He must have been a very intelligent and determined man. Not only did he assimilate into a completely foreign culture and marry into their aristocracy, but he did so after starting as a slave of said culture.
neuralkoi 215 days ago [-]
Not only that, he resisted Hernán Cortés' efforts to recruit him for the conquest of Mexico using clever guile and cunning.
Twice he helped in thwarting the Spanish entradas into the part of Yucatán where he lived. By then, he had fully assimilated to Mayan culture.
From the account of Bernal Díaz, he seemed to know what was coming from the clash between the Spanish and the natives.
elnatro 215 days ago [-]
While this “going native” is interesting, sadly there are not much accounts of his whereabouts.
This reminds me about the concept created by the Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno: “intrahistoria”, i.e. the unofficial history formed the common people.
pachico 215 days ago [-]
Unofficial history, many times, is simply glorified memory, which is very biased and dangerous.
This fueled quite a lot the hangover of the nationalisms born during the XIX century.
mistercheph 215 days ago [-]
And official history is unglorified, unsmudged fact and circumstance?
pachico 215 days ago [-]
Not necessarily, but it's not not that hard to find anymore to the curious eye
mrfinn 215 days ago [-]
Loyalty is one of the strongest qualities of Spaniards. Or curses. Depends on the occasion I guess. But the saying "ser más papista que el papa" (to be more pro-pope than the pope himself) is not said by chance in Spain.
throwanem 215 days ago [-]
"More Catholic than the pope," I believe that may also mean, referring not to loyalty but to intolerably unctuous and hypocritical sanctimony.
We do have that expression in this language, and "papist" is one of the old anti-Catholic (anti-Irish, anti-Italian, anti-Latin) slurs that actually survives, however deracinated, to the present.
One example of the sort of such slurs that did not survive is 'mackerel-snapper,' deriving from the pre-Vatican II meat fast observed on Fridays, which is also what first put a fish sandwich on McDonald's menu.
encipriano 214 days ago [-]
Idk. Anarchy was a very big movement in Spain unlike in the rest of Europe. But its also true that there are some cultural values related to family that are also common in other mediterranean cultures that arent there in northern countries. What I find is being such a social culture, the population itself feels more homogenous in its ideas
pelagicAustral 215 days ago [-]
Talk about turning your luck around...
Somehow not mentioned in the Wiki page, but Guerrero actually means Warrior in Spanish. So I get the last name comes from him (?), unverifiable of course.
EDIT: Several people pointed out that the surname “Guerrero” has existed in Spain long before the 1500s, so my guess about it originating with Gonzalo Guerrero was off. Thanks for the corrections—leaving the rest of my comment for context.
Azkron 215 days ago [-]
"Guerrero" is a common last name in Spain.
taveras 215 days ago [-]
How did you come to that conclusion? The last name Guerrero predates the 1500s by centuries.
yard2010 215 days ago [-]
There's that lovely phenomenon, I can't recall the name, of people that live to their name. Like a cook who's named Jon Cook, a gardener who's named Phil Gardener, you get it.
So this.
enricozb 215 days ago [-]
nominative determinism
AStonesThrow 215 days ago [-]
Well, it may surprise you to know that surnames such as "Cook" and "Butler" are occupational and actually derive from men, centuries ago, who were actually cooks or butlers and eventually coined a newfound surname from that occupation (which may often be passed down father-to-son.)
So if a modern fellow is named "Jon Cook" it may indeed be a regression hearkening back to one or more of his ancestors and how they were named.
I am more accustomed to "nominative determinism" being associated with a person's given name, and how they grow up to take on a given role.
"Gonzalo Guerrero" is the "Magnus Maximus" of names.
ugh123 215 days ago [-]
Sounds like the back story to "Dances with Wolves"
pilooch 215 days ago [-]
An inspiration to Avatar maybe!
0_____0 215 days ago [-]
I think that distinction belongs to The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's a short read, a bit polemic and not as strong as some of her other work IMO, but it clearly had some impact on the writers of Avatar.
follapanchitas 215 days ago [-]
[flagged]
LtdJorge 215 days ago [-]
You made a throwaway for this?
amazingamazing 215 days ago [-]
[flagged]
215 days ago [-]
perching_aix 215 days ago [-]
[flagged]
Rendered at 01:24:57 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
Twice he helped in thwarting the Spanish entradas into the part of Yucatán where he lived. By then, he had fully assimilated to Mayan culture.
From the account of Bernal Díaz, he seemed to know what was coming from the clash between the Spanish and the natives.
This reminds me about the concept created by the Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno: “intrahistoria”, i.e. the unofficial history formed the common people.
This fueled quite a lot the hangover of the nationalisms born during the XIX century.
We do have that expression in this language, and "papist" is one of the old anti-Catholic (anti-Irish, anti-Italian, anti-Latin) slurs that actually survives, however deracinated, to the present.
One example of the sort of such slurs that did not survive is 'mackerel-snapper,' deriving from the pre-Vatican II meat fast observed on Fridays, which is also what first put a fish sandwich on McDonald's menu.
Somehow not mentioned in the Wiki page, but Guerrero actually means Warrior in Spanish. So I get the last name comes from him (?), unverifiable of course.
EDIT: Several people pointed out that the surname “Guerrero” has existed in Spain long before the 1500s, so my guess about it originating with Gonzalo Guerrero was off. Thanks for the corrections—leaving the rest of my comment for context.
So this.
So if a modern fellow is named "Jon Cook" it may indeed be a regression hearkening back to one or more of his ancestors and how they were named.
I am more accustomed to "nominative determinism" being associated with a person's given name, and how they grow up to take on a given role.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c078l0glxg8o
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzalo_(name)
"Gonzalo Guerrero" is the "Magnus Maximus" of names.