Cody Mackay 04/1/2014 History since 1500 The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico

For my DAE I decided to read the The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, written by Miguel Leon-Portilla. This document was written in the early 1960s, in the Boston Massachusetts area. This document suggests a whole other side to the war between the Spanish and the Aztecs. This account comes from the Aztec side which brings up the fact that the Spanish full on attacked them unarmed and slaughtered the Aztecs for no reason whatsoever. It also suggests that the Spanish had no desire to make peace at all.

When Hernan Cortes set out from Cuba in 1519, and landed in Mexico he had pretty much one thing on his mind, Riches. He then proceeded to make his way to the Aztec capital, Mexico. Cortes was led by a local resident; La Malinche was also the translator for Cortes. Cortes was brought to a village close to the coast where he was showered with fine gifts made of gold and silver. He told the villagers that he had a sickness that could only be cured by more Riches. He finally was brought to Mexico, the Aztec capital. Once there he was brought before Motecuhzoma (Montezuma ) the king/leader of the Aztec people. Upon the arrival of Cortes Montezuma greeted him with an energetic greeting. He then placed necklaces on Cortes and his men. Montezuma stood and bowed very low and said Our lord, you are weary. The journey has tired you, but now you have arrived on the earth. You

Pg2 have come to your city, Mexico. You have come here to sit on your throne, to sit under its canopy. Cortes replied through his translator La Malinche "Tell Motecuhzoma that we are his friends. There is nothing to fear. We have wanted to see him for a long time, and now we have seen his face and heard his words. Tell him that we love him well and that our hearts are contented." Then he said to Motecuhzoma: "We have come to your house in Mexico as friends. There is nothing to fear." Montezuma was treating Cortes and his men like they were gods that had come to claim their throne. In a way they had. Montezuma probably had no idea what Cortess intentions were and to why he was even there. He was soon to find out very quickly the answer to those very thoughts.

The Aztec people asked Montezuma what they should do for the fiesta(party/banquet) for Cortes and his men, or their gods fiesta. This fiesta is planned to be a multiple day celebration of the return of their god. He said: "Dress him in all his finery, in all his sacred ornaments." During this same time is when the Spaniards started becoming violent with the Aztecs. The hung the chief from Acolhuacan named Nezahualquentzin. They also murdered the king of Nauhtla, Cohualpopocatzin, by wounding him with arrows and then burning him alive. This was on the first day of the fiesta on the second the people began singing and were all put to death. The Spaniards first started with the musicians hacking at their bodies with their swords. They then attacked everyone else in the room, the slaughter lasting a few hours. They then stormed through the temple killing at will. All of the people that the Spaniards were killing were all unarmed and most were simple peasants that were just doing their jobs. Some of these jobs included bringing water and fodder for the horses. Some were making food as offerings for the gods. They were all ultimately put to death at the hands of the Spanish. Montezuma came

bursting in saying "Our lords, that is enough! What are you doing? These people are not Pg3 carrying shields or macanas. Our lords, they are completely unarmed!" this effectively ended the slaughter. Cortes then went back to the coast to his ship with many riches. This trip took twenty days. When he returned to Mexico he was greeted the same as before. The very next day his host became his enemy by attacking him to avenge what the spanish had done twenty days earlier. And thus the war began between the Aztecs and the Spanish. The Aztecs ultimately end up losing the war and become exterminated due to disease and the Spaniards superior training and weapons of war. This bringing up the reason for the war, the Spanish wanted riches in which the Aztecs happened to have. If Montezuma had decided to crush Cortes at first sight of him instead of trying the peaceful approach the Aztecs could still be alive and well today. Which brings us to the idea of the shield of Achilles. Many scholars think that the image depicted on Achille ss shield in Homers epic the Iliad is a way to avoid war. Some think that the meaning is to fight to end all fights. I completely agree with that, because if you have a problem and get rid of it for good that means that you wont have that problem anymore. So in ending Montezuma had no idea what Cortess intentions were and I am sure that he had no intention in going to war and to the end of his people. If Montezuma had only crushed Cortes at the very beginning instead of the Peaceful way they could have avoided the fall of the Aztec empire at that time.

Works Cited

Leon-Portilla, Miguel. "The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico." Fordham University. Boston: Beacon Press,, 01 Aug. 1997. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.