That quote seems to provide no evidence that the ‘literate tradition’ mattered. Cortes’ conquest was only 14 years before; Pizarro had arrived in the New World 10 years before that; Cortes’ conquest involved many people and was a big/important deal; even if the Spanish had no writing at all, Pizarro would likely have known the general outline of Cortes’ actions.
It’s strictly speaking impossible to rule out Pizarro indirectly being influenced by writing; but I don’t think it would be possible for stronger evidence against the importance of writing in this specific case to exist.
Agreed. I think literacy or “literate tradition” had nothing to do with it, but learning from Cortes’ experience (and earlier Spanish experiences in the canary islands, etc.) was crucial.
That quote seems to provide no evidence that the ‘literate tradition’ mattered. Cortes’ conquest was only 14 years before; Pizarro had arrived in the New World 10 years before that; Cortes’ conquest involved many people and was a big/important deal; even if the Spanish had no writing at all, Pizarro would likely have known the general outline of Cortes’ actions.
It’s strictly speaking impossible to rule out Pizarro indirectly being influenced by writing; but I don’t think it would be possible for stronger evidence against the importance of writing in this specific case to exist.
Agreed. I think literacy or “literate tradition” had nothing to do with it, but learning from Cortes’ experience (and earlier Spanish experiences in the canary islands, etc.) was crucial.