markus meecham
Banned
They became the world's second power? Sounds like a fitting endgame for our plucky heroes /s
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The Sons of Inti Shall Not Perish
- Thread starter King of the Uzbeks
- Start date
no they were relagted a playhouse for world powers that was only after and Inca , China are very different
It seems people in this thread are confusing coca with cocoa. Coca is a leaf is used in the production of cocaine, Coca-Cola, and many medicines both herbal and pharmaceutical. Cocoa is a nut used in the production of chocolate. They are two separate plants and cocoa production at this time is limited to Mesoamerica and hasn't spread to South America.
Was just about to say. "You guys know these are two different things right?"
Maybe there'll be such a confusion ITTL.
"No no no, chocolate comes from coca seeds. It's the leaves that give you energy!"
Chapter 2.8: Let He Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone
Mapuche, some of whom are showing off new Spamish influences
Since the arrival of the Mapuche into the the Rio de la Plata basin the exiled group had been allied with the Spanish of Buen Ayre. Both were newcomers to the region and so naturally allied with one another to protect from and expand at the expense of existing tribes in the area. Relations between the Mapuche and the Spanish in Asunción were frostier, there was less common interest and the first meeting between the two had been marred by bloodshed. That said, contact was limited and so this rocky start was easily papered over.
The Spanish settled in small settlements, heavily fortified, much in the way of Buene Ayre, which was still the only town worth naming. The Mapuche settled in a matter that was quite similar to how they had in their old home. They built earthen homes for their families and farmed papas and chickens. But, inevitably this cultures began to cross. Wheat was introduced by the Spanish, and the Mapuche mastered the art of the horse and began to discover metalworking.
And, inevitably, the issue of religion came up.
Decimated by disease, the Spanish had initally been in no position to demand that the Mapuche accept Christianity. Even as the situation stabilized a lack of trained priests meant that missionary activity along the river was limited. However as new arrivals from Spain began to trickle in pressure for missions to the Mapuche increased. The Spaniards found a mixed ground as far as potential converts went. For some the expulsion from their homelands had shattered their faith, but for others it hardened their beliefs. A lot of this depended on their Machi. Each Mapuche community had a Machi, typically an older woman, whose duty it was to cure disease, bring rain, ward off evil spirits, and generally care for the spiritual well being. In communities where the Machis had been effective leaders, faith in the complex web of spirits and gods that had sustained the Mapiche for generations held firm. In areas where the local Machi was judged to have failed, the Gospel spread more readily.
The religious fragmentation of the Mapuche was accompanied by a political one. Toquis, war leaders, had led them through the wars with the Tawantinsuyu, and a general desperation had kept them united across the desert. But now the traditional Mapuche style of loose local confederations reasserted itself, a world view that incorporated the Spanish. To many Mapuche, especially those who did not settle near Spanish holdings, the strange men who had Tawantinsuyu style weapons were simply another group to trade with. As such they saw no particular reason to retain political unity, having developed a healthy distrust of it after war with the Tawantinsuyu. Those closer to the Spanish also happened to generally be friendly with the Spanish, thus political unity amongst the Mapuche was nominal at best. That is not to say that the Mapuche became hostile to one another, just that there was no cohesive unity of purpose.
Amongst the Spaniards, there was little initally little push towards any sort of attempt at dominating the Mapuche. The survival of Buen Ayre still hung in the balance, and picking a fight would not have advanced this goal. Later, new arrivals to the colony would resent the peaceable relations with the "savages" but be stymied by a local elite who favored trade over war. A series of lacksadasial governors stewing in the indignity of being left in a backwater had meant that, until the late 1540s, the government had not been driving for expansion any more then the citizens. As for the Crown itself, it initally was more concerned with the Tawantinsuyu then the Mapuche of the Rio de la Plata.
However by 1546 the Charles (or more likely his advisors more engaged with the Americas) had heard enough to decide that some change was needed on the Rio de la Plata. It was decided that Spanish control was too loose, and that a more engaged governor was needed to assert Spanish authority. In addition there was the possibility of recreating the Mapuche Exodus in reverse as another route towards the Tawantinsuyu. The idea had been floated since the Mapuche had first arrived, but it was now met with the royal stamp of approval.
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Domingo Martínez de Irala the most powerful Spaniards in the Rio de la Plata area
To achieve these twin goals two men were dispatched to the Rio de la Plata. Juanes de Ávila was appointed as Governor, while Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, who had explored large parts of Northern New Spain, was dispatched to cross the "Mapuche Desert" and open trade with the Tawantinsuyu over that route. The pair arrived in Buen Ayre aboard the same ship and were greeted by the previous governor, who took that same ship back to Spain. This became a problem as Ávila soon became ill and died, leaving the colony without a head.
It was de Vaca who stepped in to fill the vacuum, claiming that he was the rightful governor, being a representative of the Crown. In Buen Ayre this was met with a shrug, irregular but not unacceptable. De Vaca was as good as anyone, and it meant that he would be too busy governing to drag any of them into a march across the desert. In Asunción it was less well received, they had been hoping to be the end point of a hypothetical overland trade system. Despite this there was no formal resistance, as while it was irritating, irregular transfers of power were quite common. De Vaca's administration was marked by good relations with the Mapuche, even by the standards of the Buen Ayre. In his journeys in New Spain he had often been the only Spaniard present, and had gained a certain respect for the natives, and this transferred over to the Mapuche. He formed close bonds with Mapuche leaders, and traveled extensively in their lands, which raised eyebrows everywhere. Trade was one thing, but personal visits were another thing altogether.
Of course the self proclaimed governor had his own motives for his friendliness. He still harbored dreams of a great March west, and that required Mapuche guides. For reasons that should be self evident the Mapuche had a knee-jerk reaction of "no" to these sorts of requests. So De Vaca settled in and began playing a longer game, hoping to eventually pry away enough support for an expedition. In this goal he found support from some in the Mapuche youth. The new generation, smaller then previous ones because of disease and the harsh desert crossing, had only memories of the hardships of war and no idea of the good fortune they had found in the Rio de la Plata region. They sought revenge on those who had wronged them. To this end De Vaca began to grant gifts to the young up and coming Mapuche, swords and good horses, with the occasional gun for those he favored the most. He was not so foolish as to arm them to the extent that they had more firepower then the Spanish, but his actions still made others nervous, especially in Asunción. There, a group consolidated under longtime resident Domingo Martínez de Irala who had been present since the founding of Buen Ayre. They began to pressure De Vaca to either stop coddling the natives or get on with his expedition. It was all very neat, and it was all very orderly. Not a hint of rebellion, just pressure. And it seemed that De Vaca was listening, although it is unclear what his choice would be it seems he was close to one by September 1550.
Enter one Louis Bertrand.
Hello. Want some Jesus
Louis Bertrand was a young Spanish priest, a Dominican in fact, who had long dreamed of coming to the new world and preaching to the natives. He had acquitted himself well preaching in Spain and caring for the sick. As such he was dispatched to Buen Ayre to head up a missionary push. Some grumbled that he would better serve the church in the Tawantinsuyu, or somewhere were he could displace the pompous Jesuits. In the end however, his youth worked against him and he was sent to the Rio de la Plata. He arrived bearing a paternalistic attitude towards the natives, believing them in need of the benevolent protection of the church. On the other hand he was a follower of the ideals Bartolome de las Casas and did not view his targets for conversion as subhuman, which is more then can be said of many. Upon his arrival he went out into the Mapuche and began to preach.
Young Louis was nothing if not a capable evangelist, and soon developed a following. At first it was among the remaining natives of the region, still s majority but repressed by the twin invaders. Then however he struck upon support from the young Mapuche. They had no care for the native spirits of their homeland, they had never seen the southern islands that had been carved as Trentren Vilu and Caicai Vilu[1] fought for the fate of the land. And so they drifted towards Bertrand, and his faith.
In the far distances of the future the Catholic Church would canonize Louis as Saint Louis, citing example of miraculous healing reported and his general ability for mass conversions. The Spanish chroniclers likely overstate his effect, claiming the conversion of 6,000 in one village is unrealistic for many reasons, but he was the most successful missionary on the Rio de la Plata yet. This was a combination of arriving at the right time, being the first missionary to actually be enthusiastic about his destination, and of course his own skill at spreading the Bible. Even accounting for propaganda he was still by far the greatest solider for Christ the region had ever seen.
This naturally made some Mapuche leaders nervous, they were used to Spanish missionaries yelling about Jesus for a bit and then leaving when they realized not many people were interested, not a concentrated effort that worked. So a few began attempting to quash down on the growing Christian community, which naturally attracted the enmity of even the most friendly Spaniard. In an attempt to drive him away from one community, the locals threw Papas at him and shot their guns into the air.
This provoked anger from not just the Spanish, but also from Bertrand's growing clique of Mapuche followers. An attempt to brand themselves apostles had earned them an angry rant about how he was not even comparable to Jesus, but they followed him still. One, a driven young man named Lautaro, took the incident as an excuse to form a loose knit group dedicated to protecting the Christians of the region. This group, nicknamed by the Spanish "indios de dios"[2], were ridiculed by some who believed that the Mapuche could never understand Christ, but De Vaca, sensing an opportunity, showered then with gifts of horses, steel, and guns.
But unknown to De Vaca, their contact with Bertrand had introduced then to an idea. An idea that was so dangerous, that if it spread it could turn all of the New World upside down.
The idea that Christians should be good people who are kind to others, no matter their differences.
Lautaro was baptized as Esteban, but was often called by his given name.
One day, in June 1554 Lautaro was riding near Asunción a few days ahead of Bertrand when he heard a story. A group of Spaniards had raped a girl, an occurence that was sadly still common even in the relatively peaceful river valley. The girl was from the Viela culture, one of the numerous groups subjugated by the Spanish. As she was not Mapuche and nor near the Mapuche heartland, which was further down the river, this would normally have merited no response from the Mapuche. But the rumors, the truth is still unknown, said that she was a Christian convert and that one of the rapists was a priest in Asunción known for a lack of morals.
Lautaro, spurred by the many stories of Christ critiquing hypocrites, rode straight for Asunción. He and his men were not barred from entry, or even stripped of their weapons. Asunción was not home to many Mapuche, but they were well aware of who these natives wearing crosses were. On the 23rd Lautaro then marched into the Church, which was not, as is commonly decepted in fiction, holding mass at the moment and seized the priest. In fiery if broken Spanish he condemned the violation of a fellow Christian[3] and the abandonment of oaths of chastity. Men from Asunción surrounded the church and demanded that Lautaro and his men surrender the church or face a fight. The Mapuche instead drew their own weapons and reminded the Spanish that they were not the savages.
The stand off was diffused by Bertrand himself. He convinced Lautaro to release the priest on the condition that he was shipped back to Spain for punishment[4]. But the damage was done.
De Irala sent a letter to De Vaca, signed by the majority of the important men in Asunción. It cited that, in the colonial charter, King Charles had given the colony to elect its own acting governors, a clause that had never been invoked until now[5]. De Irala reminded De Vaca that his rise to power had not been regular in the slightest, and could quite possibly be annulled. He advised De Vaca to do something about these troublesome Mapuche, or else.
So De Vaca, under pressure, made a mistake.
__________
1: An earth snake and the water snake respectively
2: Indians of God
3: Less so the actual, you know, rape and more the fact that the victim was Christian.
4: No punishment was ever given.
5: Unlike IOTL, were the much more dire circumstances of the colony led to more governors dying in office.
Reminds me of the Protestant Irish in Now Blooms the Tutor Rose, converting people doesn't always make them easier to control...
Small note: "de Vaca" is an incorrect shortening of his name. The correct usage is "Cabeza de Vaca."
Otherwise, really exciting chapter.
Otherwise, really exciting chapter.
Those damn priests filling people's heads with ideas like "Be Christlike" and "Follow the Gospels." They'll cause the collapse of the whole Spanish Empire if they're left to run amok like that!
Their chief weapons are fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to the Gospel! Oh, and fancy horseriding skills!
We're going to see Mapuche knocking on people's doors, demanding they listen to the Gospel, while armed to the teeth.
Poor Incans, when they finally get the counterattack they've been anticapting from the Mapuche, it'll be something they didn't expect. They expected warriors on horseback, instead they'll be met with a vanguard of Mapuche Witnesses screaming the Gospel at them.