【简译】征服者的黄金（西班牙征服者）

2022-07-26 10:46 作者:神尾智代 0人读过 | 我要投稿

The staggering quantity of gold the conquistadors extracted from the Americas allowed Spain to become the richest country in the world. The thirst for gold to pay for armies and gain personal enrichment resulted in waves of expeditions of discovery and conquest from 1492 onwards. In only the first half-century or so of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, over 100 tons of gold were extracted from the continent.

征服者们从美洲掠夺了数量惊人的黄金，这使西班牙成为当时世界上最富有的国家。对黄金的渴求，以支付军队和获得个人财富，导致了从1492年开始的一波又一波的发现与远征。仅在西班牙征服美洲的前半个多世纪里，就从美洲大陆开采了100多吨黄金。

In melting down this glittering metal, the conquistadors left behind a trail of death, torture, and destruction. The conquistadors massively reduced the number of artefacts which may have otherwise survived to this day, artefacts which could have spoken of the religious, cultural, and artistic significance their creators had once given them. It had been their hope that their choice of incorruptible gold would make these objects endure for generations, instead, it sealed their fate to be lost forever.

在熔化这种闪闪发光的金属时，征服者们留下了死亡、折磨和破坏的痕迹。征服者们大量减少了可能保留至今的文物数量，这些文物原本可以展现创造者曾经赋予它们的宗教、文化和艺术意义。他们曾希望他们选择的不腐烂的黄金能使这些物品世代相传，但征服者的出现却注定了它们永远消失的命运。

对黄金的渴望

When Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) arrived in the Americas in 1492, the one commodity that all European monarchs craved was gold. With this precious yellow metal, armies, mercenaries, and gunpowder weapons could be paid for, and their kingdoms could be defended and expanded. Gold has always been rare, but at the end of the 15th century, it was exceptionally so in Europe. Perhaps surprisingly, if all the gold in Europe at that time had been collected together in one place, it would have taken up the volume of a mere 2 m (6 ft) sided cube. That would still have weighed 88 tons, but the gold the conquistadors were about to stumble upon in the New World would dwarf this paltry sum and enrich the Spanish Crown beyond its wildest dreams.

当克里斯托弗·哥伦布（1451-1506）于1492年抵达美洲时，所有欧洲君主都渴望的一种商品是黄金。有了这种珍贵的黄色金属，就可以支付军队、雇佣兵和火药武器的费用，就可以保卫和扩张他们的王国。黄金一直都很稀少，但在15世纪末，欧洲的黄金却异常稀少。也许令人惊讶的是，如果当时欧洲所有的黄金都被收集到一个地方，那么它的体积将只相当于一个2米（6英尺）长的立方体。这仍然会有88吨重，但征服者们即将在新大陆发现的黄金将使这个微不足道的数字相形见绌，并使西班牙王室的财富超出其最疯狂的梦想。

The conquistadors first found gold on the island of Hispaniola (modern Dominican Republic/Haiti) in 1494. The tentacles of the empire then spread to Puerto Rico in 1508, Jamaica in 1509, and Cuba in 1511, so far the best source of gold. In the spring of 1513, Juan Ponce de León (1474-1521) was the first European to make a documented landing in Florida. Also in 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519) crossed the Isthmus of Panama and so became the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean. In the 1520s, the Spanish colonialization process went up another gear. Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar (1465-1524), the Governor of Cuba, sent Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) to explore Mexico, where he encountered and then conquered the Aztecs from 1521. Then Pedro de Alvarado (c. 1485-1541) led the brutal conquest of the Maya in Guatemala in 1524. Next came Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541), who plundered Inca Peru from 1532, and then Hernando de Soto (c. 1500-1542), who began exploring North America as far as the Mississippi River in 1539-42. All of these men were after wealth of any kind, from emeralds to exotic hides, but the most coveted material of all was gold.

1494年，征服者们首次在伊斯帕尼奥拉岛（今多米尼加共和国/海地）发现了黄金。随后，帝国的触角于1508年伸向波多黎各，1509年伸向牙买加，1511年伸向古巴，这是迄今为止最好的黄金产地。1513年春天，胡安·庞塞·德·莱昂（1474-1521）是第一个在佛罗里达州登陆的欧洲人，并有历史记载。同样在1513年，瓦斯科·努涅斯·德·巴尔沃亚（1475-1519）穿越了巴拿马地峡，从而成为第一个看到太平洋的欧洲人。在1520年代，西班牙的殖民化进程又上了一个台阶。古巴总督迭戈·贝拉斯克斯·德·奎利亚尔（1465-1524）派埃尔南·科尔特斯（1485-1547）去探索墨西哥，他在那里遇到了阿兹特克人，然后从1521年起开始征服他们。然后，佩德罗·德·阿尔瓦拉多（Pedro de Alvarado，约1485-1541）于1524年领导了对危地马拉玛雅人的残酷征服。接着是弗朗西斯科·皮萨罗（约1478-1541年），他从1532年开始掠夺秘鲁印加，然后是埃尔南多·德·索托（约1500-1542年），他在1539-42年开始探索北美，远至密西西比河。所有这些人都在追求任何种类的财富，从绿宝石到异国情调的皮革，但最令人垂涎的还是黄金。

The Americas did indeed turn out to be an excellent place to find gold. Although the metal was not valued for its rarity or as a means of payment by the indigenous peoples of the Americas, it was esteemed because of its lustre, incorruptibility, spiritual associations (especially concerning the sun), and workability in the hands of craftsmen. For these reasons, it was mined, traded, and given as tribute across the continent. When the visitors from the Old World arrived and saw such treasures hanging from the bodies of the people they encountered and saw the glittering artefacts on the walls of their temples, they were overjoyed. This exultation puzzled the Americans since they typically valued other materials more highly, such as jade, turquoise, exotic feathers, and well-woven fabrics.

美洲确实是一个寻找黄金的好地方。尽管美洲的原住民并不看重这种金属的稀有性或将其作为一种支付手段，但由于它的光泽、不腐性、精神联系（特别是与太阳有关）以及在工匠手中的可操作性，它受到了人们的推崇。由于这些原因，它被开采、交易，并被作为贡品赠送。当外来的访客来到这里，看到当地人身上挂着这样的宝物，看到他们寺庙墙壁上闪闪发光的工艺品，他们欣喜若狂。这种欣喜让美洲人感到不解，因为他们通常更看重其他材料，如玉石、绿松石、异国的羽毛和精心编织的织物。

阿兹特克黄金

When Cortés began the conquest of Mexico in 1519, the search for gold was foremost in his mind and the primary motivation of his fellow conquistadors. The superior weapons of the conquistadors, their aggressive and total war tactics, and the brilliant use of local allies all conspired to bring the Spanish victory after victory and ultimate control of the last great empire in Mesoamerica's long history.

当科尔特斯于1519年开始征服墨西哥时，寻找黄金是他心中的首要目标，也是他的同伴们的主要动机。征服者们优越的武器，他们积极进取的全面战争战术，以及对当地盟友的出色利用，都在密谋着为西班牙人带来一场又一场的胜利，并最终控制了中美洲历史上最后一个大帝国。

When Cortés had met the Aztec ruler Motecuhzoma (aka Montezuma, r. 1502-1520) in November 1519, things had started well in the search for gold when the conquistador was presented with a magnificent necklace of golden crabs. With the fall of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan in August 1521, temples, palaces, storehouses, and private homes were looted for their valuables. Indigenous peoples were frequently captured and tortured to reveal the whereabouts of their valuables and particularly anything at all made of gold. The conquistadors were insatiable in their greed for everything from gold nose plugs to secret idols. As one contemporary native source quotes: "The Spaniards took things from people by force. They were looking for gold; they cared nothing for greenstone, precious feathers, or turquoise" (quoted in Carballo, 226).

1519年11月，科尔特斯与阿兹特克统治者莫特库赫索马（又名蒙特祖马，1502-1520年）会面时，征服者得到了一串华丽的金蟹项链，寻找黄金的工作开始得很顺利。随着1521年8月阿兹特克首都特诺奇蒂特兰的沦陷，寺庙、宫殿、仓库和私人住宅的贵重物品被洗劫一空。原住民经常被抓捕，并被拷问，要求他们说出贵重物品的下落，特别是任何由黄金制成的东西。征服者们贪得无厌，从金鼻塞到秘密神像，无所不包。正如一位当代本地人所引述的那样 "西班牙人用武力从人们手中夺取东西。他们在寻找黄金；他们对绿宝石、珍贵的羽毛或绿松石毫不关心"（引自Carballo，226）。

For a more regular flow of gold, subjugated tribes were soon obliged to give the Spanish yearly tribute, often in the form of small gold discs. Naturally, the Spaniards also wanted to know where the gold had originally come from, and so the Aztec mines at Taxco and Pachuco were taken over. New gold and silver mines were created at Taxco (1536), Zacatecas (1546), Guanajuato (1550), Pachuco (1552), and San Luis Potosí (1592), and so the steady stream of precious metals kept on flowing back to Spain.

为了获得更稳定的黄金流，被征服的部落很快就不得不每年向西班牙人进贡，通常是以小金盘的形式。自然，西班牙人也想知道这些黄金最初来自哪里，因此塔克斯科和帕丘科的阿兹特克矿场被西班牙人接管了。在塔克斯科（1536年）、萨卡特卡斯（1546年）、瓜纳华托（1550年）、帕丘科（1552年）和圣路易斯波托西（1592年）创建了新的金银矿，因此这些贵金属源源不断地流入西班牙。

印加黄金

In Peru, the conquistador Francisco Pizarro attacked the Inca Empire in 1532 and captured its ruler, Atahualpa. The Inca civilization considered gold the sweat of their sun god Inti, and so it was used to manufacture all manner of objects of religious significance, especially masks and sun disks. The Coricancha Temple of the Sun in Cusco was covered with over 700 half-metre square sheets of beaten gold, each weighing 2 kg (4,4 lbs). There was even a garden dedicated to Inti. Everything in it was made of gold and silver. There was a large field of corn and life-size models of shepherds, llamas, jaguars, guinea pigs, monkeys, birds, and even butterflies and insects, all crafted in precious metal.

在秘鲁，征服者弗朗西斯科·皮萨罗于1532年袭击了印加帝国，俘虏了其统治者阿塔瓦尔帕。印加文明认为黄金是他们的太阳神Inti的汗水，因此它被用来制造各种具有宗教意义的物品，特别是面具和太阳盘。库斯科的科里坎查太阳神庙被700多块半米见方的打制金片覆盖，每块金片重达2公斤（4.4磅）。甚至还有一个供奉Inti的花园。里面的所有东西都是用金子和银子做的。这里有一大片玉米地，还有牧羊人、骆驼、美洲虎、豚鼠、猴子、鸟类，甚至蝴蝶和昆虫的真人大小的模型，都是用贵金属制作的。

The conquistadors were not slow to observe these magnificent adornments to Inca temples. The leader was promised his freedom if a massive ransom was paid, enough to fill a room measuring around 6.2 x 4.8 m (20 x 15.5 ft). Atahualpa's ransom was duly paid and then melted down in nine large forges and distributed out amongst the 217 Spaniards. The gold part of this ransom, with a purity of 22.5 carats and weighing over 6,000 kg (13,420 lbs), was valued as equal to over 1.3 million gold pesos, well over $300 million today. An infantryman received the enormous sum of 20 kilos (44 lbs) of gold, while a cavalryman got 41 kilos (90 lbs); Pizarro gave himself seven times that of a cavalryman, and the Crown was allotted its one-fifth as promised. In addition to this sum, Pizarro was obliged under the terms of his contract of conquest and adelantado status to pay the Crown a 10% tax on all the gold he acquired in Peru, a figure which rose to 20% after the first six years.

征服者们对印加寺庙华丽的装饰品并不感兴趣。如果支付巨额赎金，这位领导人将获得自由，赎金足以填满一个大约6.2 x 4.8米（20 x 15.5英尺）的房间。他们拿到了阿塔瓦尔帕的赎金，然后在九个大型锻造厂中熔化，并在217名西班牙人中分发。这笔赎金中的黄金部分，纯度为22.5克拉，重量超过6,000公斤（13,420磅），价值相当于130多万金比索，远远超过今天的3亿美元。一个步兵得到了20公斤（44磅）的巨额黄金，而一个骑兵得到了41公斤（90磅）；皮萨罗给自己的黄金是一个骑兵的七倍，而王室则按承诺分配了五分之一的份额。除了这笔钱之外，根据他的征服合同和阿德兰塔多（中世纪西班牙贵族为各自国王服务的头衔）身份的条款，皮萨罗有义务为他在秘鲁获得的所有黄金向皇室缴纳10%的税，这个数字在头六年后上升到20%。

The former Inca Empire also became a massive source of silver both from looting and mining. The Incas had long used mines as a way to extract labour and tribute from specific areas. Deposits of gold were mined using narrow shafts that followed veins of the metal. There were also open mines, and gold was recovered by panning river beds. Precious metal mines were opened and exploited by the Spanish across South America for all they were worth. Major mines included the Cauca Valley mines in Colombia (opened in 1540), Potosí (1545) and Oruro (1595) in Bolivia, and the Castrovirreyna (1555) and Cerco de Pasco (1630) mines in Peru.

前印加帝国也成为一个巨大的白银来源，包括掠夺与采矿。印加人长期以来一直利用矿山作为从特定地区提取劳动力和贡品的一种方式。黄金矿床是通过狭窄的竖井沿着金属矿脉开采出来的。也有一些露天矿，通过淘洗河床来获取黄金。西班牙人在整个南美洲开辟和开采贵重金属矿，使其物尽其用。主要的矿场包括哥伦比亚的考卡谷地矿场（1540年开采）、玻利维亚的波托西（1545年）和奥鲁罗（1595年），以及秘鲁的卡斯特罗维雷纳（1555年）和塞尔科德帕斯科（1630年）矿场。

Silver extraction from the Americas soon came to dominate; by 1540, it made up over 85% of precious metal shipments to Spain. Throughout the 16th century and early 17th century, gold and silver always made up at least 80% of the cargoes sent to Europe in terms of their total value. The labour that extracted the gold and silver was forced in the encomienda license system, which gave its holder the right to use local labour for free in return for offering a nominal degree of security and the opportunity to be educated in the Christian religion. As diseases and poor working conditions took a severe toll on local populations, the encomienda system was eventually replaced by one of low pay, the repartimiento system.

从美洲开采的白银很快就占据了主导地位；到1540年，白银在运往西班牙的贵金属货物中占了85%以上。在整个16世纪和17世纪初，就其总价值而言，黄金和白银总是占运往欧洲的货物的至少80%。开采金银的劳动力是在委托监护制度中被强迫的，该制度给予其持有人免费使用当地劳动力的权利，以换取提供名义上的安全和接受基督教教育的机会。由于疾病和恶劣的工作条件对当地居民造成了严重损失委托监护制度最终被低工资制度，即 repartimiento制度所取代。

埃尔多拉多的黄金

In ancient Colombia, gold was also revered for its lustre and association with the sun. In powdered form, gold was used to cover the body of the future Muisca (Chibcha) king in a lavish coronation ceremony, which gave rise to the legend of El Dorado ('Gilded Man'). The newly dusted monarch then leapt into Lake Guatavita in a ritual act of cleansing. Meanwhile, onlookers threw precious objects into the lake as auspicious offerings to the gods. By the time the conquistadors had heard rumours of this ceremony in the 1530s, the story had been embellished, and El Dorado had become not a man but a great city paved with gold.

在古代哥伦比亚，黄金也因其光泽和与太阳的联系而受到尊敬。在豪华的加冕仪式上，黄金以粉末的形式被用来覆盖未来的穆伊斯卡（Chibcha）国王的身体，这就产生了El Dorado（"镀金人"）的传说。然后，这位新的君主跳入瓜塔维塔湖，进行清洗仪式。同时，围观者向湖中投掷贵重物品，作为对神灵的吉祥献礼。当征服者在1530年代听到这个仪式的传闻时，这个故事已经被美化了，埃尔多拉多已经不是一个人，而是一个用黄金铺成的伟大城市。

The golden city was never found because it did not exist, but attempts were made to find out just what lay at the bottom of Lake Guatavita. In the 1580s Antonio de Sepúlveda had perhaps the most ambitious scheme when he cut a slice out of the lake's crater edge in order to drain it and find the treasure which must surely have accumulated on the lake bed. Some gold artefacts were indeed found, but before the lake could drain completely a landslide blocked the cut, and so the water level began to rise again. A long line of sorely disappointed adventurers has since followed with their, so far, unsuccessful attempts to extract gold from Lake Guatavita.

黄金城从未被发现，因为它并不存在，但人们试图找出瓜塔维塔湖底的东西。1580年代，安东尼奥·德·塞普尔韦达（Antonio de Sepúlveda）可能有一个最雄心勃勃的计划，他从湖的火山口边缘切出一块，以便将湖水排干，找到沉淀在湖床上的宝藏。他确实发现了一些黄金工艺品，但在湖水完全排干之前，山体滑坡堵住了切口，于是水位又开始上升。此后，一长串令人痛心疾首的冒险家们开始尝试从瓜塔维塔湖中提取黄金，但迄今为止，他们的尝试并不成功。

失落的宝藏

As the conquistadors were only interested in gold and not what shape it came in, they relentlessly melted artefacts down to make coins and ingots, which were easier to transport back to Europe and easier to share out amongst themselves. Sacred statues, despite the best efforts of the locals to hide them away, were found and melted down. Gold items like bracelets, necklaces, ear plugs, nose plugs, ceremonial knives, figurines, goblets, and plates were thrown into the melting pots. Although a few select pieces were sent for the gratification of the Spanish monarch, there was next to no appreciation for the religious, cultural, and artistic significance of the countless pieces that were lost forever. All that survives of the magnificent golden garden of Inti in Cusco, for example, is a single gold wheat stalk.

由于征服者只对黄金感兴趣，而不是它的形状，他们无情地将文物熔化，以制造硬币和金锭，这更容易运回欧洲，也更容易在他们之间分享。尽管当地人竭力将神圣的雕像藏起来，但还是被发现并熔化了。诸如手镯、项链、耳塞、鼻塞、仪式用刀、小雕像、高脚杯和盘子等黄金物品被扔进熔炉。尽管一些精选的作品被送去满足西班牙君主，但几乎没有人欣赏无数作品的宗教、文化和艺术意义，这些作品已经永远失去了。例如，在库斯科宏伟的茵蒂黄金花园中，仅存一根黄金麦杆。

By 1560, the conquistadors had shipped over 100 tons of gold back to Spain, in effect, more than doubling the quantity of the precious metal now in Europe. The quantity increased in the latter half of the 16th century thanks to mining and new sources in what became the Viceroyalty of Granada (modern Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela), with ships delivering around 4 tons of gold each year to Seville.

到1560年，征服者已将100多吨黄金运回西班牙，实际上，现在欧洲的贵金属数量增加了一倍多。16世纪后半叶，由于在后来的格拉纳达总督区（现代的哥伦比亚、厄瓜多尔和委内瑞拉）进行采矿和开辟新的资源，数量有所增加，每年有船只向塞维利亚运送大约4吨黄金。

The quest for gold had its price, not only on local cultures but also on the conquistadors themselves. Many expeditions that searched for the glittering metal were deadly failures, such as the 1523-4 expedition to Honduras led by Cristóbal de Olid (b. 1492). Diego de Almagro (c. 1475-1538) led a large and expensive expedition to Chile in 1535 but found no gold. Most infamous of all was the expedition led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (c. 1510-1554) in 1540 to explore North America in search of Cibola, a legendary group of cities rumoured to be paved with gold. Coronado found nothing of the sort. Even those who did find gold often came a cropper from their fellow cutthroat conquistadors. Cortés himself was eternally involved in legal disputes over how he had shared out his golden loot and whether he had given the Crown its fair share.

对黄金的追求是有代价的，不仅对当地文化，而且对征服者本身。许多寻找闪闪发光的金属的远征都遭到了致命的失败，如1523-4年克里斯托瓦尔·德·奥利德（生于1492年）率领的洪都拉斯远征。迭戈·德·阿尔马格罗（约1475-1538年）于1535年带领一支庞大而昂贵的探险队前往智利，但没有发现黄金。最臭名昭著的是弗朗西斯科·巴斯克斯·德·科罗纳多（约1510-1554年）于1540年率领的探险队，在北美洲寻找西博拉，这是一个传说中的黄金铺就的城市群。科罗纳多没有发现这个城市群。即使是那些找到黄金的人，也经常被他们的同僚残酷的征服者所欺骗。科尔特斯本人也一直卷入法律纠纷中，争论如何分享他的黄金战利品，以及他是否给了王室公平的份额。

Even the Spanish in Europe suffered from this massive influx of gold and silver since it caused hyperinflation, not then a concept understood by many economists. Prices of commodities increased by 400% over the 16th century, and Spanish exports suffered as a consequence when wages rose to match. In addition, the Crown frittered away its precious metals, usually to secure loans from bankers long before the annual Spanish treasure fleets had even arrived in Europe. Then there was the threat from pirates and privateers who were keen to intercept the Spanish galleons as they crossed the Atlantic. In 1579, for example, Francis Drake captured the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción off the coast of Peru, which was taking treasure that included 26 tons of silver bullion and 36 kg (80 lbs) of gold. Storms were an even greater threat and accounted for many wrecks like the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which was carrying a cargo worth $400 million when it was sunk in a storm in 1622 off the Florida Keys.

甚至欧洲的西班牙人也受到了这种大量涌入的黄金和白银的影响，因为它造成了恶性通货膨胀，而当时许多经济学家并不了解这个概念。商品价格在16世纪增长了400%，西班牙的出口也因此而受到影响，因为工资也随之上涨。此外，王室将其贵重金属挥霍一空，通常是在西班牙每年的寻宝船队到达欧洲之前，就已经从银行家那里获得了贷款。此外，还有海盗和私掠者的威胁，他们热衷于拦截横跨大西洋的西班牙大帆船。例如，1579年，弗朗西斯·德雷克在秘鲁海岸捕获了 "圣母康塞普西翁号"，该船携带的宝藏包括26吨银条和36公斤（80磅）黄金。风暴是一个更大的威胁，也是许多沉船的原因，如阿托卡圣母号（Nuestra Señora de Atocha），它在1622年佛罗里达群岛附近的风暴中沉没时，载有价值4亿美元的货物。

Not even the great wealth of the Indies could meet the tremendous costs of maintaining armies to safeguard and expand the Spanish Empire in Iberia, the Low Countries, France, Germany, Italy, North Africa, and the high seas. It is perhaps fitting that the Spanish Golden Age was both as brilliant and fleeting as the young empires it had destroyed in the Americas in its unrelenting search for gold.

即使是印加的巨大财富也无法满足在伊比利亚、低地国家、法国、德国、意大利、北非和公海上维护和扩张西班牙帝国的巨大成本。西班牙的黄金时代既辉煌又短暂，就像它在不屈不挠地寻找黄金的过程中在美洲摧毁的那些年轻帝国一样，这也许是符合常情的。

问题和解答

Did the conquistadors find gold?

征服者们找到了黄金吗？

The conquistadors found a tremendous quantity of gold in the Americas, over 100 tons of it between 1492 and 1560.

征服者们在美洲发现了数量巨大的黄金，在1492年至1560年期间有超过100吨的黄金。

How much gold did Cortés take from the Aztecs?

科尔特斯从阿兹特克人那里拿走了多少黄金？

Hernán Cortés extracted literally tons of gold from the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican civilizations. Countless artefacts were melted down and Aztec mines were further exploited and new ones opened.

埃尔南·科尔特斯从阿兹特克人和其他中美洲文明中提取了成吨的黄金。无数的文物被熔化，阿兹特克人的矿场被进一步开发，他们在那开设了新的矿场。

Where did the Spaniards get their gold?

西班牙人的黄金从哪里来？

The Spaniards got their gold from indigenous peoples across their empire, but particularly from Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru. Artefacts and jewellery were melted down, and gold was extracted from local mines.

西班牙人从其帝国各地的原住民那里获得黄金，特别是来自古巴、墨西哥、哥伦比亚和秘鲁。文物和珠宝被熔化，黄金被从当地的矿场开采出来。