El descubrimiento de Europa

This new work by Esteban Mira Caballos dismantles the old cliché that held that the presence of Native Americans in the Old World was limited to a handful of them brought by some discoverers, such as Christopher Columbus, but the reality is that there was a traffic of natives with destined for the European slave markets. Until the middle of the 16th century they entered through the port of Seville and, in the second half of the century, through Lisbon. Many others came voluntarily: some to learn the secrets of the land -like a 21st century tourist- and others to request their rights, personally going to court to meet with the sovereign. They claimed the same lands from their ancestors, as privileges -such as coat of arms, or the right to bear arms or use horses-. Some returned to their homeland while others remained in European lands, adapting to a new way of life. They were vassals, they had learned the Spanish language and were practicing Catholics, so they aroused less suspicion than other ethnic minorities. How did they survive? What did they think of European civilization? What did they do? How did they behave? These are questions that this book tries to answer.