What do you think?
Rate this book
El descubrimiento de la humanidad: Encuentros atlánticos en la era de Colón
En sus viajes por el Atlántico los europeos no sólo descubrieron nuevas tierras, sino también nuevos pueblos hasta entonces desconocidos, con sus propias costumbres y religiones. Estos encuentros, que comenzaron en las Canarias en 1341 y prosiguieron en América desde 1492, les planteaban una serie de ¿Eran estas gentes descendientes de Adán, del mismo linaje que los habitantes del Viejo mundo, o fruto de otra creación? ¿Poseían un alma y la capacidad de conocer a Dios? ¿Tenían el derecho a ser libres y gobernarse a sí mismos o debían ser tutelados? David Abulafia centra su atención en el aspecto humano de estos encuentros, y en la forma en que se pasó del asombro del descubrimiento de una naturaleza humana común a la práctica de la explotación, sentando un precedente para la posterior conquista europea del mundo. Como ha escrito el profesor Fernández-Armesto, este libro «nos lleva al corazón mismo de una cuestión que importa muy especialmente al mundo actual».
654 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 4, 2008
15 people are currently reading
227 people want to read
About the author
David Abulafia
35 books134 followersDavid Samuel Harvard Abulafia is a British historian with a particular interest in Italy, Spain and the rest of the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
His published works include Frederick II, The Mediterranean in History, Italy in the central Middle Ages, The Discovery of Mankind: Atlantic encounters in the age of Columbus and The Great Sea: a human history of the Mediterranean.
His published works include Frederick II, The Mediterranean in History, Italy in the central Middle Ages, The Discovery of Mankind: Atlantic encounters in the age of Columbus and The Great Sea: a human history of the Mediterranean.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 27, 2017
I bought this book for a course I took on colonial American history during my sophomore year of college. I never read more than 50 pages of it, probably, since I was drowning in other assignments and readings at the time, but I held onto it in the optimistic hopes of returning to some day in the future. It's been a few years since then, but I have finally gotten around to reading this book cover-to-cover! But I have to admit, even for someone like me who leans towards academic texts, this was a hard book to get through. It's lengthy and full of complicated details, and even though the subject matter is absolutely fascinating, the first quarter of the book was still a bit of a slog.
Nonetheless, once I got into the hang of it, I quite enjoyed it all. Although the mindset of the fifteenth century European was depressing as all hell, I knew almost nothing about the lives of the various indigenous folks first encountered in the Atlantic, and Abulafia does a fantastic job at showing how these various peoples appeared to Columbus and his peers. Prior to this class (and later, this book) I had never even really heard of the Canary Islands, and this book does a thorough, albeit intimidatingly so, job of showing the fifteenth century mindset and the astonishment, wonder, and curiosity brought up by the European discovery of places like the Canary Islands and islands off the new world. I also liked how Abulafia captured the personalities of individuals from this early time of discovery. Columbus is obviously somewhat of a main character here, but plenty of stories of indigenous people (mostly chiefs, but some others as well) and other Europeans get page time as well. One particular moment that stood out to me, among many, is of a native man (I forget from which group) who was invited to sleep on deck of a European ship, and he took care to smooth down the feathers of his feathered headdress before laying his head down to make sure it didn't ruffle. Little moments like that go a long way into making this less of a story about Grand Ideas and Discoveries and more about individuals interacting with other individuals. Too bad I already know how it all ended.
Nonetheless, once I got into the hang of it, I quite enjoyed it all. Although the mindset of the fifteenth century European was depressing as all hell, I knew almost nothing about the lives of the various indigenous folks first encountered in the Atlantic, and Abulafia does a fantastic job at showing how these various peoples appeared to Columbus and his peers. Prior to this class (and later, this book) I had never even really heard of the Canary Islands, and this book does a thorough, albeit intimidatingly so, job of showing the fifteenth century mindset and the astonishment, wonder, and curiosity brought up by the European discovery of places like the Canary Islands and islands off the new world. I also liked how Abulafia captured the personalities of individuals from this early time of discovery. Columbus is obviously somewhat of a main character here, but plenty of stories of indigenous people (mostly chiefs, but some others as well) and other Europeans get page time as well. One particular moment that stood out to me, among many, is of a native man (I forget from which group) who was invited to sleep on deck of a European ship, and he took care to smooth down the feathers of his feathered headdress before laying his head down to make sure it didn't ruffle. Little moments like that go a long way into making this less of a story about Grand Ideas and Discoveries and more about individuals interacting with other individuals. Too bad I already know how it all ended.
June 5, 2011
A fascinating book which looks at the 'discoveries' in the Atlantic specifically from the viewpoint of the interactions between Europeans and those who were 'discovered', and what attitudes and preconceptions led the Spanish and Portuguese to view the 'New World' in the way they did. The author argues that the early discoveries by Columbus and Vespucci set the scene for what followed, with the decimation of millions of people in two continents, including of course sophisticated civilisations such as those of the Mexica (Aztecs) and the Inca. If the existence of developed civilisations answered the question of whether the newly-discovered people were truly human or not, it never satisfactorily resolved the bigger question of their rights. Or, that is to say, while there might have been high-minded declarations of their rights based on the arguments of Las Casas and others, in practice they were largely ignored.
September 16, 2018
Along with "1491," this is one of the very best books written about European understandings of the New World before, during, and immediately after its discovery. Abulafia's prose style is vaguely scholarly but still very accessible; there are occasional questionable digressions and the book could have perhaps been a bit shorter (I'm not sure that the reader needs to spend the first 100 pages of the book being led through the minutiae of the century-long conquest of the Canary Islands). The most interesting parts of the book are where Abulafia examines the legal/theological/philosophical implications of the discovery of a "new" type of human being that Europeans could not, at first, figure out how to categorize.
April 17, 2023
I thought the premise of this book was fascinating—How did European Christians process the discovery of previously unknown people across the ocean in the newly discovered Americas? The book's own advertisement says this:
"The first landings in the Atlantic World generated striking and terrifying impressions of unknown peoples who were entirely foreign to anything in European explorers experience. From the first recorded encounters with the native inhabitants of the Canary Islands in 1341 to Columbus's explorations in 1492 and Cabral's discovery of Brazil in 1500, western Europeans struggled to make sense of the existence of the peoples they met. Were they Adam's children, of a common lineage with the peoples of the Old World, or were they a separate creation, the monstrous races of medieval legend? Should they govern themselves? Did they have the right to be free? Did they know God? Could they know God?"
I would have liked to see more discussion of the debates that were had at the time on those questions. The bulk of the book actually focuses more on the native cultures and the European impressions of them, and not as much on the speculation that was made about the native people or how they were seen to fit into what was (at the time) the Christians' understanding of the world and humanity. Abulafia doesn't get a whole lot into that until the very end.
Still, it was interesting stuff about the Age of Exploration in its earliest years, from the first forays to the Canary Islands, to Columbus' voyages, Vespucci's reports of South America, and Pedro Cabral's encounter with Brazil and its native people.
One thing I didn't realize: Quite a few native American tribes in the Caribbean and South America were actually cannabilistic. I didn't realize that was common in the Americas before European arrival.
"The first landings in the Atlantic World generated striking and terrifying impressions of unknown peoples who were entirely foreign to anything in European explorers experience. From the first recorded encounters with the native inhabitants of the Canary Islands in 1341 to Columbus's explorations in 1492 and Cabral's discovery of Brazil in 1500, western Europeans struggled to make sense of the existence of the peoples they met. Were they Adam's children, of a common lineage with the peoples of the Old World, or were they a separate creation, the monstrous races of medieval legend? Should they govern themselves? Did they have the right to be free? Did they know God? Could they know God?"
I would have liked to see more discussion of the debates that were had at the time on those questions. The bulk of the book actually focuses more on the native cultures and the European impressions of them, and not as much on the speculation that was made about the native people or how they were seen to fit into what was (at the time) the Christians' understanding of the world and humanity. Abulafia doesn't get a whole lot into that until the very end.
Still, it was interesting stuff about the Age of Exploration in its earliest years, from the first forays to the Canary Islands, to Columbus' voyages, Vespucci's reports of South America, and Pedro Cabral's encounter with Brazil and its native people.
One thing I didn't realize: Quite a few native American tribes in the Caribbean and South America were actually cannabilistic. I didn't realize that was common in the Americas before European arrival.
Read
September 13, 2022Odd, Abulfia's book seems to be an echo of Dickason's "The Myth of the Savage", a book written three decades earlier by a Metis historian working in Canada, at the University of Alberta. There are for obvious reasons lots of parallels. The preface to this volume mentions the vast resources of Cambridge at his disposal, obviously they weren't enough, as he does not seem to have been aware of Dickason's work. Considering he's an academic he should have, it's that simple.
Within a couple of pages I started to get a headache, dealing with high falutin nothings like (to paraphrase) "I am convinced that cannibalism existed". Good for you, so does everyone else dealing with the Europeans first forays across the Atlantic. It develops from there.
There's also a pompous pedantic tone to it, no not simply academic stuffiness, but that irritating managerial quality of some English historians who seem to think they've come to clear/clean something up. That Olympian self importance is old, real old.
Unfortunately Dickason's work is now out of print, while this, being a product of a massive publishing behemoth will be around for decades. It's frustrating, there is nothing new about this book and there's nothing particularly insightful either.
Within a couple of pages I started to get a headache, dealing with high falutin nothings like (to paraphrase) "I am convinced that cannibalism existed". Good for you, so does everyone else dealing with the Europeans first forays across the Atlantic. It develops from there.
There's also a pompous pedantic tone to it, no not simply academic stuffiness, but that irritating managerial quality of some English historians who seem to think they've come to clear/clean something up. That Olympian self importance is old, real old.
Unfortunately Dickason's work is now out of print, while this, being a product of a massive publishing behemoth will be around for decades. It's frustrating, there is nothing new about this book and there's nothing particularly insightful either.
October 26, 2021
Too long and repetitive. Nothing really new.
The idea looked impressive on the jacket but unfortunately was not developed in the text.
Also, I would not say biased, it is too strong, but clearly written by someone who didn't have a direct experience of catholic or even christian education and society in his forming years and therefore is not at ease with it.
By itself there is nothing wrong, but it makes cumbersome to talk convincingly about friars, missionaries or simply XV century european peoples.
I am not religious at present but I received a strong catholic education and I know what I' talking about.
The idea looked impressive on the jacket but unfortunately was not developed in the text.
Also, I would not say biased, it is too strong, but clearly written by someone who didn't have a direct experience of catholic or even christian education and society in his forming years and therefore is not at ease with it.
By itself there is nothing wrong, but it makes cumbersome to talk convincingly about friars, missionaries or simply XV century european peoples.
I am not religious at present but I received a strong catholic education and I know what I' talking about.
August 11, 2019
Grandioso. Un libro sull'incontro improvviso e inatteso fra uomini completamente diversi, come se gli alieni sbarcassero domattina in riva al mare. Abulafia al massimo della forma.
November 11, 2025
un libro bello lungo che traccia una descrizione di tutto lo schifo che gli europei sono riusciti a fare già dai primi anni in cui arrivarono nel continente americano.
February 10, 2014
Si tende a considerare il viaggio di Colombo del 1492 il momento in cui l'uomo europeo ha iniziato a completare quel percorso di conoscenza di se stesso cominciato nell'Umanesimo e nel Rinascimento attraverso la conoscenza dell'Altro, il nativo americano.
Abulafia riconduce invece l'intero processo di reale interazione col diverso a 150 anni prima (anche se il bagaglio di pregiudizi culturali e pseudo-razziali che l'esploratore europeo che si porta alle spalle è molto più antico), scoprendo che Colombo e Amerigo Vespucci (che pure è riuscito a dare il nome all'intero continente, "errore" in buona fede quello di Waldseemuller nel 1507 di cui gli americani penso siano solo contenti, perchè io per esempio non vorrei mai chiamarmi cristoforano) altro non sono che un tassello del puzzle di quel cammino lungo e difficoltoso che si è intrapreso per prendere atto dell'esistenza dell'altro e giustificare una sanguinosa conquista.
Dapprima lo scontro è sulla presunta umanità o bestialità dei nativi, umanità che non può più essere negata nel momento in cui vengono scoperti i grandi e ricchi imperi del centro e sud America. Cosa che porta a un problema molto più pressante, quello dei loro diritti.
Specie quello all'autogoverno.
E al modo in cui gestire ed educare questi nuovi sudditi della Corona spagnola, modi che spesso e volentieri non tengono minimamente in conto l'indigeno in quanto tale ma più spesso l'idea stereotipata che ispira più simpatia e solidarietà...
Non stupisce quindi che ancora oggi la questione indigena presenti vari problemi legislativi ed etici apparentemente insolubili, e il cammino ci sembri ancora lungo.
*
Il saggio è davvero scorrevole e piacevole e ci permette di osservare un po' più da vicino popolazioni come quelle dei Taino e dei Guanci ormai scomparse, anche se il problema di fondo di Abulafia è il modo in cui pratica quello che amo chiamare un "saggius interruptus": un saggio che ti introduce a una teoria di fondo molto interessante, un qualcosa di diverso da tutto quello che veniva detto a scuola e che va oltre l'idea del titolo, di quei fantomatici "Incontri atlantici nell'Età di Colombo", e poi ti molla a metà strada con una pernacchia e un marameo.
Nello specifico, ti molla alla promulgazione delle Nuevas Leyes del 1542, come se la problematica relativa agli incontri atlantici e al rapporto degli europei coi nativi finisse lì, sia dal punto storico che ideologico, mentre invece c'è molto di più. E spendere 35 euro per ritrovarmi con uno studio incompleto non mi lascia per nulla soddisfatta.
Abulafia riconduce invece l'intero processo di reale interazione col diverso a 150 anni prima (anche se il bagaglio di pregiudizi culturali e pseudo-razziali che l'esploratore europeo che si porta alle spalle è molto più antico), scoprendo che Colombo e Amerigo Vespucci (che pure è riuscito a dare il nome all'intero continente, "errore" in buona fede quello di Waldseemuller nel 1507 di cui gli americani penso siano solo contenti, perchè io per esempio non vorrei mai chiamarmi cristoforano) altro non sono che un tassello del puzzle di quel cammino lungo e difficoltoso che si è intrapreso per prendere atto dell'esistenza dell'altro e giustificare una sanguinosa conquista.
Dapprima lo scontro è sulla presunta umanità o bestialità dei nativi, umanità che non può più essere negata nel momento in cui vengono scoperti i grandi e ricchi imperi del centro e sud America. Cosa che porta a un problema molto più pressante, quello dei loro diritti.
Specie quello all'autogoverno.
E al modo in cui gestire ed educare questi nuovi sudditi della Corona spagnola, modi che spesso e volentieri non tengono minimamente in conto l'indigeno in quanto tale ma più spesso l'idea stereotipata che ispira più simpatia e solidarietà...
Non stupisce quindi che ancora oggi la questione indigena presenti vari problemi legislativi ed etici apparentemente insolubili, e il cammino ci sembri ancora lungo.
*
Il saggio è davvero scorrevole e piacevole e ci permette di osservare un po' più da vicino popolazioni come quelle dei Taino e dei Guanci ormai scomparse, anche se il problema di fondo di Abulafia è il modo in cui pratica quello che amo chiamare un "saggius interruptus": un saggio che ti introduce a una teoria di fondo molto interessante, un qualcosa di diverso da tutto quello che veniva detto a scuola e che va oltre l'idea del titolo, di quei fantomatici "Incontri atlantici nell'Età di Colombo", e poi ti molla a metà strada con una pernacchia e un marameo.
Nello specifico, ti molla alla promulgazione delle Nuevas Leyes del 1542, come se la problematica relativa agli incontri atlantici e al rapporto degli europei coi nativi finisse lì, sia dal punto storico che ideologico, mentre invece c'è molto di più. E spendere 35 euro per ritrovarmi con uno studio incompleto non mi lascia per nulla soddisfatta.
Read
May 25, 2022Interesting and very thought provoking. Read it for a class though and now I’m tired of hearing about Columbus.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews