2004 Bridges Summer Research Report Benjamin Zadik Latin American Studies "The Influence of the Pig in Spain and America during the Colonial Period"

We might well call 1492 the year of the pig in Spain. Precisely at this time the conflicts between the Jews, Moslems and Christians of Spain find an important manifestation in the question of swine. The two pig-abstaining cultures of Iberia suffered terrible defeats: the Jews were expelled, and the Moslem kingdoms were permanently overthrown. In that same year Columbus inadvertently discovered the New World, a world we should note that comprised two continents that had never even seen the pig, or any other European livestock. Already on his second voyage, Columbus escorted eight pigs from the Canary Islands to the Antilles, beginning the infamous conquest of the Americas—both Spanish and porcine.

The entrance of Iberian pigs and other European livestock after the Encounter began perhaps the greatest food exchange in the history of the world. However, the further I studied these events here at UC Berkeley, the more I became convinced that their interpretation required a broader understanding of the culture of pig in Spain that preceded the Conquest. Without such a background, the reasoning behind the pig’s rapid deployment in the Indies seemed inadequate. It was the goal of my research this summer to further my knowledge of the cultural roots of the pig in Spain. Moreover, I wanted to understand the connections that brought the pig (as just one paradigmatic example of Spanish culture) to the New World. These two main purposes necessitated study in three important libraries.

My first stop was the Canary Islands, which since the beginning of the Atlantic voyages to the Americas has been the final point of departure from the Old World. As such it was integral to the economics, the cultural dissemination and demographic changes that interchanged between both sides of the ocean. For this reason it is often considered the “bridge” to Latin America—one that travels both ways—and this was evident in my studies.

The Centro de documentación canario-americano rests in the port of Santa Cruz, Tenerife, just down the street from a church built in the fifteenth century by the conquering Spaniards. It serves as a model for what would be repeated time and again in the Americas: first the erection of the conquerors’ house of worship, and only later the influx of anthropologists to study the culture that had been quickly destroyed in the throes of conquest. The Centro provided me with invaluable documents that demonstrate the early linkages between the Canaries and the Indies, especially in terms of what economic and cultural commodities were being traded during the first hundred years after Columbus’ pioneering voyage.

La Giralda and the Cathedral of Seville show the best representation of the conflagaration of Moslem, Jewish, and Christian motifs.

Of special interest to my research, of course, was the pig. The library contains a number of books published in the Canaries that deal specifically with Columbus and his stay on the islands en route to the Indies. These sources provided documentation of the resources, the animals and the supplies available to Columbus, as well as where he stayed and what he reportedly took with him to the Americas. The link between the Canary Islands and the Americas was emphasized in many of the books and articles I read while on the islands. That shared history is important because the exchange of culture, plants, and animals began immediately and continues to this day. Additionally, the bibliographies I obtained at the Centro will prove useful as I continue my research this coming semester.

In order to dig deeper into the regulatory and economic aspects of the Conquest, I found it also necessary to visit the Archivo General de Indias, located in Seville, Spain. Here the surviving regal and bureaucratic documents from as far back as the fifteenth century are preserved both in their original forms as well as reproduced electronically. Though I expected to carefully wade through pages half a millennium old, I was surprised to find that nearly all the documents I wanted to see were digitized and available only in a special computer lab there at the Archivo. For this reason I was fortunate enough to print copies of regal letters and proclamations from the sixteenth century specifically related to animals, meat, and on occasion specifically the pigs I was looking for.

These well-preserved accounts shed an interesting light on the economic aspect of the pig in the New World. Cortés specifically sent men back to Europe to bring him pigs to propagate in Mexico. The king ordered pigs sent from Jamaica to Panama on several occasions to help raise a colony there. It appears that the pig served in many instances as the first and often only form of meat for the colonizers. This is true for a number of reasons, including its brief breeding period, its small and transportable size and its ruggedness and adaptability to varying climates. Not to be underestimated, of course, is that the pig was a familiar flavor to the Spanish who, letters reveal, were homesick in a strange land.

The port of Seville, while quiet today, was once the seat of activity for seagoing Spaniards, and the point of departure for many voyages, including Columbus’ first trips to the Americas.

The Spanish connection with the pig is older than antiquity, and it was my goal while in Spain to amass further documentation to help me understand it. The richest source of materials on the subject were to be found in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid. Before leaving Spain I was fortunate enough to spend some time, bibliography in hand, at the library. With the limited time available, I set out to locate texts and resources on my preliminary bibliography that were impossible to obtain in the United States, as well as search the catalog for further documentary evidence regarding the influence of the pig in Spain.

By way of example, I had long been searching for the full text of an article by Jaume Fábrega entitled “La cultura del cerdo en el Mediterráneo” but had only found isolated quotes in the resources available to me stateside. At the Biblioteca Nacional I found not only the article in question but several others that I was unaware of. Many “gaps” in my research regarding early Spanish history were addressed. By combing through the library’s resources, I found valuable information about medieval Spanish pig herding, as well as depictions of pigs in Hispanic artwork, and countless pig-related sayings.

In summary, all the materials obtained this summer during my research in Spain have proved invaluable towards completing my Master’s thesis this semester. The UC Berkeley libraries continue to provide excellent resources in studying the influence of the Iberian pig on the Americas during the first couple of centuries after Columbus. The combination of the both affords me the necessary elements to help complete the puzzle, or at least get a better sense of the culture and economic influences determining the course of the Conquest.