Shannon Costello

James Fenimore Cooper was definitely a nationalist. In “Mercedes of Castille” he reaches back as far as he possibly can in America’s history, that is, from a European perspective.

Set in 1492, this story follows Columbus through the eyes and actions of historically unimportant characters Mercedes and Don Luis. Through them Cooper is able to weave romantic interest into the fabric of the story.

It appears that Cooper went out of his way to make his account as historically accurate as possible, which means that one picks up rather interesting trivia through reading this book. The facts appear to be accurate, even if the interpretations are in dispute.

For example, Columbus kept two logs during his voyage — one for the public eye with shorter distances, presumably so as not to unduly frighten the already jittery crew, and one for his own private view with the actual distances traveled each day. 150 miles on a good day!

Cooper is fascinated with the story of Columbus’ precautions in case his ship is lost. During a fierce storm he writes a letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella detailing his discoveries, which he seals in a barrel and throws overboard. Cooper wonders if the barrel could be floating still…

Like George Washington in “The Spy”, Columbus is very much idealized, which brings one to the larger issues touched upon in this book.

The sudden meeting of a primitive culture with one that is more technologically advanced must necessarily result in trouble, even in Cooper’s world. The trouble usually amounts to inevitable destruction. This happens in the case of the Europeans and the Native Americans, as can be seen in “The Prarie” and “The Pioneers”, among others. It happens, or rather begins to happen, again in this story. Cooper willingly skips ahead a few years and gives some fairly startling statistics about the decimation of the native population of a particular island. Even within the year or so that this story covers, the half-dozen natives that he brings back with him to Spain are dead or dying of sickness.

Some modern interpretations of history consequently accuse Columbus of genocide but, looking back, how could Columbus have done otherwise? What if the inhabitants of earth today were to discover another planet inhabited by primitive humans? Let us further suppose that the planet had valuable resources that we felt ourselves to be badly in need of. Would we hold back? It seems more likely that attempts at creating our own Prime Directive would quickly be thrown aside in the race to be the first nation to stake a claim.

Cooper’s description of the 15th century church is worth noticing as well. The main characters clearly believed that baptism was essential to salvation, a view unofficially though incorrectly held by many today.

In this story attempts at evangelism or spreading the gospel led to the physical deaths of those whom the main characters were seeking to convert. Such attempts are understandable given the conviction that not all roads lead to eternal life, but it is always important to consider carefully one’s approach.

On the other hand, Cooper paints a picture of certain characters, such as his Isabella, whose attitudes and actions are nearly beyond criticism. Those who know her consider that her care and concern for others is only second to her devotion to God. What if the same could be said of more of us?

It is unfair to neglect Ozema, the beautiful “indian” princess who suffers in several ways as a direct result of Columbus’ voyage of discovery. I found myself rather frustrated with Don Luis, who was not nearly as careful of her emotions as he should have been. Cooper excuses him — even Mercedes excuses him — but I cannot.

With that said, I am not sure that her particular tale is quite as powerful and compelling as Cooper intended it to be. And perhaps that is the final thought I need in order to fully summarize this book: though many of the characters and their actions are somewhat unsatisfying, the book is well worth reading for the historical account of Columbus and for the larger issues it raises, not to mention the high quality of Cooper’s writing.