The Conquest of Mexico, Part One
Moctezuma II, from Wikipedia In the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, Moctezuma II sat in his bath overlooking his land in thought. He was beginning to notice strange things happening in his growing Kingdom and it had begun to worry him. A few years ago, a column of fire appeared at night and when the Sun rose the next morning, the light was blocked by the smoke and the fire that had rained back down. Since then, seven other omens captured his concern. Various temples had spontaneously caught fire or had been hit by lightning and had been destroyed. A comet had broken through the sky and exploded into three pieces in broad daylight and recently, on a bird's head, he had seen a pattern representing the stars of Mamalhuatztli, which gave him a scary vision. Though he asked his soothsayers what these signs may have meant, nobody knew. Moctezuma, feeling clean but still preoccupied, left his bath and went on with his afternoon.
In Spanish occupied Cuba, the same year as the "column of fire", 1517, Governor Velázquez commissioned a fleet to the Yucatán peninsula. They met the Maya there, who eventually slaughtered most of them. The survivors returned to Cuba in 1518 and told the Governor what they saw. One of these men named Juan de Grijalva said that he had reached the mainland and learned that the area contained lots and lots of gold. Velázquez decided to send another fleet.
Hernán Cortés. From Wikipedia. Hernán Cortés was put under command of the expedition. He was given 600 men and 11 ships to explore the inner region of South America and ready it for colonization. He was not authorized to conquer anything, but Cortés, a legal scholar who had become bored with his job, had different plans. By 1519, his friend and Cuban Governor Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, who was the one who picked him for the voyage in the first place, decided to revoke his commission, on behalf of some personal issues involving some of Velázquez's sisters who Cortés had relations with. Never-the-less Cortés, the stubborn player he was, had invested a considerable amount of his own wealth into this fleet though, so he had his replacement ambushed and killed, then went ahead with the expedition anyways, infuriating Velázquez, who decided to send yet another fleet to find and return Cortés to Cuba.
Like straight outta Compton! AmIRight?
Our stage: The Mexican mainland including the Yucatán peninsula. Notice how Aztec lands completely surround Tlaxcala. From http://geacron.com
The trip was short. As soon as Cortes' fleet landed in the Yucatán, they met up with the native Maya, who also tried to slaughter them, but every time the Spaniards were ambushed, they were able to successfully defeat the Maya forces. In an apparent peace agreement, the Maya gave the Spanish five native women. One of these women, named Malintzin, was a multilingual Maya princess who's royal parents had sold into slavery. She could speak Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, as well as her native Mayan. This would have gave Cortés a translator... but she didn't know Spanish at the time. Lucky for Cortés though, he had previously found Geronimo de Aguilar, who had been previously shipwrecked. He had been on the Yucatan for so long, he had taken a Mayan wife and had learned their language. Through these two, Cortés will be able to communicate with the Aztecs.
There wasn't much gold where they were at, so they soon left. By April, 1519, he had sailed west to the other side on the Yucatan, out of Mayan territory and set up a camp. For legal reasons, he established the camp as a settlement, naming it La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (Veracruz). Before leaving the ships though, they received native visitors on canoes. The conversation between Cortes and these visitors is recorded in what is known as the Florentine Codex:
"They went on the pretext of seeking trade. So they went in disguise, to find out about them... [For] they had the opinion of the time that our Prince Quetzalcoatl had come.
The Spaniards called them, asked them: 'Who are you? From where have you come? Where is your home?'
At that moment they told them, 'We have come from México.
Then they asked, 'If truly you are Mexicas, what is the name of the ruler of México?'
[They replied], 'Our lords, his name is Moctezuma.'"
In case you're asking yourself about "Veracruz"
After exchanging gifts the visitors came back to shore and ran to Tenochtitlan to relay the news back to their king.
Back in Tenochtitlan, Moctezuma began hearing stories of strange bearded men who came from the sea on floating mountains and ride on giant deer. Since this was the year One Reed, Moctezuma began to wonder if this had anything to do with the Quetzalcoatl prophecy or the recent omens. Intrigued or possibly frightened, he orders for surveillance and sends a friendly delegation to greet them.
Back in Vera Cruz, Cortés and the rest of the Spanish begin hearing stories too. From Cortes' first letter to the King of Spain:
"Everyday, before they undertake any work, they burn incense in the said mosques [temples] and sometimes they sacrifice their own persons... they take many boys or girls, and even grown men and women, and in the presence of those idols they open their breasts, while they are alive, and take out the hearts and entrails, and burn the said entrails and hearts before the idols, offering that smoke in sacrifice to them."
Yeah, they were pretty proud of that. - Wikipedia
That's as much detail I will give about their methods of sacrifice. I bring this up only because the Spanish were terrified of this happening to them. To prevent a possible mutiny, Cortés becomes pretty tyrannical. When he heard of a possible mutiny, he hung some of the ringleaders, lashed others and even has his fleet of ships burned to prevent anybody from returning to Cuba, stranding him and his men on the mainland.
The Spaniards are soon greeted by the Aztec representatives bearing gifts. When they arrived, they adorned Cortés with regalia. I guess not trusting the intentions of the Aztecs, Cortés replied by saying "Is this all?", seized them and decided to introduce them to their cannons. From the Florentine Codex:
"Then the Captain ordered that they be tied up; they put irons on their feet and necks. When this was done, they fired the large cannon. One by one they fainted, they fell to the deck; swaying, they lost consciousness. And the Spaniards lifted and raised them and gave them some wine to drink. Then they gave them food, fed them. With this, they recovered their strength and caught their breath."
Cortés then challenged the messengers to a fight, but this was too much for the mere messengers who begged to be released. When they were, the representatives returned to Tenochtitlan and relayed back to Moctezuma what they had seen.
The Spanish, learning of Moctezuma, decided to take 400 of their men with 15 horses and march towards Tenochtitlan, leaving 200 in Vera cruz. Of Their first stop was to a settlement called Cempoala, who gave them a cheerful reception, but while they were there, five Aztec tax collectors arrived and asked for tribute. Cortés decided to take the tax collectors prisoner, but later released them, winning the favor of the Cempoala people, who were called the Totonac. As allies, the Totonac would help the Spanish build Vera cruz.
Moctezuma received word that his greeters had returned. He asked them to meet him at a temple and had some captives sacrificed. After the sacrifices, he spread their blood on the chest of the messengers before allowing them to tell him what they had seen. They told Moctezuma of the Spaniards, their food, and their superiority.
"He was even more frightened when he heard how the cannon exploded on command, sounding like thunder... And when it was fired, something like a ball of stone comes out... shooting sparks and raining fire... and punishes the head even to the brain and causes discomfort... when it struck a tree, it splintered, seeming to vanish, as if someone blew it away... When Moctezuma heard all this, he was filled with terror, as if he were fainting. His heart was sickened; his heart was anguished."
The Aztec King decided to now send a whole slew of magicians, ambassadors and warriors to Cortés with gifts and supplies of food, sacrifices, gold and cloth as a thank you for releasing his tax collectors. He also praised Cortés with adulation, making his belief known that he thought the Spaniards were gods, but also tried to dissuade Cortés from visiting the city. Of course though, once Cortés knew Tenochtitlan had gold, there was no stopping him from coming.
http://lessocialstudies.wikispaces.com
Moctezuma, now probably convinced that Cortes was Quetzalcoatl, figured that as gods, he and his men probably liked sacrificial blood on their food. The Spaniards were disgusted when they were presented with bloody meals and new meals were later prepared. That night, Moctezuma's magicians tried to cast spells on the Spanish, hoping they would soon leave, but nothing worked. They returned to the Capitol and told their King, "We are no match for them". They also told Moctezuma that the Spanish had a Maya women with them and had been asking lots of questions about him. Frightened, he pondered about what to do next. Should he leave, fight, or stay? In the end, he decided to stay and wait it out.
The Spanish marched until he arrived near the city of Tlaxcala, whose people are enemies of the Aztecs. The Tlaxcalans weren't happy to see the Spaniards so they attacked them at first. Violence, violence and more violence happened: Early in September 1519, the Tlaxcalans fought three different battles with Cortés and his men before realizing that the Spaniards could be of use to them in their war with the Aztecs. They then took the Spaniards to their city and after exchanging gifts and having a little chat about Jesus, they made an alliance.
Staying with the Aztec enemy for so long may or may not have prompted Moctezuma to order a trap for the Spaniards. His ambassadors urged Cortés to march to Tenochtitlan through a route that led them through a city called Cholula. Cholula was home of the largest pyramid in the Americas. It's so large that, though the great Egyptian Pyramid in Giza is taller, Cholula's pyramid has a larger footprint.
From http://static.panoramio.com - What is left of Cholula's pyramid. To learn why there is a church up there on top now... keep reading.
With the Totonac and Tlaxcala joining his forces, Cortés and his men began marching west until they made it to Cholula. The Tlaxcalans were asked to stay back as Cortés and his men entered the city. Either out of paranoia or keen judgement that the Cholulans were going to kill and eat them, they gathered all the nobles, priests, and such, asking to meet them at a local courtyard. Believing the Cholulans were going to kill him and his men in their sleep, Cortés cried out "Royal laws command that treason cannot remain unpunished; for your crime, you must die!" They then shot the men in the courtyard, then brought in the Tlaxcalans to slaughter the rest of the town, killing an estimated 3000 people in three hours, and even went as far as to burn some Cholulans alive. They then burned the city to the ground.
After this, with little choice left, Moctezuma invited Cortés and his men to Tenochtitlan. There were two roads there from Cholula and Moctezuma's men advised them to take one route. Cortés took the other. Moctezuma sent out wizards and priests, but they couldn't even meet Cortes, much less cast a spell on him. Even if they did, spells wouldn't work. They returned to tell Moctezuma the news. When he heard it, he was saddened and said:
"What can we do, my strong ones? What can be done here? We are finished! We are at the mercy of our gods! Is there a mountain we can climb? Can we perhaps escape? We are at the mercy of our gods . . . What they want, they will get, what they want will come to be."
They decided to prepare to greet Cortés and his men. Flowers and other decorations began to pop up around the city. Meanwhile, the Spaniards and their native friends continued to Tenochtitlan. Passing between mounts Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl, they decided to investigate Popocatepetl, for it appeared to be a smokey volcano, but with a snow cap in a warm climate. They confirmed what they had seen, but couldn't figure out what caused it. While up there though, Cortés' men set their eyes on the city they had been looking for. It was set on a small island in the middle of a large lake, connected to the mainland by causeways that can be lifted to allow canoes to pass, looking like a paradise getaway, the Spanish must have been astonished.
The meeting of Moctezuma and Hernan Cortes - https://i.ytimg.com
On November 8, 1519, the Spaniards make it to one of the causeways that entered into the city of Tenochtitlan and was greeted by about a thousand fully dressed inhabitants. As Cortés passed each one, they individually greeted them, which took up a lot of time. Once he made it past the cause way, he met Moctezuma. Cortés walked up to salute him, but was stopped by Moctezuma's men, who then performed the same greeting to him. The Aztec King walked up to Cortés and gave him some flowers and necklaces before giving a speech:
"Our lord, you are very welcome in your arrival in this land. You have come to satisfy your curiosity about your noble city of Mexico. You have come here to sit on your throne, to sit under its canopy, which I have kept for awhile for you... I am not just dreaming that I have seen you and have looked at you face to face. I have been worried for a long time, looking toward the unknown from which you have come, the mysterious place. For our rulers departed, saying that you would come to your city and sit upon your throne. And now it has been fulfilled, you have returned. Go enjoy your palace, rest your body. Welcome our lords to this land."
Ok, ok, a more historic perspective on the meeting between the two that was drawn by the Tlaxcalans. - From Wikipedia
They then walked hand in hand as friends to Moctezuma's palace. Once there, he presented Cortés with more gold and talked about the tale of Quetzalcoatl, submitting himself to Cortés. Moctezuma also apparently flashed his naked body to Cortés during this encounter to prove that he was just a man and not a god. In the end, he said this to Cortés:
"It is true I have some things of gold..."
That, being all he needed to know, Cortés probably stopped paying attention to whatever Moctezuma had to say after that, but he did say more...
"It is true I have some things of gold, which my ancestors have left me; all that I have is at your service whenever you wish it. I am now going to my other houses where I reside; you will be here provided with every thing necessary for yourself and your people, and will suffer no embarrassment, as you are in your own house and country."
For the next six days, Cortés and his men rested.
Cortes had only one thing in mind - From http://globe-views.com
Cortés was amazed at the town he had set out to reach, especially their large temples. After walking all the way to the top of their main temple, Cortés decided that he wanted a cross erected, which caused the first bit of awkwardness between the two groups, since he wanted to mess around with their sacred places. The second bit of awkwardness came when Cortés received word that a group of Aztecs had killed seven Spaniards back in Vera cruz. The killers were caught and had fingered Moctezuma before being burned to death. After that, Cortés lured Moctezuma, his family and many nobles back into the palace where he was seized and held prisoner. Residents tried to rebel, but the sound of a cannon changed their minds. The next day, the Spanish had the residents gather supplies; chickens, cooking pots, and water pitchers. Knowing that Moctezuma was still a popular leader, Cortés decided to keep him alive as a puppet ruler, which worked for six tense months.
Despite being held prisoner in his own kingdom, Moctezuma made friends with Cortés. He gave Cortés the fortune left to him by his father, which was estimated at about 42,000 pounds of gold. Score! Cortés took the gold and had them melted down into bars.
"And when they arrived, when they entered the house of treasures, it was like they had arrived in Paradise. They searched everywhere and coveted everything, for, yes, they were dominated by their greed."
Obama is not happy with Cortes
He had learned of the city's three main sources of gold, and had crosses erected at the main temple, which pissed off the Aztec people, who began to see the Spanish gods as the greedy men that they were. Whispers of rebellion began to spread in the city and Aztec priests began to receive messages from their gods, threatening to leave them if they did not drive the Spanish away. When the priests told Moctezuma, he warned Cortés.
In April of 1520 Cortés learned that 18 ships with 1400 men had come looking for Cortés. He knew who they were: they were men sent from Cuba by Governor Velázquez. Instead of waiting for them to come to him though, Cortés decided to go to them. He took his most capable men and native warriors and began to march them east to confront Governor Velázquez's men, leaving a small guard of men in the hands of a handsome red-headed man named Pedro de Alvarado to watch over Moctezuma. That man will start some problems when we return with the second part of this three part story.
Come back for Background History, Part Six, coming December 1, 2015
Sources:
Wikipedia Article - https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/classroom-content/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/the-conquest-of-mexico/florentine-codex
Florentine Codex - https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/classroom-content/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/the-conquest-of-mexico/florentine-codex
Letters from Cortes - https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/classroom-content/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/the-conquest-of-mexico/letters-from-hernan-cortes
TTC Course: Maya to Aztec Ancient Mesoamerica revealed - http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/maya-to-aztec-ancient-mesoamerica-revealed.html
Florentine Codex - https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/classroom-content/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/the-conquest-of-mexico/florentine-codex
Letters from Cortes - https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/classroom-content/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/the-conquest-of-mexico/letters-from-hernan-cortes
TTC Course: Maya to Aztec Ancient Mesoamerica revealed - http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/maya-to-aztec-ancient-mesoamerica-revealed.html
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