ABSTRACT
The institutions, traditions, and values brought to the Americas by Hispanic invaders shaped the future of Latin America more decisively than did the culture of the vanquished Indians. The Catholic Sovereigns the title given to them by the pope in recognition of their crusading zeal-broke the power of the great nobility. This chapter points out that malicious men often assign the name of vices to true virtues and, conversely, praise the deceitful vices that resemble virtues; for the rest, the king merely adapted himself to the times and to the language, methods, and strategies that were then in use. All of Spain's troubles since the time of Ferdinand and Isabella should not be laid at the door of the Spanish Inquisition. The great movement of the Reconquista the reconquest of Spain from the Muslims-left an enduring stamp on the Spanish character. The log of Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the New World is obviously an important historical document.
