-3/islands-ocean-sea-requerimiento-and-european

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.

The Apalaches of 1528

Apalache games in the 1500s

Soon after landing his 300-man force near Tampa Bay, Narváez acquired a small golden rattle and a few other gold samples from the local natives. They surely had come from wrecked Spanish vessels, not from any natural source in the Southeast. Narváez preferred to think the gold had come from another rich kingdom, such as Teotihuacán of the Mexica, which his rival Hernán Cortés had conquered a few years earlier. The local natives around Tampa Bay, hoping to be rid of these brutal foreigners, had indicated there was plenty of that yellow metal to the north in the prosperous chiefdom of Apalache. After a grueling two-month march, the Spaniards reached Apalache to find a village of 40 structures and prosperous farms, but no more gold. Still, Narváez took their chief hostage and occupied their village. Needless to say, the Apalaches took offense and attacked repeatedly. They proved to be brave and ferocious guerrilla fighters who were sometimes a match for even well-armed Spaniards with horses. During that month in the village, the Spaniards explored the surrounding countryside and found nothing more promising. What’s more, they were unable to subdue the Apalaches, who continued to harass and wound their men and horses. As the situation became untenable, the Spaniards’ best option was to head south to the coast and hope to reconnect with their ships. According to the natives, eight or nine days of travel would take them to the coastal village of Aute with more food supplies. But the trip would be hard and would lead to a fateful decision at the “Bay of Horses.”