Contact and adaptation around the Magdalena River: A dual analysis of amphibious combat in fluvial environments (1536-1538)

Authors

  • Daniel Miguel Nieva Sanz Universidad de Cádiz

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v12i25.962

Keywords:

contact, amphibious combat, brigantines, canoes, conquering troops

Abstract

The relationship between humans and the aquatic environment was historically subject to a strong conditioning that permeated everything. This article analyzes the logistical, tactical and human conditioning factors that the fluvial landscape imposed on the expedition of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1536-1538), as well as the particularities of contacts and conflicts with the ethnic groups that populated the banks of the Magdalena River (Colombia). Thus, although the study of the Spanish expedition could be accommodated within the framework of international research on conquering armies, it is necessary to incorporate the analysis of its fluvial conditioning, considering the difficulty of marching through a natural landscape of dense vegetation and powerful water streams, the resulting high morbidity and mortality and the learning and adaptation processes required of a troop which combined Indies veterans and newcomers from the Peninsula. In this sense, the present study revolves around the marked amphibious nature of the combats, which involved the use of additional men and boats as land-water support on both sides together with other river warfare tactics mastered by the indigenous populations after centuries of experience in the river basin. From a methodological point of view, in addition to a marked ethnohistorical perspective regarding the dual study of the phenomenon, this research is based on a detailed historiographic work on primary sources ―handwritten and edited―, which opens the way for their critique and classification and, therefore, for a sufficiently nuanced definition of the present object of study. The conclusions will be put in dialogue with sectoral research on the subject in order to contribute to the generation of knowledge on a process of conquest in which rivers ―main access routes to the continental interior― played a fundamental role in the effective penetration into the southern American subcontinent.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Daniel Miguel Nieva Sanz, Universidad de Cádiz

    Investigador y docente predoctoral contratado (FPU-Ministerio), doctorando de Historia y Arqueología Marítimas (Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar-UCA en codirección con IH-CSIC), Máster en Arqueología Náutica y Subacuática por la Universidad de Cádiz (UCA), Máster en Antropología de América por la Universidad Complutense (UCM) y graduado en Historia por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). Ha sido galardonado en dos ocasiones con la beca de Excelencia de la Comunidad de Madrid, además de haber sido seleccionado como becario de colaboración del Ministerio en el departamento de Historia Moderna de la UAM y becario en prácticas de investigación documental en el IULCE. En 2020 fue uno de los candidatos mejor valorados a nivel nacional para el programa JAE-Intro del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), donde se incorporó en el grupo de investigación “Conformación de las Fronteras y Dinámicas Imperiales en el Mediterráneo y el Atlántico, 1500-1920”. En 2021 ha sido seleccionado en concurrencia competitiva para un contrato FPU del Ministerio de Educación, vinculado a su proyecto doctoral en el grupo de investigación HUM 313 (UCA). En lo relativo a la formación complementaria es patrón de embarcaciones e instructor profesional de buceo; ha realizado numerosos cursos de especialización en arqueología marítima con entidades como Universidad Southampton, UNESCO, CAS-IAPH o CEPOAT; y ha participado en aproximadamente una veintena de intervenciones arqueológicas de investigación en contextos costero, kárstico, subacuático e intermareal con instituciones como Centro de Arqueología Subacuática de Cataluña (CASC), University of Washington (UW), ArqueOcean, Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS), CENIEH y FIPEH. Sus ámbitos e intereses de investigación son: etnohistoria y dinámicas de contacto en contextos marítimo-fluviales americanos; arqueología náutica; navegación indígena; historia naval ibérica y construcción naval criolla; cultura marítima y fluvial; etnografía y ontología indígena; alteridad y expediciones castellanas ss. XVI-XVII.

References

Fuentes primarias manuscritas

Archivo Histórico Nacional (AHN)

Diversos-Colecciones

Archivo General de Indias (AGI)

Justicia

Patronato

Archivo General de Simancas (AGS)

Guerra y Marina

Real Academia de la Historia (RAH)

Cartografía y Artes Gráficas

Fuentes primarias editadas y fuentes secundarias

Alberto GUERRERO MARTÍN: “La guerra irregular en el pensamiento militar español decimonónico (1863-1898)”. Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar 11 (23) (2023).

Antonio JULIÁN: La perla de América: Provincia de Santa Marta, Madrid, por Don Antonio de Sancha, 1787.

Antonio PIGAFETTA: Primer viaje en torno del globo. Edición facsímil, Valladolid, Maxtor, 2017.

Borja ANTELA-BERNÁRDEZ: “La guerra sucia de Alejandro: las guerrillas bactrio-sogdianas”. Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar 7(14) (2018).

Carlos Eduardo LÓPEZ: “Arqueología del Bajo y Medio Río Magdalena: Apuntes sobre Procesos de Poblamiento Prehispánico de las Tierras Bajas Tropicales Interandinas de Colombia”. Revista del Museo de La Plata 4(2) (2019).

Carlos WAGNER: “Comercio, colonización e interacción cultural en el Mediterráneo antiguo y su entorno: ensayo de aproximación metodológica”, Colonos y comerciantes en el Occidente mediterráneo, Almería, Universidad de Almería, 2001.

Carmen GÓMEZ y Juan MARCHENA: “Los señores de la guerra en la conquista”, Anuario de Estudios Americanos 42 (1985).

Daniel Miguel NIEVA SANZ: “Dinámicas de contacto, etnicidad y cultura fluvial en la cuenca del Magdalena: una aproximación etnohistórica a partir de las crónicas castellanas”. En Padrón, L. y Barrientos Mª. (eds.), Entre Europa y América: el mar y la primera globalización. Editorial UPV.

Daniel Miguel NIEVA SANZ: “Un estudio sobre la interrelación entre la náutica castellana y la indígena en el primer remontaje del río Magdalena (1525-1538)”, Temas Americanistas, 49, (2022).

Enrique Alejandro BAUTISTA QUIJANO: Cuerpos anfibios, soma y sema del cuerpo prehispánico, la otra medida del cuerpo a través del tiempo y el espacio: análisis bioarqueológico sobre las urnas funerarias en cerámica de los valles alto y medio–bajo del Río Magdalena, Colombia. Bogotá, UNAL Colombia, 2013.

Francesco CAPRIOLI y Rubén GONZÁLEZ CUERVA (eds.): Reconocer al infiel: la representación en la diplomacia hispano-musulmana (siglos XVI y XVII), Madrid, Sílex, 2021.

Francesco D’ESPOSITO: “La hueste indiana en los protocolos notariales de Sevilla: las primeras expediciones al Río de la Plata (1534-1552)”, Temas Americanistas 29 (2012).

Fray Pedro de AGUADO: Recopilación Historial [escrita en el siglo XVI], 1º edición, Imprenta Nacional, Bogotá, 1906.

Gerardo REICHEL-DOLMATOFF, “Mitos y cuentos chimilas”, Boletín de Arqueología, Vol. 1, 1, (1945).

Hermes TOVAR PINZÓN: Relaciones y visitas a los Andes: Siglo XVI Tomo V. Región de los Llanos, Bogotá, Ediciones Uniandes, 2010.

http://www.noticonquista.unam.mx/amoxtli/2711/2704

Isabel BUENO BRAVO: “La guerra naval entre los aztecas”, Estudios de cultura náhuatl 36 (2005), pp. 199-223.

Javier GARCÍA DE GABIOLA: “La conquista de las Canarias: un ensayo bélico para América (1402-1501)”, Medievalia 51 (2019).

Joaquín ACOSTA: Compendio histórico del descubrimiento y colonización de la Nueva Granada en el siglo decimosexto, París: [s.n.], 1848.

Jorge ISAACS y Miguel A. CARO: Estudio sobre las tribus indígenas del Magdalena, Bogotá, Iqueima, 1951.

José Ignacio AVELLANEDA NAVAS: La expedición de Sebastián de Belalcázar al mar del norte y su llegada al Nuevo Reino de Granada, Bogotá: Banco de la República, 1992.

Juan de CASTELLANOS: Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias compuestas por Juan Castellanos, Tomo I, Alicante: Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2007 [1589].

Juan FRIEDE: “El Bajo Magdalena: documentos”, Boletín Cultural y Bibliográfico Vol. 11 Núm. 01 (1968).

Juan FRIEDE: Los Chibchas bajo la dominación española, Bogotá: La Carreta, 1974.

Juan MARCHENA y Ramón ROMERO: “El origen de la hueste y de la institución militar indianas en la Guerra de Granada”, Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos de Sevilla, 1983.

Juan RESTREPO, Andrés CÁRDENAS, Juan PANIAGUA y Luz JIMÉNEZ: “Aspectos físicos de la cuenca del río Magdalena. Colombia: geología, hidrología, sedimentos, conectividad, ecosistemas acuáticos e implicaciones para la biota”. En: Luz JIMÉNEZ y Carlos LASSO (Eds.), Peces de la cuenca del río Magdalena, Colombia: diversidad, conservación y uso sostenible, Bogotá: Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, 2020.

Julián MOYANO DI CARLO, Mucho más que barcos: una aproximación teórica a las funciones, capacidades náuticas, bases materiales y dimensión social de la tecnología naval prehistórica, Oxford, BAR International Series 2901, 2018.

Lucas Fernández de PIEDRAHÍTA: Historia general de la conquista del Nuevo Reyno de Granada, Madrid, 1688.

Manuel BALLESTEROS GAIBROIS: Gonzalo Jiménez De Quesada, Madrid, Historia 16, 1987.

Mariana Favila, “La guerra anfibia en los lagos del Valle de México y su relación con la caída de México Tenochtitlan en 1521”, México, Noticonquista,

Michael TAUSSING: Mimesis and alterity: A particular history of the senses, Nueva York: Routledge, 1993.

Óscar Eduardo RUEDA PIMIENTO: “Consideraciones en torno a la alimentación en la expedición de Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada al interior de Colombia (1536-1537). Aportes para una antropología del asco”, Boletín de Antropología Universidad de Antioquia vol. 30, n.49, (2015).

Pedro SIMÓN: Noticias Historiales de la conquista de Tierra Firme en las Indias occidentales, Bogotá: Editorial de Medardo Rivas, 1891.

Tzvetan TODOROV: Nosotros y los otros: reflexión sobre la diversidad humana, Ciudad de México, Siglo XXI, 1991.

Downloads

Published

2024-01-24

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 25 (2023): Mujeres en guerras, perspectivas discursivas

Section

Estudios

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Daniel Miguel Nieva Sanz

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License

By exercising the Licensed Rights (defined below), You accept and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License ("Public License"). To the extent this Public License may be interpreted as a contract, You are granted the Licensed Rights in consideration of Your acceptance of these terms and conditions, and the Licensor grants You such rights in consideration of benefits the Licensor receives from making the Licensed Material available under these terms and conditions.

Section 1 – Definitions.

  1. Adapted Material means material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights that is derived from or based upon the Licensed Material and in which the Licensed Material is translated, altered, arranged, transformed, or otherwise modified in a manner requiring permission under the Copyright and Similar Rights held by the Licensor. For purposes of this Public License, where the Licensed Material is a musical work, performance, or sound recording, Adapted Material is always produced where the Licensed Material is synched in timed relation with a moving image.
  2. Copyright and Similar Rights means copyright and/or similar rights closely related to copyright including, without limitation, performance, broadcast, sound recording, and Sui Generis Database Rights, without regard to how the rights are labeled or categorized. For purposes of this Public License, the rights specified in Section 2(b)(1)-(2) are not Copyright and Similar Rights.
  3. Effective Technological Measures means those measures that, in the absence of proper authority, may not be circumvented under laws fulfilling obligations under Article 11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty adopted on December 20, 1996, and/or similar international agreements.
  4. Exceptions and Limitations means fair use, fair dealing, and/or any other exception or limitation to Copyright and Similar Rights that applies to Your use of the Licensed Material.
  5. Licensed Material means the artistic or literary work, database, or other material to which the Licensor applied this Public License.
  6. Licensed Rights means the rights granted to You subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, which are limited to all Copyright and Similar Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material and that the Licensor has authority to license.
  7. Licensor means the individual(s) or entity(ies) granting rights under this Public License.
  8. NonCommercial means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. For purposes of this Public License, the exchange of the Licensed Material for other material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights by digital file-sharing or similar means is NonCommercial provided there is no payment of monetary compensation in connection with the exchange.
  9. Share means to provide material to the public by any means or process that requires permission under the Licensed Rights, such as reproduction, public display, public performance, distribution, dissemination, communication, or importation, and to make material available to the public including in ways that members of the public may access the material from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.
  10. Sui Generis Database Rights means rights other than copyright resulting from Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases, as amended and/or succeeded, as well as other essentially equivalent rights anywhere in the world.
  11. You means the individual or entity exercising the Licensed Rights under this Public License. Your has a corresponding meaning.

Section 2 – Scope.

  1. License grant.
    1. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, the Licensor hereby grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to exercise the Licensed Rights in the Licensed Material to:
      1. reproduce and Share the Licensed Material, in whole or in part, for NonCommercial purposes only; and
      2. produce and reproduce, but not Share, Adapted Material for NonCommercial purposes only.
    2. Exceptions and Limitations. For the avoidance of doubt, where Exceptions and Limitations apply to Your use, this Public License does not apply, and You do not need to comply with its terms and conditions.
    3. Term. The term of this Public License is specified in Section 6(a).
    4. Media and formats; technical modifications allowed. The Licensor authorizes You to exercise the Licensed Rights in all media and formats whether now known or hereafter created, and to make technical modifications necessary to do so. The Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any right or authority to forbid You from making technical modifications necessary to exercise the Licensed Rights, including technical modifications necessary to circumvent Effective Technological Measures. For purposes of this Public License, simply making modifications authorized by this Section 2(a)(4) never produces Adapted Material.
    5. Downstream recipients.
      1. Offer from the Licensor – Licensed Material. Every recipient of the Licensed Material automatically receives an offer from the Licensor to exercise the Licensed Rights under the terms and conditions of this Public License.
      2. No downstream restrictions. You may not offer or impose any additional or different terms or conditions on, or apply any Effective Technological Measures to, the Licensed Material if doing so restricts exercise of the Licensed Rights by any recipient of the Licensed Material.
    6. No endorsement. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be construed as permission to assert or imply that You are, or that Your use of the Licensed Material is, connected with, or sponsored, endorsed, or granted official status by, the Licensor or others designated to receive attribution as provided in Section 3(a)(1)(A)(i).

  2. Other rights.

    1. Moral rights, such as the right of integrity, are not licensed under this Public License, nor are publicity, privacy, and/or other similar personality rights; however, to the extent possible, the Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any such rights held by the Licensor to the limited extent necessary to allow You to exercise the Licensed Rights, but not otherwise.
    2. Patent and trademark rights are not licensed under this Public License.
    3. To the extent possible, the Licensor waives any right to collect royalties from You for the exercise of the Licensed Rights, whether directly or through a collecting society under any voluntary or waivable statutory or compulsory licensing scheme. In all other cases the Licensor expressly reserves any right to collect such royalties, including when the Licensed Material is used other than for NonCommercial purposes.

Section 3 – License Conditions.

Your exercise of the Licensed Rights is expressly made subject to the following conditions.

  1. Attribution.

    1. If You Share the Licensed Material, You must:

      1. retain the following if it is supplied by the Licensor with the Licensed Material:
        1. identification of the creator(s) of the Licensed Material and any others designated to receive attribution, in any reasonable manner requested by the Licensor (including by pseudonym if designated);
        2. a copyright notice;
        3. a notice that refers to this Public License;
        4. a notice that refers to the disclaimer of warranties;
        5. a URI or hyperlink to the Licensed Material to the extent reasonably practicable;
      2. indicate if You modified the Licensed Material and retain an indication of any previous modifications; and
      3. indicate the Licensed Material is licensed under this Public License, and include the text of, or the URI or hyperlink to, this Public License.
      For the avoidance of doubt, You do not have permission under this Public License to Share Adapted Material.
    2. You may satisfy the conditions in Section 3(a)(1) in any reasonable manner based on the medium, means, and context in which You Share the Licensed Material. For example, it may be reasonable to satisfy the conditions by providing a URI or hyperlink to a resource that includes the required information.
    3. If requested by the Licensor, You must remove any of the information required by Section 3(a)(1)(A) to the extent reasonably practicable.

Section 4 – Sui Generis Database Rights.

Where the Licensed Rights include Sui Generis Database Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material:

  1. for the avoidance of doubt, Section 2(a)(1) grants You the right to extract, reuse, reproduce, and Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database for NonCommercial purposes only and provided You do not Share Adapted Material;
  2. if You include all or a substantial portion of the database contents in a database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights, then the database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights (but not its individual contents) is Adapted Material; and
  3. You must comply with the conditions in Section 3(a) if You Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database.

For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 4supplements and does not replace Your obligations under this Public License where the Licensed Rights include other Copyright and Similar Rights.

Section 5 – Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability.

  1. Unless otherwise separately undertaken by the Licensor, to the extent possible, the Licensor offers the Licensed Material as-is and as-available, and makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the Licensed Material, whether express, implied, statutory, or other. This includes, without limitation, warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, absence of latent or other defects, accuracy, or the presence or absence of errors, whether or not known or discoverable. Where disclaimers of warranties are not allowed in full or in part, this disclaimer may not apply to You.
  2. To the extent possible, in no event will the Licensor be liable to You on any legal theory (including, without limitation, negligence) or otherwise for any direct, special, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, exemplary, or other losses, costs, expenses, or damages arising out of this Public License or use of the Licensed Material, even if the Licensor has been advised of the possibility of such losses, costs, expenses, or damages. Where a limitation of liability is not allowed in full or in part, this limitation may not apply to You.
  1. The disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability provided above shall be interpreted in a manner that, to the extent possible, most closely approximates an absolute disclaimer and waiver of all liability.

Section 6 – Term and Termination.

  1. This Public License applies for the term of the Copyright and Similar Rights licensed here. However, if You fail to comply with this Public License, then Your rights under this Public License terminate automatically.

  2. Where Your right to use the Licensed Material has terminated under Section 6(a), it reinstates:

    1. automatically as of the date the violation is cured, provided it is cured within 30 days of Your discovery of the violation; or
    2. upon express reinstatement by the Licensor.
    For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 6(b) does not affect any right the Licensor may have to seek remedies for Your violations of this Public License.
  3. For the avoidance of doubt, the Licensor may also offer the Licensed Material under separate terms or conditions or stop distributing the Licensed Material at any time; however, doing so will not terminate this Public License.
  4. Sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8 survive termination of this Public License.

Section 7 – Other Terms and Conditions.

  1. The Licensor shall not be bound by any additional or different terms or conditions communicated by You unless expressly agreed.
  2. Any arrangements, understandings, or agreements regarding the Licensed Material not stated herein are separate from and independent of the terms and conditions of this Public License.

Section 8 – Interpretation.

  1. For the avoidance of doubt, this Public License does not, and shall not be interpreted to, reduce, limit, restrict, or impose conditions on any use of the Licensed Material that could lawfully be made without permission under this Public License.
  2. To the extent possible, if any provision of this Public License is deemed unenforceable, it shall be automatically reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable. If the provision cannot be reformed, it shall be severed from this Public License without affecting the enforceability of the remaining terms and conditions.
  3. No term or condition of this Public License will be waived and no failure to comply consented to unless expressly agreed to by the Licensor.
  4. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be interpreted as a limitation upon, or waiver of, any privileges and immunities that apply to the Licensor or You, including from the legal processes of any jurisdiction or authority.

Creative Commons is not a party to its public licenses. Notwithstanding, Creative Commons may elect to apply one of its public licenses to material it publishes and in those instances will be considered the “Licensor.” The text of the Creative Commons public licenses is dedicated to the public domain under the CC0 Public Domain Dedication. Except for the limited purpose of indicating that material is shared under a Creative Commons public license or as otherwise permitted by the Creative Commons policies published at creativecommons.org/policies, Creative Commons does not authorize the use of the trademark “Creative Commons” or any other trademark or logo of Creative Commons without its prior written consent including, without limitation, in connection with any unauthorized modifications to any of its public licenses or any other arrangements, understandings, or agreements concerning use of licensed material. For the avoidance of doubt, this paragraph does not form part of the public licenses.

Creative Commons may be contacted at creativecommons.org.

How to Cite

Contact and adaptation around the Magdalena River: A dual analysis of amphibious combat in fluvial environments (1536-1538). (2024). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 12(25), 129-150. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v12i25.962

Similar Articles

11-20 of 565

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.