The Language of the Conquerors

When Amerindians Spoke Latin in Sixteenth-Century Mexico

Serge Gruzinski author Nancy Erber translator

Format:Paperback

Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Publishing:12th Jun '25

£19.99

This title is due to be published on 12th June, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

This paperback is available in another edition too:

The Language of the Conquerors cover

One of the most decisive and irreversible consequences of the Spanish conquest of the Americas was the linguistic revolution which changed the forms of communication in indigenous societies.  Writing, paper and books arrived in the Americas with the conquistadors and they were used as weapons by the Spanish to subjugate local populations and impose Christianity on them. 

The written word of the conquerors was a key medium of colonization: orders from the imperial metropole were written down, local resources and valuables were recorded and books conveyed knowledge coming from Europe. The children of indigenous elites, trained in humanist values, were soon more familiar with Latin and the Bible than with the beliefs of their ancestors, and the use of Latin instilled new modes of reasoning and thought. By imposing European languages and writing systems, the conquistadors also inculcated a belief in the superiority of the written word and even its holiness.  And yet despite this, indigenous people were able to resist linguistic colonization in other ways, thanks to their extraordinary creativity.

By putting language, writing and printing at the centre of his analysis, Serge Gruzinski develops a fresh perspective on the colonization and conversion of the indigenous people of the Americas and enables us to observe in detail how ideas intermingle when two civilizations collide.

ISBN: 9781509565238

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

260 pages