Cortes And The History And Description Of Africa

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Religion is a key aspect of the “Second Letter” from Cortes, as well as “The History and Description of Africa.” In “The History and Description of Africa” the work discusses Leo Africanus, a man educated in Islamic Law, who was sent across West Africa on various diplomatic missions. On one of these missions he was kidnapped by Christian pirates, who took him to Pope Leo X, where Africanus was persuaded to accept, and follow Christianity. In Cortes “Second Letter” he details his conquest of land for the king of Spain. While both works focus on different aspects of religion in regards to the main ideas, Cortes’s “Second Letter” is more centrally focused on how God influences his life, while “The History and Description of Africa” provides more of a textbook appeal to Africanus and religion. …show more content…

The statement, “God knows the pain which this has caused me, for I have washed that Your Highness should understand the affairs of this country, which is so great and important, since, as I have already said in my other account, it is no less worthy to warrant your assuming anew the title of Emperor, than is Germany, of which, by the grace of God, Your Sacred Majesty already possesses the title”, goes to show how much of an influence God is on Cortes life through the journey (Cortes, 186). Cortes is describing how the king is able to descend upon the throne with the grace of God. This description Cortes made of the king being similar to God shows how much he thought of the king during that time which was extraordinary. In this time period religion was very prevalent, and important in people’s lives, so Cortes’s comparison here is major in my

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