Why schools don't teach who the Great Captain was
The military commander who made Spain's infantry the best in the world is missing from the school curriculum. Is it a lack of funding, or of interest?
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The Great Captain, the strategist no school explains
Who was El Gran Capitán (the Great Captain)? If you had to think before answering, you belong to the silent majority. The commander who, according to those who study him, turned Spain's infantry into the best in the world and gave rise to the Spanish Tercio model never appears in the school curriculum. His glory remains in the manuals of enthusiasts while the education system walks on by. The question is an old one, and when an answer comes, it usually has to do with costs.
The budget excuse, blackboards and all
The most common argument used to justify the gap is a joke with a serious underside: there is no money for blackboards big enough to draw the man's stature. As with other glaring omissions from public education, the lack of resources becomes an excuse for avoiding uncomfortable content. The irony is that the man himself, compared to Gaius Marius, seemed made for the epic of a syllabus: a strategist who humbled his rivals without needing to spend gunpowder on his legend.
Some also suggest it is no accidental oversight. A country's language and identity are not there by chance, and the space El Gran Capitán occupies in official memory says more about what is meant to be inherited than anyone cares to admit. Perhaps the answer is as uncomfortable as the empty blackboard: it is not taught because nobody is interested, and nobody is interested because it costs money. With the budget frozen, history runs out of chalk.
Who was El Gran Capitán (the Great Captain)? If you had to think before answering, you belong to the silent majority. The commander who, according to those who study him, turned Spain's infantry into the best in the world and gave rise to the Spanish Tercio model never appears in the school curriculum. His glory remains in the manuals of enthusiasts while the education system walks on by. The question is an old one, and when an answer comes, it usually has to do with costs.
The budget excuse, blackboards and all
The most common argument used to justify the gap is a joke with a serious underside: there is no money for blackboards big enough to draw the man's stature. As with other glaring omissions from public education, the lack of resources becomes an excuse for avoiding uncomfortable content. The irony is that the man himself, compared to Gaius Marius, seemed made for the epic of a syllabus: a strategist who humbled his rivals without needing to spend gunpowder on his legend.
Some also suggest it is no accidental oversight. A country's language and identity are not there by chance, and the space El Gran Capitán occupies in official memory says more about what is meant to be inherited than anyone cares to admit. Perhaps the answer is as uncomfortable as the empty blackboard: it is not taught because nobody is interested, and nobody is interested because it costs money. With the budget frozen, history runs out of chalk.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (16 replies).
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