A Perfect Red

After our discussion of academic vs. popular books in class last week I started reading this book with that strongly on my mind. In my mind this book fits all the "classic" categories of being a popular book, but it was so well-researched that I'm hesitant to label it as such before academics unfairly judge it as not being historically worthy or relevant in some way. There are many relevant and note-worthy parts of this book. The least for me are the botanical aspects of this book. I 100% agree that it adds to my historical repository in a positive way, but it was also the least interesting part of the book. There was a lot of good information on how Meso-American farmers showed "great skill in cultivating insects, including not only cochineal, but another form of scale…which produced a wax used in cosmetics, medicines and the creation of a pre-Columbian lacquer.”(pp. 39) While it was very interesting in knowing this because as Kent points out in his post, European dyers had no idea what the source of the color was, it was also the least interesting of the information she presents in this book. Which I think is very telling because it’s not fact a boring point at all.

The part that I found to be of most interest, and this is also the vein in which James’ post went, is her portrayal of the Spanish crown. It seems to be a much more positive treatment than other authors I have read. She portrays a situation in which Charles V and the Spanish Empire were not the bad guys they are typically seen as. Greedy warmongers, who were starved for gold and would do anything, including the horrific treatment of native peoples, in order to quench their thirst for wealth and power. She brings to light that most conquistadors were second sons of second sons and had no available paths to make a living for themselves back in Spain. That becoming and financing their own way as a conquistador was a dangerous and foolhardy task, but was a last option for many of them. “After Peur, most would-be conquerors, encountered slim pickings, and many Spaniards began to think twice about risking their lives for such uncertain rewards.” (pp. 61) She also portrays Charles’ feelings towards the encomienda system as human and one filled with lots of turmoil because of the fluctuating situation between what he, as a human being, wanted to do and what he, as the Spanish Crown, needed to do in the best interests of his people. While his sympathies may have lain with the Dominican friars who saw the encomienda system as “archaic, ill conceived and immoral” (pp. 57), he knew that not supporting Cortes and his conquistadors would lead to serious repercussions. As she so succinctly states on page 57,

Many Spaniards, including Charles, were forced to confront crucial questions about the morality of empire itself. Was empire supposed to benefit the conquerors or the conquered? Was an emperor bound to protect the interests of all his subjects? And what were the limits of imperial power in the Renaissance world?

My opinion of this book is that it’s very informative, but lacks any real argument or agenda that she wants to push. The only time Greenfield really argues for something is when she dicusses why did the encomenderos and the Spanish crown not recognize the value of cochineal from the beginning and why did it take so long for the exportation of such an exalted and obviously desirable commodity? She addresses this somewhat at the end of chapter five, but skips right over the details of how this happens and begins chapter six with a tale of cochineal in the Old World. The last paragraph on page 67 talks about how it at first it was only Indian traders who hawked cochineal, but by the mid 1530's Spanish merchants pouring into the New World had a keener "appreciation of the opportunities afforded by innovative commodities such as cochineal." I might be entirely missing this, but it seems that she wants to argue that the conquistadors had no appreciation for cochineal because it did not seem like the type of thing to make them money, but Spanish merchants had a better understanding of how precious it was and it was then that it started being bought and sold, but I am confused as to why the merchants knew better than the conquistadors. Did they know of the dire need for a good red dye by dyers back in Europe? Did they just assume that cochineal would sell back in the marketplaces of Europe? How did she know the conquistadors were stuck in the 'feudal past'? If I'm missing that I would greatly appreciate someone letting me know where she spells that out. 

-Nadine