The extraordinary life of Gonzalo Guerrero: the man who accepted his fate
Gonzalo Guerrero was born in Spain, at the end of the XIV century. Eventually, he started a life as a sailor and, encouraged by the promise of fame and fortune in the “New World”, he shipped off to America, more precisely to “La Española” (Cuba, nowadays). Shortly after he started a life in America, in 1511 when sailing in a caravel from Panama to Santo Domingo, he was shipwrecked along with other crew members that managed to survive. Strong currents brought them to what today is Quintana Roo, México, a territory inhabited by various indigenous populations such as the Mayans. But the Mayan civilization was alredy extinted, and what Gonzalo Guerreroand other survivors found there, were no more than ruins.
Nonetheless, the Mayans captured, enslaved and sacrificed all of the survivors, except for Gonzalo and a priest named Jerónimo. Gonzalo Guerrero managed to escape together with Jerónimo de Aguilar, however they were captured by other Mayans lords, afterwards. Gonzalo accepted his destiny and proved that he was a courageous, intelligent and skilled man. He tought the Mayans several military strategies, and this is how Gonzalo gained little by little their respect. He was gifted to one of the most important lords amongst the Mayans villages, Nacom Balam. It’s said that one day, when they were crossing a river, a fierce animal attacked Nacom Balam. Instead of scape, Gonzalo Guerrero fighted the animal and saved Nacom’s life. Awed by this scene, Nacom freed Gonzalo. Rapidly, Guerrero assumed the Mayan traditionss, allowing to be tattooed, pierced and even wearing clothes according to his military and social range. He got married to a Mayan princess and later on, he fathered 3 children. Gonzalo became an appreciated and respected member withing the Mayan community.
On the other hand, Jerónimo de Aguilar remained reluctant. He never left his Spanish coulture apart, and continued to profess the Christian religion. It wouldn’t take too long for him to be rescued by Hernan Cortes. In 1519, when Hernan Cortes arrived in The Peninsula of Yucatan, he first learned about the existence of Jerónimo and Gonzalo, and immediately offered them to help them to get out of there as soon as possible. Jerónimo accepted right away, and accompanied Cortes in his journey to Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire, acting as interpreter.
Nevertheless, Gonzalo decided to stay with his family and refused to join Hernan Cortés. Gonzalo wasn’t Spanish anymore, he was Mayan. After the Spanish conquest in 1521, Gonzalo continued to leader many military campaigns against the Spanish conquerors. Unfortunately, he would die in 1532 fighting the Spaniards : “The naked and tattooed body of a Spaniard was found dead within Çiçumba's town of Ticamaya after the battle”, he’d be 66 at the time of his death.
Gonzalo Guerrero remains, to me, as one of those stories that with the pass of the time, they disappear little by little from the collective memory. I would like to remember Gonzalo like the man that chose his heart over the reason.
