The book by Carles Camp, titled La Conquesta Catalana de Mèxic and published by Librooks, focuses on the decisive naval battle for the capital of the Mexican Empire, ancient Tenochtitlan, which was located in the middle of a large freshwater lake.
According to official accounts, Hernán Cortés used brigantines to besiege the city by water. However, Camp argues that it was logistically impossible to manufacture and transport unpitched sea vessels to the lake, even after conducting wood tests in the allied city of Tlaxcala.
“"Los maestros de los bergantines mandaron llevar en la delantera la ligación de ellos y que la tablazón se quedase atrás, por que era cosa de mas embarazo si alguno le acaeciese."
Based on the reading of Cortés's third letter from 1525, Carles Camp deduces that what was transported were crossbeams and ropes to build solid rafts, suitable for lake navigation. These rafts would have been guided by men from the Pyrenees with great experience in inland waters.
This hypothesis reinforces other historical links between the High Pyrenees and Mexico, such as the marriage of a daughter of Emperor Mocteuczoma to a member of the Grau family, from Toloriu, in Alt Urgell.
