Such histories incorrectly assume that the

Spanish and the Mexicans were fatally divided by mutual incomprehension and

emphasise ‘unassuageable otherness’ above cross-cultural dialogue

It focusses too heavily on the superiority of

the Conquistadors over the Mexican peoples, and ignores the role played by

introduced European diseases

This history is fundamentally sound, but fails

when it attempts to extrapolate wider political and moral lessons from the

conquest of Mexico

It relies on flawed understandings of the

original source material because it fails to critically read sources like

Cortes’ letters to King Charles and the Florentine Codex