There are a number of reasons the Nahua might have omitted Christianity from their section of the Florentine Codex. Among these reasons a few stand out and merit further exploration. The Nahua narrative may have been closer to the truth than Cortes' account; he may have overplayed the Christian side of the conquest to make it appear more humane. Perhaps Sahagun initially censored sections about Christianity. On the other hand, the Nahua may not have seen it as a main factor in the conquest.
Many places in Book XII the Nahua refer to instances where Cortes is very cruel to the natives. This is in sharp contrast to a more peaceful conversion that he described at times. The Nahua writes use a very flowery writing style to convey their ideas. Often when translated to Spanish these passages are made short, crisp and much less brutal. One example raised in a paper by Kevin Terraciano on pg. 61 occurs when the codex describes how the Spanish sacked a Calacoyan. The Nahua say, “They started killing and stabbing people. They did not give notice to the people of Calacoyan; unexpectedly they were killed. The Spaniards took out their rage on them, vented their wrath on them when they had done the killing.1” When translated to Spanish this passage reads “They destroyed that whole settlement.2” This passage shows how significant the changes into Spanish could be. In another section, the Nahua describe the Spanish reaction to gold as animal like. How they grabbed at it like monkeys, as if they were starved. The Spanish twisted this to say that the natives observed the Spanish “rejoicing over the gold, which they held in high esteem.3” Another much more pro-Spanish interpretation of the Nahua text. Patterns such as this support the idea that t...
... middle of paper ...
...sualty counts, however I think some of this has to be due to the significance the artists put on showing the suffering of the Nahua. Alternatively, we can see that we fail to understand the complex nuances of Nahuatl even today. For example the meaning of teotl is not fully understood. When used to refer to Cortes and the conquistadors it has generally been taken to mean “god.” Many books show this by saying that the Aztecs viewed the Spaniards as gods. However, more recent scholarship has shown the meaning of teotl to be more abstract. Its connotations reach to more abstract ideas such as “beyond the ordinary8” or “fine, fancy, large, powerful and so on.9” It seems likely that the Spanish took teotl to be the analogue of dios, which strictly means god, in the Judaeo-Christian sense. While was not an inaccurate use of the word, it is not the only way it could be used.
Through the entire article, de las Casas discusses how great the Indians of the New World are. In paragraph 2 he states: "And all the infinite universe of humanity, these people are the most guileless, the most devoid of wickedness and duplicity, the most obedient and faithful to their native masters and to the Spanish Christians whom they serve. They are by nature the most humble, patient, and peaceable, holding no grudges, free from embroilments, neither excitable nor quarrelsome. These people are the most devoid of rancors, hatreds, or desire for vengeance of any people in the world. And because they are so weak and complaisant, they are less able to endure heavy labor and soon die of no matter what malady. The sons of nobles among us, brought up in the enjoyments of life 's refinements, are no more delicate than are these Indians, even those among them who are of the lowest rank of laborers.” They are also poor people, for they not only possess little but have no desire to possess worldly goods. For this reason they are not arrogant, embittered, or
The downfall of the Aztec Empire was a major building block of the Spanish colonial empire in the Americas. Spain’s empire would stretch all the way into North America from the Southwest United States all the way up the Pacific Coast. The unfortunate side effect of this was the elimination of many nations of indigenous people. The three major themes shown in this conquest really give deeper look into the anatomy of this important historical event. Without context on the extent of native assistance given to Cortez in his fight with the Aztecs, a reader would be grossly uniformed. The Spanish conquest was closer to a civil war than an actual conquest. Until reading detailed personal accounts of the fighting it is difficult to judge the deadly effectiveness of the Spaniards technological superiority. Without it is difficult to imagine 500 conquistadors holding thousands of native warriors at bay. Once the greed of Cortez and greed in general of the Europeans one understands that if it wasn’t Cortez if would have just been a different man at a different time. Unfortunately fame and prosperity seem to always win over cares about fellow human beings
The perspective of another society is always subjective, especially when two completely different cultures interact for the first time. In Bernal Diaz del Castillo’s The History of the Conquest of New Spain, the first hand account illustrates a barbaric and pagan society where sacrifices are pervasive in everyday life. However, David Carrasco’s essays titled “The Exaggeration of Human Sacrifice” and “Human Sacrifice / Debt Payments from the Aztec Point of View” shed a significant amount of insight into the religious roles that human sacrifice played in Aztec society rather than the cruel and barbaric connotations which Díaz heavily implied. Based on the readings of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Carrasco’s essays offered an outside perspective
Schwartz, Stuart B. Victors and Vanquished: Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000.
The Spanish began their movement to Southwest America in the late sixteenth century. From that point on, their influence both on the Native Americans and the environment was extraordinaire. The goal of the Spaniards with regards to the Native Americans was to transform them “into tax-paying Christians.” This is in contrast to the idea that their goal was to eradicate the Indians form the Americas. Consequently, the Spaniards took many Indians so that they may plant their religion in the Natives and to use them as cheap labor. This led many Indians to learn the customs and language of the Spaniards so they could to be able to thrive in the Spanish culture. Thus, some Natives acquired Spanish, which was the main source of their Hispanicization; this was the notion of Indians becoming encompassed by the Spanish society. Furthermore, Indians gradually learned skills, obtained land, and sometimes found Hispanic spouses, thus furthering their Hispanicization. They now began to live in a Spanish manner and blend into the bottom of the Spanish societal ladder. This “acculturation” of the Native Americans was in contrast to the models of early English colonization. Spanish goals and plans sought to involve the Indians so that they may live in their society even if at the lower end of it’s ladder. English colonies viewed the Natives as savages and looked to them for slave labor or to rape their women. They did not plan to take the Indians into their society as the Spaniards did so throughout this era.
Myths are "hangups from way back":[1] false or highly inaccurate beliefs that are taken at face value. One collection of myths which has exercised a powerful grip on the minds of many, and contributed to feelings of inferiority on the part of large numbers of "pure" or "mixed" descendants of Native Americans in the region of northern Mesoamerica,2 has to do with the conquest of the "Aztec Empire" by HernanCortes and his followers in the early sixteenth century. This paper attempts to shatter one of these myths; namely, that Cortes was an extraordinarily brave and intelligent individual who accomplished an almost miraculous feat. It will do so by making use of the twin concepts of virtu and fortuna.
It is amazing how two people can witness the same event and come away with two distinctively different interpretations of said event. However, the letter from Cortes and the Florentine Codex do exactly this. They both describe the same event, but from different perspectives. Hernan Cortes was a Spanish Conquistador who caused the fall of the Aztec Empire by conquering Tenochtitlan which is now known as the present day Mexico City. He took their leader, Moctezuma, captive that led to a massive riot which ended with a lot of death. Although, the Florentine Codex covers the same event, it has a totally different tone and view of things. While both the letter from Cortes and the Florentine codex discuss the same incident, no one see’s everything
The arguments presented by Las Casas is in defense of the natives stating that if he can convince the king of the wrongful doings of the Spaniards that they would pay for what they've done. The doings of the Spaniards was a shock to Las Casas making him want to spend as long as he could defending them. In the great kingdom and provinces of Peru, Las Casas states "the way the Spanish have behaved has been an offence to God and a disservice to the Crown; the Treasury has been defrauded and, in my opinion, it will be long and a costly business to recover for the Crown this territory which could easily have provided sufficient food to support the entire population of Spain." Just a short example of how Las Casas feels about how the natives are being treated and how he feels about the land bei...
The fear the Spanish unleashed to the Natives was immense. The armor the Spaniard’s whore terrified everyone who saw them. The loud clamor they made as they marched also installed fear into the Natives heads.
The source discusses many of the same events that The Broken Spears does, however they are more polished and detailed. The more detailed nature of the text itself can be attributed to the fact that The Conquest of New Spain most certainly contained less errors in translation when compared to The Broken Spears. The document was originally written in Spanish, whereas The Broken Spears contains a compilation of documents translated from the Aztec’s native Nahuatl. Another factor to consider when looking at The Conquest of New Spain as a source is the fact that Bernal Diaz himself was a solider under Cortes’ command. His account is perhaps one of the most accurate due to the fact that he was actually present during all of the events he describes in his account. It is also extremely important when looking at this document through the lens of history to consider the differences in faith between the Aztecs and the Spaniards. Diaz and his fellow soldiers were Christian and many of the abnormalities that he attributes to Aztec life, such as human sacrifice, choice of clothing, and their temples, are related to their native religious traditions and were extremely foreign to him. Another interesting aspect of The Conquest of New Spain to highlight is Diaz’ status as a soldier under Cortes’ command. Diaz often depicts Cortes as less of a heroic figure, which is often how Cortes describes himself. In one particular passage Diaz describes Cortes as “…very frightened,” when he sees how numerous the Aztec forces are in their canoes. He goes on to say that Cortes, “…stationed himself in the lake, so that if he his men hard pressed he could sail out freely and hurry to any place he chose.” These types of descriptions of Cortes by Diaz aim to attribute his feats to those of his
The author argues that the Spanish were completely at fault for the total destruction of the Aztec Empire. In Broken spears, the author explains how many factors other than Spanish power contributed to the downfall of the Aztecs. Not only did the Spanish have many advantages over the Aztecs, but also they also exploited them and took advantage of the cultural difference. The main key aspects to the Spanish victory, is that the Spanish were viewed as gods at first because of their appearance, the Aztecs welcomed the Spanish with gifts and festivities, which showed the Spanish had total control of people. The Aztecs also held a ritual ceremony for the arrival of the “god” that included a human sacrifice, which was seen by the Spanish as a disgusting act, this trigged Spanish hatred for the Aztecs. When the Spanish saw the resources that the Aztecs had, they quickly started taking advantage of the Aztecs weaknesses. The Spanish had more power; they were better equipped than the Aztecs and more advanced. The Aztecs’ leader Montecuhzoma was a weak leader, he was more of a coward, more concerned with his well being and safety than the safety of his people and kingdom so he quickly surrendered under pressure. The Spanish used surrounding enemy tribes to take over the Aztec lands, then began to massacre men, women and children. When the Aztec became angry and started to fight back, they were quickly wrecked by the diseases the Spanish ...
“They attacked the towns and spared neither the children nor the aged nor pregnant women nor childbed, not only stabbing them and dismembering them but cutting them into pieces…” (40) Continuous killings became a game to the Spanish, as if they would see who could kill the most natives with the slice of one sword. These men showed no grace or mercy. Yes, the natives had already been exposed to cold hearted killing, because of their own chiefs, but never had these happenings occurred to their supreme authorities as well. This behavior was only used for subjects that deserved it, such as prisoners, but never the innocent or potentially harmless. Without factual evidence or motive, the Christian men would do these radical acts of terror. If the natives were not put to death by inhumane torture, they were put to work countless hours of hard labor, until their demise, searching for pearls. Pearl fishing was one of the hardest labors because these individuals had to be submerged into the water for an extended period of time, with no breathing breaks. To demonstrate, “…if the pearl diver show[ed] of wanting to rest, he is showered with blows, his hair pulled, and he is thrown back into the water, obligated to continue the hard work…” (42) Most men that dived into the water would not reach the opportunity of one last breath; the waters were inhabited by sharks that could swallow a man in one gulp. No matter what these people were put through, death would always be the final
Victors and Vanquished by Stuart Schwartz attempts to explore differing perspectives of the conquest of Mexico as the historical narratives are from both the outlook of the Spanish conquistadors as well as the Nahua peoples. In these primary sources, there was a fundamental focus on the encounters between the Spaniards and the Mexica. The first source is an excerpt from The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a Spanish conquistador, who participated as a foot solider in the conquest of Mexico with Hernán Cortés. Although Díaz del Castillo was a witness of the conquest, he wrote his account of what he had witnessed decades after the Spanish victory, in 1521. In his account, Díaz del Castillo concentrated on the ways in which the Spanish viewed the Nahua peoples. The second source is taken from the Florentine Codex and is one which was collected twenty
Las Casas emphasizes on three main issues throughout his account. First, in almost each chapter, Las Casas writes about the luscious qualities of the land and the different indigenous peoples that inhabit them. Second, he explains and describes in detail how the natives were rapidly being massacred by the invading Christian Europeans. Finally, Las Casas discusses how God had brought justice to the Europeans for their diabolical acts upon the natives. Las Casas, a former slave owner himself, realized that those whom he previously enslaved were just as much human and capable of learning and practicing the Christian faith as he was. As a bishop, he realized he could do little for the Natives except document his experiences (in as much detail as possible) and hope that the royal administration would have sympathy for the Natives and establish laws to protect them from the Europeans.
Cabeza de Vaca, like many other Spaniards, wanted to seek fortune in the new world, but things did not go as planned, and he eventually lost everything. Although he came to conquer in the name of Spain, he ended up living amongst the Native Americans in need for survival and became very close to them. Although originally the Spaniards were very narrow minded and believed the Indians were uncivilized and barbaric, Cabeza de Vaca shortly found out that they were not uncivilized, but quite the opposite. He saw that they were just as human as the Spaniards were and were no less than they were. His perception of humanity altered as a result of living with “the others.”