r/SpanishEmpire

It is an impressive historical procession that transforms the Grand-Place into a 16th-century setting, recreating the magnificent entry of King Charles I of Spain into the city in 1549, accompanied by his son, the future King Philip II.

Each year, more than 1,400 actors in period costumes, giants, flag bearers, and horsemen relive the moment when the Spanish court dazzled the world.

Although the Ommegang originated as a religious procession in the 14th century, the visit of the Spanish monarch transformed it into the courtly and cultural festival it is today, declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO when, on June 2, 1549, the Magistrate of Brussels held a grand celebration in honor of the King and his son, Philip, Infante of Spain.

Even before the Spanish conquest, the Tlaxcalans considered themselves superior to the surrounding peoples. In the myth of their migration from Chicomóztoc, they are referred to as teochichimecas, meaning 'true Chichimecs' or 'greater Chichimecs,' to distinguish themselves from other Chichimec tribes and place themselves a step above them.

During their period of enmity with Tenochtitlán, it was unthinkable for a Tlaxcalan, commoner or noble, to marry or form matrimonial alliances with the Mexica.

Another ethnic group living in pre-Hispanic Tlaxcalan territory was the Otomi. They, too, were considered 'inferior.' However, after the war against Huejotzingo in 1502, the Otomi captains, among whom Tlahuicole was surely included, proved to be formidable warriors and captains, and the Tlaxcalan lords rewarded them by marrying the captains to their own daughters and knighting many of them so that they would be considered and esteemed in the Republic as qualified individuals—that is, they accepted them as "Tlaxcalans." [0]

Mixed marriages, as we see, were only permitted if it was considered that this would bring benefits either to the family or to the province in general, or as a reward to people considered "inferior" for their services to the "Republic," but it was not common practice among the Tlaxcalans.

Another accepted form of mixed marriage, and perhaps the best known, was the offering of noblewomen to Hernán Cortés as a sign of acceptance of the Spanish-Tlaxcalan alliance.

Except for these exceptional cases, mestizos were considered 'bad blood,' 'mixed-race,' incapable of governing.

Once the Spanish-Tlaxcalan alliance was established, the latter used it to perpetuate their 'supremacy' over the other indigenous peoples, securing for themselves a place of prestige and privileges before the Spanish Crown.

Their capital city, Tlaxcala, was honored with a coat of arms that included a reference to the very land of their Tlatoani: Castile. It also received the title of «Muy Noble, Muy Leal e Insigne». Furthermore, in 1585, King Philip issued a law stating that 'that city is the most important in New Spain.'

At least 11 Tlaxcalan nobles and captains received their own coats of arms, which granted them status and prestige in their society. And King Charles I called them 'cousins,' that is, he recognized their noble status within the context of the Catholic Monarchy. Thus, the Tlaxcalan supremacy that had existed before the conquest was perpetuated, now backed by the Catholic King of Spain and the Indies.

These ideas traveled with the Tlaxcalans who went to colonize northern New Spain, and who had also negotiated perpetual preferential treatment wherever they went.

As late as 1778, Friar Agustín de Morfi said of them that he praised "their great care not to mix with the castes people with whom Saltillo is infested, whose inhabitants, in general, I don't know if they can boast of such purity of blood as the Tlaxcalan Indians."

Segregation was a recurring feature in the Kingdom of New Spain, both in the mother country of Tlaxcala, which always invoked the privilege granted by Charles I prohibiting Spanish settlements within its territory, and in the colonies, whose settlements were clearly defined and separated from the Spanish population and other Indian groups:

"And although the Chichimecs have settled alongside the Tlaxcalan Indians, they do not intermarry or cohabit with them, because neither group desires to." [1]

"It is noteworthy that these two nations, Chichimec and Tlaxcalan, although they inhabit the same places, do not intermarry, nor do they live in the same houses, each maintaining its own customs in the construction of its houses, food, etc." [2]

As already mentioned, interracial marriages were only permitted if they benefited the community or the individual in some way. Well, there were marriage alliances that allowed the Tlaxcalans to access lands belonging to local tribes (just as the Spanish did in Tlaxcala itself). For their part, the Spanish sought marriages with Tlaxcalan women to climb the social ladder; remember that all Tlaxcalans in the north were nobles and could use the title 'don' and other privileges such as exemption from tribute.

Thus, there were Indians of non-Tlaxcalan origin, Spaniards, or mestizos who, legally and before the authorities, were considered "Tlaxcalans" and therefore could access the privileges inherent to that status:

"By being together and gathered, we have become so intertwined that, over time, the name of those Huachichiles was lost, as we all became Tlaxcalans." [3]

The real impossibility of preventing mixed marriages, whether beneficial or not, for extended periods meant that, over the centuries, racial pride, based on the purity of Tlaxcalan blood, became a sense of belonging to a social, political, and even "national" group: to be Tlaxcalan.

Martínez Baracs summarizes it thus:

"Membership in the corporation was not biological but social, according to rules of coexistence of ancient tradition and defended by consensus. Similarly, in the north, anyone belonging to the corporation of Tlaxcalan heritage was considered 'Tlaxcalan.'" [4]

Being Tlaxcalan conferred significant tax advantages, so much so that even the Spaniards aspired to become Tlaxcalans. Let's look at a case from the town of Parras:

"The fact is that they have neither kept themselves pure nor excluded anyone from the right of incorporation into their town. The castes obtain it with the greatest ease, and even the Spaniards are not ashamed to form a republic with them and live subordinate to their judges. Hence, they do not pay tribute due to the privilege of being Tlaxcalans, and there is not a single individual in Parras who is one."

It was a genuine aspiration among the rest of Indians to become Tlaxcalan; perhaps this is the origin of the myths about a supposed 'Tlaxcalan prince' who would be crowned King in New Spain.

When New Spain became independent, taking the name of its capital, Mexico, the privileges and noble titles were eliminated, directly affecting the Tlaxcalan elite throughout New Spain. Thus, in the colonies, suddenly there were no longer any incentives to maintain a specific lineage or subnational affiliation beyond the national one—that is, Mexican. Even so, vestiges of the Tlaxcalan cultural heritage remain in northern Mexico and the southern United States, enough to fill many more articles.

In the province of Tlaxcala, the sense of Tlaxcalan national pride did endure, although no longer based on privileges or noble titles, but rather on an exaltation of Tlaxcala's 'historical greatness' and its past of glories and feats. One need only look at the patriotic defenses made by Tlaxcalans such as Miguel Guridi y Alcocer or José Mariano Sánchez to realize this.

Even today, in Tlaxcala, a feeling of 'superiority' or 'distinction' persists in relation to the other states that make up the United Mexican States, as it defines itself as the 'Cradle of Mestizaje,' the 'Cradle of the Nation,' the 'Origin of Mexico' [5], and similar titles. They also symbolically reclaimed the designations of origin for things traditionally considered 'Mexican,' such as sarapes, rebozos, pulque, the Nahuatl language, traditional sweets, tacos de canasta, and much more.

Conclusions

The idea that Tlaxcala and the Tlaxcalans 'are special' dates back to the very origins of the nation, when they were called 'Teochichimecas,' their marriage alliances were exceptional, not the general rule, and great importance was placed on lineage and racial purity.

During the Viceroyalty, these ideas and customs evolved both in the province and in the colonies. Being Tlaxcalan was a social position that was not necessarily based on biological inheritance but on belonging by affiliation. Belonging to this social group provided status, prestige, and notable practical benefits such as exemption from paying tribute.

With independence, much of this legacy and sense of belonging and affiliation with being Tlaxcalan was lost in the colonies, but in the mother state of Tlaxcala, it remained intact and endures to this day through new historical, cultural, and social reclaimings.

Source(s):

[0] Historia de Tlaxcala, Diego Muñoz Camargo.

[1] TORQUEMADA, 1977-1983, vol. 2, book v, chap. xxxv, p. 445.

[2] ALESSIO ROBLES, 1934, pp. 127-128.

[3] ZAVALA, 1989, p. 34, AMS, box 3, exp. 7.

[4] Martínez Baracs, Andrea. Colonizadores Tlaxcaltecas.

[5] Current motto of the government of the City of Tlaxcala.

Original: «Y ansi los yndios que alli están escondidos fueron parte de las Diez Tribus de los Israelitas».

— Aharon Levi, 1652.

Translation: "And so the Indians who are hidden there were part of the Ten Tribes of the Israelites."

— Aharon Levi, 1652.

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Original: «vieron los hombres cuatrocientos o trescientos años. Mandó Dios salir de esta tierra derramar y multiplicar por todo el mundo de los hijos de Noé, de estos dichos hijos de Noé uno de ellos trajo Dios a Las Indias, otros dicen que salió del mismo Adán, multiplicaron los dichos indios que todo lo sabe Dios y como poderoso lo puede tener aparte esta gente de Indias en tiempos del diluvio como dicho es engendró Noé a Arphaxad, Arphaxad engendró a Salí, Salí engendró a Heber, Heber engendró a Phalig, Phalig engendró a Reu, Reu engendró a Sarug, Sarug engendró a Nachor, Nachor engendró a Thaze, Thaze engendró a Abrahán».

— Guamán Poma de Ayala, siglo XVII.

Translation: “Men saw four hundred or three hundred years. God commanded the sons of Noah to leave this earth, spread throughout the world, and multiply. Of these sons of Noah, God brought one to the Indies; others say he came from Adam himself. These Indians multiplied, for God knows all things, and as He is powerful, He can keep these people of the Indies separate. In the time of the flood, as has been said, Noah fathered Arphaxad, Arphaxad fathered Sali, Sali fathered Eber, Eber fathered Phalig, Phalig fathered Reu, Reu fathered Sarug, Sarug fathered Nachor, Nachor fathered Thaze, Thaze fathered Abraham.”

— Guamán Poma de Ayala, 17th century.

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Original version: «se infiere, son otra gente, y probablemente israelitas. Pues vemos que nunca pudieron ser conquistados, ni serán perfectamente descubiertos hasta el fin de los días, por permisión divina… que Dios tiene encubiertos en aquella partes, hasta el tiempo de la redención futura […] Y provincias que mas brevemente han de sentir sus efectos, serán las Yndias de Castilla, las cuales darán una gran caída, y será de manera, que el tiempo lo dirá, y el Rey de España lo sentirá, mas de lo que ahora imagina […] los grandes edificios que los españoles hallaron en alguno lugares, se puede conjeturar, ser obra de los israelitas, antes que se ocultasen en las montañas. El Ynga Garcilazo de la Vega, en la primera parte de sus comentarios del Perú, cuenta como en Tiahuanacu, provincia del Collao, entre algunos edificios, se hallo uno digno de inmortal memoria, pegado a la laguna, llamado Chuquiuitu… dedicado según los yndios al hacedor del universo… se puede conjeturar ser alguna Sinagoga hecha por israelitas. […] Pues asi como las Tribus fueron cautivos en diferentes tiempos, asi es de creer, que no están todos juntos en una misma parte, sino que se dividieron en muchas. Por lo cual asi como en el estrecho de Anian decimos, que se pasaron a las Yndias Occidentales… el argumento que tenemos para comprobar esto, consiste en la autoridad de los Jesuitas».

— Manasseh ben Israel, 1650.

Translation: “It can be inferred that they are another people, and probably Israelites. For we see that they could never be conquered, nor will they be fully discovered until the end of days, by divine permission… that God has hidden them in those parts, until the time of future redemption […] And the provinces that will most quickly feel its effects will be the Indies of Castile, which will suffer a great fall, and it will be in such a way that time will tell, and the King of Spain will feel it more than he now imagines […] the great buildings that the Spaniards found in some places, it can be conjectured, are the work of the Israelites, before they hid in the mountains. Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, in the first part of his commentaries on Peru, recounts how in Tiahuanaco, in the province of Collao, among some buildings, one worthy of immortal memory was found, next to the lagoon, called Chuquiuitu… dedicated, according to the Indians, to the creator of the universe… it can be conjectured to be some synagogue built by Israelites. […] For just as the tribes were taken captive at different times, so it is to be believed that they are not all together in one place, but rather divided into many. Therefore, just as we say that they crossed over to the West Indies at the Strait of Anian… the argument we have to prove this consists of the authority of the Jesuits.”

— Manasseh ben Israel, 1650.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, a curious belief about the identity of the Indigenous peoples in the Americas arose in some intellectual circles of the Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Anglo worlds. This idea held that the Indians could be descendants of one of the lost tribes of Israel, a theory that resonated especially in the context of the discovery of the New World and its religious and cultural implications.

In Peru, this current of thought resonated with certain sectors of the Indian elite, where it blended with Catholic traditions and biblical narratives transmitted through evangelization. Influenced by the Jewish and Christian notion of a "chosen people," some Indian leaders began to symbolically identify with Israel, constructing a narrative in which Peru was conceived as a "New Israel." This imaginary was nourished by the religious syncretism of Judaism, Catholicism, and the messianic and millenarian ideals that persisted from movements like Taqui Ongoy and the influence of Jesuit thought. All this religious discourse fueled the belief that the Indians of Peru were "God's chosen people."

Original: «los impulsos de Dios nos alientan, eligiendo un Capitán General como lo hicieron los israelitas a Moisés para salir del cautiverio del Faraón... sacudiendo este pesado yugo».

— Fray Calixto Túpac Inca, 1749.

Translation: "God's impulses encourage us, choosing a Captain General as the Israelites chose Moses to escape Pharaoh's captivity... shaking off this heavy yoke."

— Friar Calixto Túpac Inca, 1749.

From this amalgamation of religious, cultural, and ideological influences arose the expectation that Peru would be the stage for a divine redemption. Some imagined the arrival of a leader who would guide the Indians in a rebellion against Spanish rule, while others awaited the appearance of a Messiah similar to Christ, who would establish the "Kingdom of God" or the "Kingdom of Israel" in Peru. This kingdom, according to these beliefs of the viceregal era, would signify the expulsion of the Spanish functionaries, labeled as "tyrants," and the restoration of a divine order, marking a symbolic return to an era of justice and spiritual redemption.

Football was born in Paraguay. It wasn't the English who created football, as dominant European literature claims. It was the Guarani people who invented it. This is the thesis of the short documentary film "Los Guaraníes inventaron el Fútbol (2014)," directed by Paraguayan filmmaker Marcos Ybáñez and based on the research of Spaniard Bartomeu Melià (1932-2019), a specialist in Guarani history. Melià asserts that they were already playing football in the 17th century in the Jesuit settlements of San Ignacio Guazú, in what is now the Misiones Department, 230 km from Asunción. Records of the practice of manga ñembosarái—"playing ball with the feet" in Guarani—date back to 1639, long before Paraguay's secession and independence in 1811 and the British codifying the rules of football in 1848. According to the documentary, manga ñembosarái was the precursor to modern football, and the Guarani people are considered the originators of football. In this sense, Paraguay claims to be the birthplace of football.

The first recorded instance of the game manga ñembosarái is said to be in the “Tesoro de la Lengua Guaraní” (Treasury of the Guaraní Language), a bilingual Guaraní-Spanish dictionary published by the Peruvian Jesuit Antonio Ruiz de Montoya in 1639. There, “mangaì” is defined as “tree that produces the balls called neruio,” a reference to the rubber balls with which the Guaraní people played manga ñembosarái on Sundays after Mass.

Other records of this sport appear in the books Breve relación de las Misiones del Paraguay (Brief Account of the Missions of Paraguay, 1771) and La República de Platón y los Guaraníes (The Republic of Plato and the Guaraní, 1793), written by the Spanish Jesuits José Cardiel and José Manuel Peramás, respectively. These records suggest the practice of this game—very similar to modern soccer—which consisted of two teams passing the ball around without letting it stop.

In manga ñembosarái, there were no time limits or objectives. Matches always ended in a 0-0 draw. The loser was the team that tired first and abandoned the game, something that could last for hours. There were those who bet on which team would win, as well as spectators and simply curious onlookers. The ball was difficult to control, which demanded skill from the players. Made of damp sand, the ball was covered with rubber—resin extracted from the mango tree—and inflated with bamboo until it reached the desired size.

The municipality of San Ignacio Guazú, where the first Jesuit mission in the Río de la Plata Basin was founded in 1609 and where the Guarani indigenous people gathered, claims football as its birthplace and associates it with its cultural history. In 2010, the thesis that football was an invention of the Guarani was published in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, increasing the legitimacy of the Paraguayan claim.

Since then, the topic has been addressed in Argentine, Spanish, and Paraguayan periodicals. However, it is reasonable to think that manga ñembosarái is not the only sport that foreshadowed modern football, but only one among countless others that date back to earlier times. Adopting a global historical perspective—rather than a geographically restricted one, such as nationalist perspectives—seems more appropriate for understanding the evolution of ideas and practices worldwide.

There are other cases that, like the Guarani manga ñembosarái, can also be considered precursors to contemporary football. As an example, I cite ts’uh Kúh (cuju), practiced in China two thousand years before Christ, which consisted of a military training activity very similar to the logic of modern football. Episquiro, played in ancient Greece, was played by two teams of eleven or more players and was characterized by violence. The ball was made of sand with an ox bladder, and the use of hands was permitted, unlike in manga ñembosarái, where it was prohibited.

There was also the pre-Columbian football of the Maya and Mexica peoples in Mesoamerica, practiced more than three thousand years ago, with rubber balls and blood rituals in which the captain of the losing team was sacrificed. I should also mention Harpastum, played during the golden age of the Roman Empire, whose objective was to throw the ball into the opposing team's field. And kemari, played in Japan since the 7th century, in which physical contact was prohibited, given its religious and ceremonial mysticism. Literature indicates that kemari was influenced by the Chinese ts'uh Kúh.

In addition, there is Calcio Fiorentino, played in Florence since the 16th century, a kind of revival of the Roman harpastum. Over time, bulls were introduced into the arena to increase the adrenaline of both players and spectators. The games resembled a combat arena, as punches, kicks, and knife fights were allowed between players, often leading to widespread brawls. Even so, the objective was to score goals.

As early as the 17th century, North American Indians played pasuckuakohowog, matches that could involve up to a thousand players, with communal celebrations at the end. In Australia, the aborigines played marn grook. In Alaska, the Inuit played asqaqtuk, something similar to ice soccer. These and other forms of foot-based games can be considered precursors to modern football.

It is reasonable to conclude that the Guarani manga ñembosarái does not tell the whole story of football. Even so, it is a legitimate precursor to contemporary football—as are the other examples (without intending to exhaust the list)—and a historical legacy of the admirable Guarani culture.

It would be inaccurate to attribute the origin of football to a specific people. If it wasn't the Paraguayans who invented football, neither was it the British. Australians, Chinese, Inuit, Greeks, Italians, Japanese, Mesoamericans, and North Americans, among others, have contributed positively to the construction of this history, of which the Guarani-Paraguayans are also a part. Far from being an exclusively Guarani or British product, football has multiple and endless origins. Paraguay is another piece of this cast.

Article written by Philippe Raposo for Latinoamérica21: Una región, todas las voces.

Bibliography:

.- (1639). Ruiz de Montoya, Antonio. Tesoro de la lengua Guaraní. Madrid, Spain.

Es un regalo de mi abuelita ya que sabe que a mí me gusta mucho el imperio español y lo ha regalado

The Indian General Huachaca was the last royalist general of Peru. He led a guerrilla force alongside other officers of the defeated Royal Army of Peru during the Peru-Iquicha War (1825-1828) and during the War against the United Restoration Army.

MELCHOR DE MENCOS Y BARÓN DE BERRIEZA. Field Marshal, Colonel of the Royal Armies, Lieutenant of the Captain General, and Mayor of the Provinces of San Salvador, San Miguel, and Villa de San Vicente.

In 1726, he entered the Tridentine Seminary of Our Lady of the Assumption as a boarding student. He left in 1729 and performed his military service at the Ceuta garrison. In 1735, he returned to the Indies. In 1749, he was commissioned to capture bandits roaming the jurisdiction of Escuintla and Guazacapán. In 1753, he was granted the position of Sergeant Major of the Santiago de Guatemala militia, filling the vacancy left by Don Manuel de Estrada.

As a Sergeant Major, his first mission was to lead and recruit the militias that would fight the British who had penetrated several points in the northern region of the Captaincy General of Guatemala. The chaplain appointed to Don Melchor's military column was Father José Miguel Montañés. Had the campaign failed, this area would likely now be Belize. Melchor de Mencos's first victory was defeating the British in Izabal in April 1754, forcing them to abandon the San Felipe Castle. On the Atlantic coast, he again defeated the British, capturing four ships (brigs), and continued north, passing through the city of Flores. From there, he headed east, dislodging the enemy from Fallabón and Laguna de Coba. He continued his mission, defeating the British on the Nuevo and Hondo rivers. His final victory came with the capture of San Felipe Bacalar, in what is now the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Years later, in recognition of these brilliant actions, the Guatemalan government renamed the town of Fallabón (from the Mayan Payab-bon), or Stone Slab, called Firebone by the English, "Ciudad Melchor de Mencos" (City of Melchor de Mencos). On October 12, 1979, during the mayorship of Ramiro Casanova Trujillo, a bust of the distinguished Sergeant Major Melchor de Mencos was placed in his city, a gift from the National Army. Generals M. I. Fuentes and S. E. L. García, both former presidents of Guatemala and promoters of the progress and development of this municipality, were present. The bust of Sergeant Major Melchor de Mencos is located in the Fallabón neighborhood, near the military outpost, facing east towards the Belize-Guatemala border.

The official narrative states that Cuba rose up united against Spain, but the numbers tell a different story. The Volunteer Corps, organized into 37 infantry battalions, 35 cavalry squadrons, and artillery and engineering units, formed the backbone of the island's urban defense, with over 60,000 men under arms by the end of the war. Their mission was to guard the cities, protect the sugar mills, flank army columns in the bush, and hunt down the Mambises on their own turf. A large proportion of them were Cuban. According to military historian David de Caixal, 40% of the casualties in these corps were Cuban natives, which, extrapolated to the total militia, yields between 24,000 and 30,000 Cubans in Spanish uniforms. Add to that the more than 30,000 Creole guerrillas actively operating on the rural front against the separatists. The conclusion supported by historical research is inescapable. Between 1895 and 1898, more Cubans fought for the integrity of Spain than for secession.