X44 has a lot of slogans that we are reclaiming. For instance, “into the storm” has been borrowed by some with far-right political agenda’s but was first coined as a phrase in the first century of complete discipleship. We have an article on this. Another slogan we are taking back is “BURN THE SHIPS.”

Most people recognize the phrase “burn the ships” to be associated with Cortes, the great Spanish explorer who destroyed his entire fleet upon reaching the destination of his “mission”. Landing at present-day Veracruz, Mexico in 1519, he destroyed his ships so that when the going got rough his men would have no means of retreat. It was do or die trying. No going back, only pressing on. It was an act of total devotion to the mission they believed God had called them to.

There are likely a few things about this story that may surprise you. You might have guessed, that like so many Middle Ages pursuits of the day, part of the reason why this story is described as a “mission” was based on the need to evangelize the lost. Whether you’re describing the crusades, or likely any endeavor tied into governmental acquisition it was often done in the name of the Lord, right or wrong. In this sense, Cortes was thought to be on a mission from God. You might also be surprised to know that despite the well-known phrase “burn the ships” which has long been associated with Cortes, He didn’t actually burn the ships, he just “scuttled” or dismantled them beyond use. So why do we say he “burned the ships?” This phrase and action was actually pretty common to his day. It was often ordered and taken figuratively as an “ALL IN” or no turning back statement.

Agathocles of Syracuse in 310 BC, Emperor Julian in 363, William of Normandy in 1066 are likely better examples of people that actually “burned the ships” in the same regard (there are many others who did this, see the list below). Regardless, the idea started, or should have started and came to fruition anyway, with Israel and the Exodus. Not so much with “ships” but the idea of no turning back. It’s a great message and an attitude for which every Christian should strive to emulate. Christ calls us and calls us fully. complete discipleship means we are to die (or live in humble self-sacrifice) to everything else and live fully for the one who has given Himself for us through the giving of His life and asks us to live in the same way.

Some Historians question the motives of Cortes. Was he a man of God and all in for the kingdom? I believe so. I would actually say, perhaps more so than most of us are today. As you consider what it means to be “all in” for discipleship, consider the story of Cortes a bit more closely and what it really meant to “burn the ships.” Would you leave everything in the name of discipleship? Many of us say we will but not nearly to this extent.

Cortés made a special request in his letters to the emperor for special powers to be granted for evangelization and discipleship of his crew. He sought the powers for the Franciscans because his people and the natives were “so far from the proper remedies of our consciences,” but he feared the damage normal clerics may cause. ^[1] Cortés is shown in the writings of Díaz del Castillo, who was with him on the conquest, to have regularly and publicly given speeches and thanks to God to encourage the conversion. One such example is recounted in thorough detail in the Historia Verdadera, Vol. 2, Chapter 77, where Cortés is personally attempting to convert the Tlaxcalans. He is recounted as explaining the mission of the Spaniards to convert the natives and end human sacrifice. He also showed deference to the priest, Father de la Merced, which enabled the Spanish to obtain from the Tlaxcalans a newly constructed temple for Our Lord.^[2]

The spiritual aspect of Cortés’s conquest was far more important than the terrestrial aspect. The gods of the Aztec peoples along with those in the remainder of Mexico demanded cruel and regular sacrifices. The Aztecs diligently provided them in cooperation and in conflict with their neighbors, and they have stood out as one of the most brutal empires in the history of the world. Thousands were offered up to the gods every year, including women and children. Sounds a bit like abortion in the US.

The conversion of the New World started with the order from Cortés to scuttle his ships and take over the nation. His passion for the conversion to Christ led Bartolomé de Las Casas, a Dominican friar, to write: “Through this captain, God opened the door for us to preach his holy gospel, and it was he who caused the Indians to revere the holy sacraments and respect the ministers of the church.”^[3]

The term “burn the ships” adopted by Cortés reminds us that the Jesus’ challenge is to commitment for life. There is no turning back. God calls His disciples to be “all in.”

^[1] Cortés, Hernán. Hernán Cortés: Letters from Mexico. Translated and edited by Anthony   R. Pagden. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1971. Letter IV. Page 333.

^[2] https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/teaching-resources-for-historians/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/the-history-of-the-americas/the-conquest-of-mexico/historia-verdadera/spaniards-attempt-to-convert-tlaxcalans

^[3] Isaac, Barry L. “The Aztec ‘Flowery War’: A Geopolitical Explanation.” Journal of Anthropological Research 39.4 (1983): 415–432. Web.

RECOMENDED READING:

Winston A. Reynolds, “The Burning Ships of Hernán Cortés,” Hispania, Vol. 42 (1959)

Hugh Thomas, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortez, and the Fall of Old Mexico (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993)

(1) One account of the Danaan invasion of Ireland has it that upon landing, they burned their ships, causing a great mist to rise up and terrifying the inhabitants who thought the Danaans arrived in a cloud.

(2) In Book V of the Aeneid, the Trojan women attempt to burn the ships after they arrive on Sicily, but a rainstorm thwarts their plans.

(3) In 351 BC, Sidon rebelled against Ochus, the King of Persia. They burned all the ships in the harbor to prevent anyone from fleeing. When it became clear that the city had been betrayed and the Persians were entering, they set fire to their own homes and the entire city was obliterated.

(4) In 296, the Praetorian Prefect, Asclepiodotus, commanded an army belonging to the emperor Constantius Chlorus, and led it against the usurper Allectus. Having arrived in Britain to confront Allectus, Asclepiodotus burned his own ships to prevent his men from retreating.

(5) In 363, Julian the Apostate, Emperor of Rome invaded Persia. After his army crossed the Tigris he had all the pontoons and barges burned so there would be no thought of going back.

(6) In 711, Tariq ibn Ziyad, for whom Gibraltar is named, landed there, burned his ships and embarked on the conquest of Spain.

(7) Some accounts claim that William the Duke of Normandy burnt his ships on arriving in England in 1066.

(8) In 1169, a group of about 250 English freebooters under the bastards Robert Fitz-Stephen, Meiler Fitz-Henry, and Meiler Fitz-David, along with a vassal of king Henry, named Hervey Montmorency, raided Wexford, and having been repulsed they were so ashamed, they burnt their ships and determined to succeed or die trying.

(9) Hernando Cortez supposedly burned his ships in 1519 to prevent anyone returning to Cuba and reporting his mutiny to the Spanish governor there, but most historians would dispute this.

(10) According to a book published in 1689, which purported to be the journal of a pirate named Raveneau de Lussan, he at one point led his men across the isthmus of the Americas through Honduras after first burning their ship to prevent anyone from defecting.

(11) In 1779, during the celebrated battle between John Paul Jones and the English ship of the line, Serapis, rather than flee or surrender Jones desparately kamikazeed his sinking ship into the Serapis and captured it va banque.

(12) In 1789, sailors serving on the HMS Bounty under the notorious Captain Bly mutinied and sailed to Pitcairn Island where they burned the Bounty.