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i
ON THE EDGE
OF ETERNITY
The Antiquity of the Earth in
Medieval and Early Modern Europe
z
IVANO DAL PRETE
iv
ISBN 978–0–19–067889–0
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190678890.001.0001
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Note on Terminology xi
Introduction 1
1. Footprints in the Dust: The Eternity of the World in the Middle Ages 15
Conclusion 203
Notes 215
Bibliography 299
Index 343
vi
ix
Acknowledgments
In the long years I spent researching and writing this book, I contracted
many more debts than I will ever be able to repay. I was still a graduate stu-
dent when Luca Ciancio encouraged me to investigate the cracks and
inconsistencies in the conventional narrative of the history of deep time that
I found so perplexing. The Huntington Library and the Italian Academy for
Advanced Studies (Columbia University, New York) generously funded my
early research and allowed me to become better acquainted with far more
learned colleagues like Pamela Smith, Paula Findlen, William Connell,
and Lawrence Principe, whose advice has been invaluable. The unwavering
support I received from Tony Grafton, his patience in amending my naïve
ramblings about Renaissance chronology, and what counts most, his warm
friendship, still humble me. I owe special gratitude to him. Chapter 3 could
not have been written without the Harvard/Villa i Tatti fellowship I spent in
Florence in 2015–16, in the company and with the help of amazing historians
of Renaissance art, literature, and technology. Among others, I am especially
grateful to Holly Flora, Christian Kleinbub, Giulia Torello, Allen James
Grieco, Francesca Borgo, and Pamela Long.
The referees who contributed so much to improving this book remain
anonymous, but I can at least express my gratitude to the scholars who
agreed to read early versions of my articles and chapters. Craig Martin, Philip
Nothaft, Brian Ogilvie, Rita Librandi, Samuel Gilson, and Ronald Numbers
gave me precious feedback. I gained countless insights and new perspectives
from some colleagues who are also deeply engaged in reassessing the
interactions of early modern Earth sciences, religion, and more, such as Lydia
Barnett, J. B. Shank, and Hanna Romain. Mark Brandon of the Department
of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Yale University helped me get a grasp of
Leonardo da Vinci’s geological notes, and Carson Koepke of the Medieval
Studies Department assisted me in deciphering medieval manuscripts that
x
x Acknowledgments
Note on Terminology
Introduction
If one considers the generation of mountains and islands, he
will realize that there was a time when they were made and
concealed by the sea; and that the time will come again,
when what is now covered by the sea will become inhabit-
able, and what is inhabited and cultivated must one day be
hidden by the ocean.
Girolamo Fracastoro, Homocentrica, 1538
On the Edge of Eternity. Ivano Dal Prete, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2022.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190678890.003.0001
2
2 On t he Ed ge of Et ern it y
Introduction 3
many more things on this topic, but this is a subject for philosophers. It is
now time to resume our walk.”1
For the most part, the book in which Saraina described his excursion
among the antiquities of Verona remained relegated to the footnotes of local
historians and antiquarians. The account of his conversation with Fracastoro,
however, lived on as a famous episode in the history of paleontology. For more
than 250 years, Fracastoro has been celebrated as one of the few minds who, in
an age of acritical acceptance of the letter of Genesis, dared to challenge the
religious orthodoxy and contemplate the dangerous idea of an Earth much
older than a few thousand years. Already in 1757, the entry “fossil” in Diderot
and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie remarked that after “centuries of ignorance”
Fracastoro had recognized the origin of fossils from living creatures and “did
not doubt that the sea carried them on the continent.”2 Eighty years later, the
great geologist Charles Lyell lamented that the disregard of Fracastoro’s “clear
and philosophical views” had been a scientific tragedy:
And the talent and argumentative powers of the learned were doomed
for three centuries to be wasted in the discussion of those two simple and
preliminary questions: first, whether fossil remains had ever belonged
to living creatures; and, secondly, whether, if this be admitted, all the
phenomena could be explained by the Noachian deluge. It had been
the consistent belief of the Christian world . . . that the origin of this
planet was not more remote than a few thousand years; and that since
the creation the deluge was the only catastrophe by which considerable
change had been wrought on the Earth’s surface.”3
As the story goes, a deeply Christian society could not accept the ancient Earth
implied by Fracastoro’s theory. Until the secularization of the European cul-
ture began during the Enlightenment, dominant religious beliefs made it im-
possible to conceive—or at least to discuss openly—such a possibility. Given
this premise, the biblical Flood remained the unavoidable Deus ex machina—
quite literally—of the history of the Earth. Philosophers who invoked much
longer timescales, and showed little concern for the creation story of the
Bible, have been portrayed in histories of geology as lonely “precursors” or
even “useless geniuses.” They were the brave but scattered supporters of heter-
odox if not plainly heretical views, whose impact on the culture of their time
remained negligible.4 In his classic The Dark Abyss of Time, Paolo Rossi (1923–
2012) argued that the eighteenth-century discovery of the depth of historical
and geological time was a change as radical “in the position of man” as the far
4
4 On t he Ed ge of Et ern it y
Introduction 5
Around 1540, they were apparently so common as to make their way into
“popular science”: translations, summaries, and compendia written in the
vernacular and intended for the vast public of non-specialists created by the
diffusion of the printing press. The authors of these books seemed to have no
qualms sharing with the unlearned entirely secular theories on the evolution
of the Earth and on its “eternity.” They did so without any qualifications, as if
discussing common-sense notions that were entirely uncontroversial. Instead
of the monolithic orthodoxy deprecated by Lyell, a picture of Renaissance
Europe emerged in which a plurality of views and approaches seemed to be
the accepted social and cultural norm. Fracastoro’s statements—or Leonardo
da Vinci’s geological notes, another example of alleged scientific and religious
heterodoxy—no longer appeared as the surprising and isolated stunts of
geniuses who managed to overcome the intellectual limitations of their time.
[414] ‘And Montezuma believed this to be the great lady whom we claimed for
patroness.’ ‘Todos los soldados que passamos con Cortés, tenemos muy creido.’
Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 74.
[415] ‘Seis soldados juntamente con él.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 73. ‘Nueue
Españoles,’ says Gomara, who assumes that two were previously assassinated by
Quauhpopoca. Hist. Mex., 122, 129.
[416] According to Bernal Diaz, whose version is chiefly adhered to, the death of
so many soldiers caused the Spaniards to fall somewhat in the estimation of the
Indians, who had looked upon them as invulnerable beings. ‘Y que todos los
pueblos de la sierra, y Cempoal, y su sujeto, están alterados, y no les quieren dar
comida, ni servir.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 73-4. But this is probably an
exaggeration, for Cortés would not have ventured to send down a new
comandante almost without escort, or to have remained quietly at Mexico for
months, had his rear been so threatened. Cortés, who should be regarded as the
best authority, gives a curious motive for the campaign. Qualpopoca, as he calls
him, sent a message to Escalante, offering to become a vassal of the Spanish
king. He had not submitted before, fearing to pass through the intervening hostile
country; but if four soldiers were sent to escort him, he would come with them.
Believing this protestation, Escalante sent the four men, two of whom wounded
returned shortly after with the story that Quauhpopoca had sought to kill them, and
had succeeded in despatching their comrades. This led to the expedition of
Escalante. Cartas, 87-8. It appears most unlikely that this officer should have so
far forgotten the prudence ever enjoined on his captains by Cortés, and trusted
only four men in an unknown country, in response to so suspicious a request.
There was beside no need for Quauhpopoca to go to Villa Rica, since his
submission through envoys would be just as binding. If he desired to see the
Spanish fort, he could have gone safely by water, for large canoes were used on
the coast. It is not improbable that the story was made up to justify the expedition
sent against Nautla, since a campaign by a small force, merely on behalf of a
wretched tribe of natives, might have been regarded as unwarranted. This story
was also useful afterward, when Cortés first thought proper to reveal it, for rousing
his men to action. Gomara follows Cortés, with the difference that Pedro de Ircio,
as he wrongly calls the captain at Villa Rica, having orders from Cortés to
anticipate Garay by incorporating Almería, sent an order to Quauhpopoca to
tender his submission. This he agreed to do, provided the four Spaniards were
sent to escort him. Gomara appears to favor the view that Quauhpopoca acted on
his own responsibility, for he says that this chief sent to warn Montezuma of
Cortés’ intention to usurp the empire, and to urge upon him to seize the white
captain. Hist. Mex., 122, 129. Bernal Diaz stamps this account as false. Peter
Martyr, dec. v. cap. iii., assumes that the two Spaniards were slain by robbers, so
that Quauhpopoca was innocent of any misdeed. Tapia’s version is incomplete,
but appears to favor Bernal Diaz. In Duran’s native record, Coatlpopoca appears
as the guide of the Spaniards. He treacherously leads them along a precipice,
over which two horsemen fall with their steeds, and are killed. For this he is tried
and executed. Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 411-13.
[417] He reveals it only after his arrival at Mexico, and thus leads Bernal Diaz to
assume that the news reached him there. In this he is followed by Herrera, dec. ii.
lib. viii. cap. i., and consequently by Torquemada, i. 455.
[418] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 62; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 97; Torquemada, i. 442.
[419] The estimate varies from fourteen days, Herrera, to over twenty days,
Gomara. By assuming that nineteen days were spent at Cholula, the army has a
week in which to reach Mexico, and this is about the time consumed.
[420] Gomara, Hist. Mex., 97. ‘Saliẽdo acompañarle los señores de Chulula, y con
gran marauilla de los Embaxadores Mexicanos.’ Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. iii.
‘Andauamos la barba sobre el ombro,’ says Bernal Diaz, in allusion to the
precautions observed. Hist. Verdad., 63.
[421] Bernal Diaz relates in a confused manner that at Izcalpan the Spaniards
were told of two wide roads beginning beyond the first pass. One, easy and open,
led to Chalco; the other, to Tlalmanalco, had been obstructed with trees to impede
the horses, and so induce the army to take the Chalco route, upon which the
Aztecs lay in ambush, ready to fall upon them. Hist. Verdad., 63. This finds some
support in Sahagun, whose mythic account relates that Montezuma, in his fear of
the advancing forces, had blocked the direct road to Mexico and planted maguey
upon it, so as to direct them to Tezcuco. Hist. Conq., 21. Cortés indicates clearly
enough that the Mexican envoys had at Cholula recommended a route leading
from that city south of Huexotzinco to the usual mountain pass, and used by their
people in order to avoid this inimical territory. Upon it every accommodation had
been prepared for the Spaniards. This road was not only circuitous, but had been
declared by Tlascaltecs and others as hard and perilous, with deep ravines,
spanned by narrow and insecure bridges, and with Aztec armies lying in ambush.
Cortés, Cartas, 76-8; Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 574. Peter Martyr,
dec. v. cap. ii., calls this route shorter and easier, though more dangerous. Certain
remarks by Bernal Diaz indicate that the ambush had been arranged in connection
with the plot at Cholula, and abandoned upon its failure, loc. cit. There could
hardly have been more than one route across the range, through the pass wherein
the Aztecs had erected their station for travellers, and this the Spaniards did
follow. Here also accommodation was prepared for them, and here the embassy
from Montezuma appeared. Hence the obstructions spoken of must have been at
the junction of the Huexotzinca road with the main road from Cholula to the pass,
and intended as an intimation to the Huexotzincas or to the Mexicans not to
trespass. They could have been of no avail against the Spaniards, who were
beside invited to enter on the main road then at hand. These are facts overlooked
by Prescott, Clavigero, and writers generally who have lost themselves in the
vague and confused utterances of the chroniclers, and in seeking to elaborate a
most simple affair. Modern travellers follow the easier and less picturesque route
north of Iztaccihuatl, which skirts Mount Telapon. This was the road recommended
by Ixtlilxochitl, leading through Calpulalpan, where he promised to join him with his
army; but Cortés preferred to trust to his own arms and to his Tlascaltec followers.
Torquemada, i. 442.
[422] ‘Dezian algunos Castellanos, que aquella era la tierra para su buena dicha
prometida, y que mientras mas Moros, mas ganancia.’ Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap.
iii.
[425] Cortés, Cartas, 79. ‘Aun que para los Tamemes hizieron los de Motecçuma
choças de paja ... y aun les tenian mugeres.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 97. ‘Los Indios
hizieron de presto muchas barracas,’ says Herrera, who places this ‘casa de
plazer’ in the plain below. dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. iii. Tapia calls the buildings ‘casas de
paja.’ Relacion, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 578.
[427] Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 577; Cortés, Cartas, 80. Herrera
intimates that an attack on the summit, where the Spaniards were benumbed with
cold, might have succeeded in creating confusion. dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. iii. Unless
the naked Indians had been equally benumbed!
[428] He appealed to the Tlascaltecs by his side, and they declared that they knew
him to be Tzihuacpopoca. Torquemada, i. 446.
[429] A load being at least 50 pounds, the bribe swells to over $5,000,000.
[430] Cortés and Martyr call the envoy a brother of Montezuma. Cartas, 79; dec. v.
cap. ii.; Gomara and Herrera, a relative. Hist. Mex., 98; dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. iii.
According to Bernal Diaz, the bribe is offered by four nobles at Tlalmanalco. Hist.
Verdad., 64. Sahagun, who is the original authority for the story of
‘Tzioacpupuca’s’ attempt to pass himself off for Montezuma, says that Cortés was
highly indignant at the deception, ‘y luego con afrenta enviaron á aquel principal y
á todos los que con él habian venido.’ Hist. Conq., 19; Torquemada, i. 445-6.
[431] Sahagun, Hist. Conq., 20-1; Acosta, Hist. Ind., 519-20; Torquemada, i. 447.
Solis, the ‘penetrating historian,’ repeats and improves upon this as an account
taken from ‘autores fidedignos.’ Hist. Mex., i. 353. And with a similar belief it has
been given a prominent place in West-vnd Ost-Indischer Lustgart, 131. Gaspar
Ens L., the author, was one of the editors of the famous set of De Bry, from which
he like so many others borrowed text, if not engravings. The narrator of several
individual European travels, he also issued the Indiæ Occidentalis Historia,
Coloniæ, 1612. The German version, published at Cöllen in 1618 in a small quarto
form, under the above title, has for its guiding principle the appropriate maxim of
Horace, Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci. The first part, relating to
America in general, is divided into three sections, for physical and natural
geography and Indian customs, followed by discovery, voyages, and conquests,
and concluding with a review of political history, and an appendix on missionary
progress. This arrangement, however, is nominal rather than real, and the
confusion, extending into chapters as well as sections, is increased by the
incomplete and undigested form of the material, enlivened, however, by an
admixture of the quaint and wonderful.
[432] ‘Ya estamos para perdernos ... mexicanos somos, ponernos hemos á lo que
viniese por la honra de la generacion.... Nacidos somos, venga lo que viniere.’
Sahagun, Hist. Conq., 21.
[434] With seven towns and over 25,000 families, says Chimalpain, Hist. Conq.,
115. Herrera states that at the foot of the descent from the range felled trees
obstructed the road, and appearances indicated that an ambush had been
intended. Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. iii.
[435] Cortés, Cartas, 80-1. Bernal Diaz places this occurrence at Tlalmanalco,
where the chiefs jointly offer eight female slaves, two packs of robes, and 150
pesos’ worth of gold. They urge Cortés to remain with them rather than trust
himself within Mexico. This being declined, twenty chiefs go with him to receive
justice from the emperor at his intercession. Hist. Verdad., 63. ‘Se dieron por sus
confederados.’ Sahagun, Hist. Conq. (ed. 1840), 74.
[436] For map of route see, beside those contained in this volume, Carbajal
Espinosa, Hist. Mex., ii. 201, 538, and Alaman, in Prescott’s Hist. Conq. (ed. Mex.
1844), i. 337, 384. The last maps in these books illustrate the later siege
operations round Mexico, and so does Orozco y Berra’s, in Ciudad México,
Noticias, 233. Prescott’s route map, in Mex., i. p. xxxiii., claims to be based on
Humboldt’s, with corrections from the chroniclers.
[437] ‘Mataron dellos hasta veynte.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 98. The chiefs
complained in secret of Montezuma. Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 578.
[438] By touching the ground with the hand and then bearing it to the lips.
[439] Cortés ‘le dió tres piedras, que se llaman margaritas, que tienen dentro de si
muchas pinturas de diuersas colores.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 64. A certain
vagueness in the phrase has led some to translate it as a present of three fine
pearls for Cortés.
[440] ‘No les quedaba sino decir que me defenderian el camino.’ Cortés, Cartas,
81. ‘Dieron a entender que les ofenderiã alla, y aun defenderiã el passo y
entrada.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 98.
[441] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 64. Ixtlilxochitl contradicts himself about the place
of meeting, and makes Cacama invite Cortés to Tezcuco. Hist. Chich., 295; Id.,
Relacion, 411. Torquemada does the same. i. 449.
[442] Native Races, ii. 345-6, 575. Cortés mentions another smaller town in the
lake, without land communication. Cortés, Cartas, 82.
[443] ‘Pariente del rey de México.’ Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., 116. ‘Prince du
quartier de Ticic.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 203.
[444] ‘Cortés, ca yua con determinacion de parar alli, y hazer barcas o fustas ...
con miedo no le rompiessen las calçadas (to Mexico).’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 99.
[446] For an account of the dispute between Cacama and Ixtlilxochitl, see Native
Races, v. 474-7.
[447] Tezcuco was entirely out of Cortés’ route, and the narratives of the march
show that no such detour could have been made. Torquemada, who contradicts
himself about the visit, describes with some detail the reception at this capital,
where the population kneel to adore the Spaniards as children of the sun. They
are entertained at the palace, and discover in one of the courtiers, named
Tecocoltzin, a man of as fair a hue as themselves, who became a great favorite. i.
444. Herrera takes the army from Ayotzinco to Tezcuco and back to Cuitlahuac.
dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. iv. Impressed perhaps by the peculiarity of this detour,
Vetancurt, after repeating the story, expresses a doubt whether the visit was really
made. Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 127-8. But Clavigero brings arguments, based partly
upon vague points in Cortés’ later letters, to prove that it took place. Storia Mess.,
iii. 74. Solis, ‘the discriminating,’ lets Cacama himself guide Cortés from Ayotzinco
to Tezcuco. Hist. Mex., i. 360-1.
[448] ‘Yxtapalapa, que quiere decir Pueblos donde se coge Sal, ó Yxtatl; y aun
hoy tienen este mismo oficio los de Yxtapalapa.’ Lorenzana, in Cortés, Hist. N.
Esp., 56.
[450] Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. ii.; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 99; Cortés, Cartas, 82.
What with the retreating waters and the removal of native lords in whose interest it
lay to preserve the gardens and palaces, her glories are now departed. The
evaporation of the lake waters had been observed before the conquest. After this
it increased rapidly, owing to the thoughtless destruction of forests in the valley, as
Humboldt remarks. In Bernal Diaz’ time already Iztapalapan lay high and dry, with
fields of maize growing where he had seen the busy traffic of canoes. Hist.
Verdad., 65. The fate of the lake region was sealed by the construction of the
Huehuetoca canal, which drained the big lake to a mere shadow of its former self,
leaving far inland the flourishing towns which once lined its shore, and shielding
the waters, as it were, from further persecution by an unsightly barrier of desert
salt marshes—and all to save the capital from the inundations to which blundering
locators had exposed her. Humboldt has in his map of the valley traced the outline
of the lake as it appeared to the conquerors, and although open to criticism it is
interesting. Essai Pol., i. 167, 173-5.
[451] Cortés, Cartas, 82. Bernal Diaz reduces it to 2000 pesos. According to
Sahagun, Cortés summons the lords of the district and tells them of his mission.
The common people keep out of the way, fearing a massacre. Hist. Conq., 21-2.
Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 205-6, assumes from this that many of
the chiefs promised to support Cortés against the government, which is hardly
likely to have been done in a city ruled by Montezuma’s brother, who was at heart
hostile to the Spaniards. Here again, says Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. v.,
Montezuma sought to dissuade Cortés from entering the capital; Torquemada, i.
449. His envoy being Cacama, adds Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 295.
November, 1519.
[454] For ancient and modern names of quarters see Native Races, ii. 563.
[455] Cortés believed that the waters ebbed and flowed, Cartas, 102-3, and Peter
Martyr enlarged on this phenomenon with credulous wonder. dec. v. cap. iii.
[456] For a description of the interior see Native Races, ii. 582-8.
[457] Ramirez and Carbajal Espinosa define the limits pretty closely with respect
to the modern outline of the city, Hist. Mex., ii. 226-9, and notes in Prescott’s Mex.
(ed. Mex. 1845), ii. app. 103; but Alaman, in his Disert., ii. 202, 246, etc., enters at
greater length into the changes which the site has undergone since the conquest,
supporting his conclusions with quotations from the Libro de Cabildo and other
valuable documents.
[458] For further description of streets, buildings, and people, see Native Races,
passim. Also Ramirez, Noticias de Mex., etc., in Monumentos Domin. Esp., MS.
no. 6, 309-50; Dávila, Continuacion de la Crónica, etc., MS., 296; Viagero Univ.,
xxvi. 203-6; Libro de Cabildo, MS., 1, 5, 11, 62, 105, 201-2; Sammlung aller
Reisebesch., xiii. 459-60, 464-67; Las Casas, Hist. Apolog., MS., 17-27; L’America
Settentrionale, 88-207; Mex., Not. Ciudad, 1-8. Venecia la Rica is the name
applied to the city by some of the Spaniards. Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas,
Col. Doc., xiii. 339.
A curious view of Mexico is given in the edition of Cortés’ letters issued at
Nuremberg in 1524, which exhibits six causeway connections with the mainland.
Both in situation, with respect to the surrounding towns, and in the general plan, it
accords very fairly with the descriptions of the conquerors. The temple of
Huitzilopochtli occupies an immense square in the centre of Temixtitan, as the city
is called. Round the south-east corner extend the palace and gardens of the
emperor, other palaces being scattered on the lake, and connected with the
suburbs by short causeways. Less correct in its relative position is the view
presented in the old and curious Libro di Benedetto Bordone, which has been
reproduced in Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, 81, so famous for its cuts, and, of