Black Legend

The Black Legend (in {{ll|Spanish}}, leyenda negra) is the excessive depiction of Spain and the Spaniards as bloodthirsty and cruel, greedy and fanatical. The term was coined by Julián Juderías in his 1914 book La leyenda negra y la verdad histórica (The black legend and the historical truth). This is contrasted with the White Legend (in Spanish, leyenda rosa, which means rosy legend) which promoted an idealized view of Spaniards. Each term tends to satisfy a certain prejudice.

The White Legend

Contrasting to the Black Legend is a "White Legend" (in Spanish, "leyenda rosa", "rosy legend"). Although this addresses many matters, it is most notable in portraying Spain as uniquely benevolent during the conquest of the Americas.

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For example, in dealing with Hernán Cortés's conquest of Mexico, the White Legend emphasizes that Cortés's army consisted largely of Native American enemies (and disgruntled vassals) of the Aztec Empire and credits the most exaggerated accounts of Aztec human sacrifice and cannibalism.

Related Topics:
Hernán Cortés - Native American - Aztec - Aztec human sacrifice and cannibalism

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There is evidence to suggest that at least some involved in the Spanish conquest of the Americas were more than routinely concerned for the welfare of the natives. There is no English or French equivalent of Bartolomé de las Casas, but this need not mean that the English and French were not engaging in comparable cruelties: it can reasonably be interpreted to mean simply that no one among them shared Bartolomé's eloquent dissent. Spain was relatively early in passing some laws for the protection of the natives of its American colonies, with the first such laws being passed in 1542; however, records suggest that the practice never matched the theory.

Related Topics:
Bartolomé de las Casas - 1542

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Similarly, proponents of the White Legend tend to excuse the Spanish Inquisition, emphasizing that in form it merely copied institutions already in place in the rest of Europe (the suppression of Catharism in France, Italy, etc.; the already existing Inquisitions in various parts of Italy), citing the unique situation of Spain as a country recently under Muslim Moorish domination, and comparing the Inquisition favorably with French Wars of Religion, Cromwell's suppressions of Royalists in Ireland or the witch hunts in many Protestant countries.

Related Topics:
Catharism - Moorish - French Wars of Religion - Cromwell - Royalist - Ireland - Witch hunt

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As for destruction of populations and cultures, the White Legend claims that the demographics of much of Latin America today favor Spain's claims to benevolence. Even today, the descendants of the Native Americans constitute the base of the population in many of the countries that comprised the Spanish Empire in America and Philippines. Some Amerindian languages have reached rank of co-official tongues in Latin American countries (Quechua and Aymará in both Peru and Bolivia and Guaraní in Paraguay). It is likely that Spanish priests actually spread Quechua beyond its original geographic area. This active spread of a native language by Europeans has no equivalent in the American countries which were originally colonized by other European powers, nor in Australia or New Zealand (although the Maori language in New Zealand is a comparable case of co-official status).

Related Topics:
Quechua - Aymará - Peru - Bolivia - Guaraní - Paraguay - Australia - New Zealand - Maori language

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The White Legend regards the slave trade largely as an Arab and African matter, and plays down the Spanish role by emphasizing that of the English, Dutch, even the Portuguese, and other Europeans. The defenders of this point of view argue that Spain was prohibited by the Pope to take part in such activities, together with the fact it would be in breach of the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the world outside of Europe in an exclusive duopoly between the Spanish and the Portuguese, assigning Africa to Portugal.

Related Topics:
Arab - African - Portuguese - Treaty of Tordesillas

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