La Malinche

La Malinche begins interpreting for Hernán Cortés during the Spanish conquest of
Mexico. The young Aztec woman who would become translator and guide for the
Spaniards learned a number of native languages after being sold into slavery
following the death of her father. Her nearly decade-long role as an interpreter is
referenced bitterly in popular culture, where she is commonly portrayed as a
traitor with a lust for sex and riches. This enduring reputation underscores the
complex nature of working as a liaison between opposing groups with conflicting
goals.

As an enslaved girl, Malitzen had no control over the work she was forced to do.
She labored in the homes of those who owned her, cooking, cleaning, and performing
any other domestic tasks she was assigned. She may have been rented to men as a sex
slave. Malitzen was sold a few times during the early years of her enslavement, and
traveled around the Yucatan Peninsula. During her travels, she became fluent in
both Yucatec and Nahuatl, the languages of the Mayan and Aztec people.
In 1519, Malitzen’s life was forever changed by the arrival of Spanish conquistador
Hernán Cortés. When he arrived at the city of Pontonchan, the city leaders gave him
twenty enslaved women as a peace offering. Malitzen was one of the women given to
Cortés. The women were baptized by Catholic priests who traveled with Cortés, and
each was given the European name Marina. Cortés gave Malitzen to one of the
noblemen who served under him.
Cortés had come to the area with the intention of conquering the Aztec Empire. It
was not long before he realized that Malitzen was fluent in the two major languages
of the Yucatan Peninsula, and took her back as his personal slave. He needed her
language skills to speak with the various Native leaders he would encounter during
his conquest. At first, Malitzen was paired with a Spanish priest who could speak
Yucatec, but she quickly learned Spanish so she could serve as Cortés’s only
interpreter.
During Cortés’s conquest of the Aztec Empire, Malitzen served at his right hand. In
recognition of her position within Cortés’s forces, his followers began to address
her with the title Doña, an honorific meaning “lady” that was not usually used for
enslaved women. It was at this time that the Aztec community began calling her
Malitzen, a combination of her birth name with a Nahuatl honorific. She was so
important in negotiations between the two groups that “Malitzen” became the word
used to refer to Cortés as well. Montezuma, the ruler of the Aztecs, addressed all
of his official correspondence with the Spanish to her. She appears in every
illustration of Cortés meeting with Native leaders and nobility, and is sometimes
even shown negotiating with leaders on her own. With Malitzen’s help and guidance,
Cortés was able to make alliances with tribes who were tired of Aztec rule. She
uncovered plots to betray the Spanish, giving Cortés time to stop them before their
enemies did any serious damage. She participated in all of the major events of the
Spanish conquest of Mexico, through the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521. Her work was
so vital that Cortés himself once remarked to a comrade that, next to God, Malitzen
was the most important factor in his success.
And yet, Malitzen’s rise came at a high cost to the Native people of Mexico. With
her help, Cortés was able to kill the Aztec leader and end the rule of the Aztec
Empire, ushering in a new era of Spanish domination. Some view her as a woman who
single-handedly brought about the doom of her people to advance her own interests.
In modern Mexican culture, her nickname, La Malinche, has become synonymous with
deceit and betrayal. But this interpretation of Malitzen’s actions ignores one key
fact: throughout the conquest, no matter how much power she seemed to wield,
Malitzen was a slave. She had to serve the interests of her master, or risk death
at his hands. She may also have had very little affection for the society that had
allowed her to be enslaved and ruthlessly exploited when she was still a child. It
is impossible to know for certain what Malitzen’s motivations were, because she
left no written record. But when considering her story, it is important to keep all
of the circumstances of her life in mind.
After the conquest of the Aztec Empire was complete, Malitzen continued to live
with Cortés as his slave and interpreter. She bore him a son, Martin, in 1522. It
is impossible to know whether this was something she wanted or whether it was
forced upon her.

In 1524, Malitzen travelled with Cortés to the area of modern-day Honduras, where
she again served as his interpreter while he tried to suppress a rebellion. In the
same year, Malitzen married Juan Jaramillo, one of Cortés’s captains. The marriage
elevated Malitzen to the status of a free Spanish noblewoman, with all the rights
and privileges of that class. Cortés arranged the marriage, and it is probable that
he did so to get Malitzen out of his household before his wife arrived in the
colony. So even though her marriage meant a major improvement of status for
Malitzen, it was still an instance where her life course was altered to suit the
needs of others.
Malitzen bore a daughter, Maria, for Juan Jaramillo in 1526. Her marriage meant
that both of her children became part of the Spanish nobility in Mexico and back in
Spain. Their prominence as members of the new mixed-race generation earned Malitzen
a new honorific: “mother of the mestizo race.”
Malitzen died in 1529 during a smallpox outbreak. Though she was only about 29
years old, in her short life she acted as one of the most important figures of the
Spanish conquest of Mexico, and she left the world a wealthy, free woman.
Historians still debate how her life should be interpreted, but there is no doubt
that her actions changed the course of Mexican history.