ABSTRACT
On October 12, 1492, Columbus’ arrival in the New World set in motion an earthquake in world history whose effects were shattering. Within a few years, this event would come to change every aspect of society, law, culture and civilization as they had been known up to then. The consequences of such a momentous arrival reverberated for centuries, even if at times they were not immediately perceived or recognized. The vastness of America, the incredible wonders it presented, the confusion it generated, the facts that seemed to defy everything that had been known until that moment and which, more often than not, stood in open contradiction with long-held beliefs coming from the Ancient Greek and Roman scholars, and even the Biblical teachings, all led to changes in such proportions that nothing was certain any longer (Gómez-Galisteo 2013, ix). For Spanish historian Francisco López de Gómara, this was “the greatest event since the creation of the world, excluding the incarnation and death of Him who created it” (quoted in Gómez-Galisteo 2013, 1).
