The Law of the Indies

Hey fellow bloggers! Today’s blog post assignment is focused on the development of a set of urban ordinances that the Spanish developed. These ordinances are the key to how they founded and built cities in colonizing the Americas.

To begin my investigation into these urban planning ordinances, I skip to the chapter on the Law of the Indies in the Gasparini reading. This section lists 148 “laws” in regards to the discovering, establishing and building of new cities.

When reading through all these laws, there are two main points that can be taken away from the urban settlement ordinances.

Firstly, the laws begin by providing territorial information about how one can conquer and discover an area. It delves into requirements such as no tolerance for encroaching on already settled areas as well as emphasis on those conquering, learning about the natives that are already living in the area. These are laws number from 1- 31.

Secondly, the next section talks specifically about city planning ordinances. There are many specifics that are involved in the city planning process. When attempting to summarize what can be learnt from these city planning ordinances, they can be group into 3 different steps. The first step is discovering of the area as a whole, the land must be fertile, low lying to protect from environmental measures, and a location is best if it has access to water. The second step is the selection of the specific city site, within the entire area. Specifics about the leader (or governor) who selects the site are outlined. This leader must establish a proper hierarchy within the new city site, and they are responsible for dishing out specific plots of land, called caballerias and peonias. Once these sites are assigned, the property owners are to begin building on and farming the land. The third step is the actual town layout ordinances. There are many requirements for this grid like plan they have come up with. Requirements include the town square being the starting point for the town and size and design of this are provided based on city population. Furthermore, the street layout requirements of 4 principal streets within the square and then 4 surrounding the square are provided. These laws are then followed by outlining ordinances for the commons.

When reading through these ordinances, it becomes quite clear that the Spanish had strict settlement ordinances in the discovery and development of new cities. What is actually learnt about the urban form is the actual prescribed method in which cities are erected, and furthermore the importance of abiding by these laws. By beginning with the requirements of how the discoverer must behave, it gives the reader a sense of control these laws had over the spread of the Spanish empire in the Americas. Furthermore, we learn that although in the laws it does not state these new cities must be in grid form, the formula in which the city begins with the town square coupled with the requirement of the 4 main intersecting streets, the grid pattern is embedded in these laws.

The Spanish quite clearly articulated exact specifics as to what these cities are to look like. They provide numerous detailed laws of how to find a new location, how to approach the indigenous population located there, how to select the site for a new city, where to begin the construction of such city, the hierarchy of people within the city, and finally how the land is divided up within the city.

In conclusion, I think it is important to note how sophisticated this system of laws is, for an Ancient empire to have developed. These laws are in such detail, that it would be hard to follow exactly, even in constructing cities today. This really helps reiterate the power in which the Spaniards had in controlling the spread of their empire across the Americas. The establishment of such a law system denotes a high level of sophistication and proper composition of cities throughout the Spanish empire.

That’s all for today Folks!

See ya

- Ali

Urban Spain

Hey Fellow Bloggers!

This weeks blog assignment encompasses a critical analysis of the Spanish cities, previously Granada which was transformed into Santa Fe de Granada.

The transition of the original Medieval Islamic controlled city Granada, to the newly founded Iberian city Santa Fe de Granada, demonstrates an influx of new concepts in regards to urban form. These new concepts transformed the structural design and organization, reproducing a new trend for newly founded Iberian cities.

For a proper critical analysis of these two examples of Spanish urbanization practices, the relationship between the old and new cities are to be delineated, the urban form in Santa Fe de Granada is to be analyzed and the significance of such urban form is analyzed.

Santa Fe Granada- Google Maps

The relationship between Granada and Santa Fe is rooted in the actual conquering of Granada by the Spanish Catholics, and the consequent transformation into Santa Fe de Granada. This was part of Reconquista era where Catholic kings aimed to re gain control of the Iberian peninsula, and succeeded. Santa Fe began as the encampment set up by the Catholic Kinds when the siege of Granada commenced. In 1481, the army camp transformed into a town of bricks and mortar in just 80 days, a remarkable speed for not only that time period, but still today.

There are many urban design practices found in Santa Fe that correspond with previous Ancient cities we have already studied. Two main urban design practices that I think are significant to mention is the grid plan imposed on Timgad and Santa Fe, as well as the actual conquering practice that took place in Mexico City and Santa Fe.  

The key elements of Timgad that are evident in Santa Fe is the grid style pattern of urban design, as well as the two main prescribed intersecting routes through the city. In Timgad, the grid system is complex and centered by the decumanus maximus and the cardo. The decumanus maximus is the main East- West oriented road common in Roman cities and the Cardo is the main North- South road. This same grid organization is found in Santa Fe. The layout of Santa Fe is also a grid plan, with similarly mimicked two main roads, intersecting at the center of the city.

ProProfs. “Timgad”. www.proprofs.com

Another similarity to Ancient cities we have previously studied is the conquering of Tenochtitlan and its transformation into modern day Mexico City. In 1519 Hernan Cortes learned about the problems within the Aztec Empire and was able to exploit them, conquering Tenochtitlan. It is evident that a similar conquering occurred, followed by a complete overhaul of the existing society in both Mexico City and Santa Fe.

One last similarity I think worth mentioning is the built up fortification around Santa Fe. This can be connected back to the Citadel at Tiyrns. This structure is built up on a hill, and also has the fortified walls, reiterating the need for defense.

The significant urban form that exists in Santa Fe is quite clearly the grid layout. The city has a protective wall and moat surrounding it providing defense against the Arabs, and reproduced supremacy over them. Furthermore, in Santa Fe they begin to use a different type of architectural vocabulary. There is a new element of the renaissance depicted, not as extreme as plateresque, but still evident. 

One more element of Santa Fe that is significant is the height of the main religious building . The church built on top of the mosc area of the city is significantly the highest point of the city. This helps reproduce power over the surrounding regions, as the city itself is raised, and the church (being a Catholic symbol) is even higher, therefore viewed from far expanses.

FotoCommunity. "Santa Fe Grenada Church." www.fotocommunity.es

Anyways, that is all for this week!

Tenochtitlan and its transformation into Mexico City

The capital city of the ancient Aztec Civilization, Tenochtitlan, is now otherwise known as the metropolis city, Mexico City. Cortes arrived at Tenochtitlan and it was deemed the largest, most populous city in Mesoamerica.

In order to adequately compare the two prominent cities, in the present and past, the size and scale of the cities are to be analyzed.

Figure 1: Mexico City
SamEvans87. "MLB: Expansion to Mexico City." http://mlbreports.com/2012/03/18/mlbinmexico/

Figure 2: Tenochtitlan
Sheppard Software. "Tenochtitlan." http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Mexicoweb/factfile/Unique-facts-Mexico8.htm

       Evidently, Mexico City encompasses a much larger expanse than Tenochtitlan does, judging by the photos depicted above. When analyzing specific area and population facts, the following information is found. Tenochtitlan covered an area of about 12 square kilometers and had a population between 150,000 and 225,000 people. On the otherhand, present day Mexico City encompasses 1,485 square kilometers and has a population of 21.2 million people in the metropolitan area. This coins Mexico City as the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere. 

In terms of drawing connections between the two sizes of the cities, it is evident that the reasoning for the expansive growth and grandeur of Mexico City is rooted in the Ancient city that previously stood in its place. It is recorded that Tenochtitlan experienced a lot of growth between the founding in 1325 and 1521, and dominated surrounding city states. This is then when the Spanish arrived, at this time, the Aztec Empire had reached much of Mesoamerica.

Therefore although the actual population and area size of Tenochtitlan is minimal in comparison to Mexico City, it is important to look at these city sizes in context of the time period. Tenochtitlan was the largest city, of highest grandeur and strength, within the Aztec Empire at that time. The modern day Mexico City emulates similar characteristics in comparison to cities of this era. As previously mentioned Mexico City is the largest metropolitan city in the western hemisphere, the size and expanse of the city is one of a kind and the grandeur of the city resonates with many immediately surrounding areas, along with other metropolitan areas in the hemisphere. This relationship between size, success of obtaining dominance and grandeur is relevant between both cities, as the site of Tenochtitlan clearly provided a great basis for which Mexico City could emulate these characteristics in modern day. 

The significance of the undertaking of Tenochtitlan, is in direct connection with the grandeur of the Ancient city at that time. Hernan Cortes heard about the great city and its long standing rivalries against it. He was captivated by the beauty and size of the city, and convinced others to help his small army to conquer the city. The already developed and successful city that stood on this island on Lake Texcoco, Cortes believed (and was proved correct) would be a great place to develop their capital city. It makes theoretical and empirical sense to conquer and develop a previously large, prosperous, powerful city in a conquest. The significance of such an undertaking is Cortes ability to firstly actually conquer the site with a somewhat small army, and to then develop it into one of the largest standing metropolitan cities. 

Therefore it is evident that Cortes was smart in choosing the site of Tenochtitlan to conquer and develop into a large, metropolitan city, as it already encompassed those relevant characteristics to succeed in such a development. Furthermore, the significance of this undertaking is evident in the large success Cortes had in developing the largest metropolitan city in the Western hemisphere.

Thats all for now,

- Ali