Conquest and Colony in New Spain: a View at the Inherited Elements from the History of Mexico

Abstract

this paper aims to suggest that, contrary to what has become the dominant current of interpretation of what Spain brought to New Spain, it was not about capitalism, especially in the absence of general currency and wages, but a peculiar form of medievalism. This was intertwined in very dissimilar ways with pre-Hispanic communities and societies, as recent studies have shown, although with theoretical gaps to fill, although the latter, tributary, ended up finding their place among the invaders. One of the main consequences of this “medievalism” is the clientelistic habit.