Civilization, barbarism and religion in the conquest of Mexico

This essay is part of a broader research that traces the discourse about “civilization and barbarism” in Latin American. It surveys the relationship between civilization and barbarism in the conquest of Mexico. Although in several ways, from the Spanish point of view, Mesoamerican societies were regarded as civilized, conquerors deemed them as barbaric because of their religious beliefs and practices. Since Hernán Cortés had a key role in the making of such perceptions, his outlooks became archetypical.