The Conquest of New Spain Cortés came not to the New World to conquer by force, but by manipulation. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, in the "Conquest of New Spain," describes how Cortés and his soldiers manipulated the Aztec people and their king Montezuma from the time they traveled from Iztapalaopa to the time when Montezuma took Cortés to the top of the great Cue and showed him the whole of Mexico and its countryside, and the three causeways which led into Mexico. Castillo's purpose for recording the mission was to keep an account of the wealth of Montezuma and Mexico, the traditions, and the economic potential that could benefit Cortés' upcoming conquest. However, through these recordings, we are able to see and understand Cortés' strategy in making Mexico "New Spain." He came as a wolf in a sheep's clothing and manipulated Montezuma through his apparent innocence. In the first part of the document, Cortés and his men spend their time at Montezuma's palaces. Seeing the extravagant wealth of the Aztec king, Cortés begins his seduction (all the while knowing that Montezuma believes that he may be the fulfillment of a prophecy). He embraced Montezuma with the greatest reverence and "…told him that now his heart rejoiced at having seen such a great Prince, and that he took it as a great honour that he had come in person to meet him and had frequently shown him such favor" (World History: Castillo, 247). Cortés and his men are brought into the house of Montezuma and all of his riches are now at their disposal to observe and share in. Montezuma tells Cortés: "Malinche you and your brethren are in your own house…" (World History: Castillo, 247). The wealth of Montezuma is magnificent. Each soldier is given tw... ... middle of paper ... ...d." There is great economic potential to be found here. We are left with Castillo symbolically describing the events at the great Cue. Montezuma sent priests to help Cortés ascend the 114 stairs to the top but Cortés would not allow them to even come near him. At the top Montezuma tells Cortés that he and his men must be very tired from ascending the great Cue. Cortés promptly and firmly replies: "…that he and his companions were never tired by anything" (World History: Castillo, 252). This symbolizes and affirms Cortés intentions that we were only able to infer before. Castillo says that they "…stood so high that from it [the temple] one could see over everything very well, and we saw the three causeways which led into Mexico" (World History: Castillo, 252). Cortés is observing the future and destiny that awaits him and the great city of Mexico.
Cortes letter had the sound of someone attempting to explain or justify their actions. This is reasonable since we know that he had disobeyed orders. He wrote, “Having passed six days, then, in the great city of Tenochtitlan, invincible Prince, and having seen something of its marvels, though little in comparison with what there was to be seen and examined, I considered it essential both from my observation of the city and the rest of the land that its ruler should be in my power and no longer entirely free; to the end that he might in nowise change his will and intent to serve your Majesty, more especially as we Spaniards are somewhat intolerable and stiff-necked, and should he get across with us he would be powerful enough to do us great damage, even to blot out all memory of us here in the land; and in the second place, could I once get him in my power all the other provinces subject to him would come more promptly to the knowledge and service of your Majesty, as indeed afterward happened” (Cortes, 1929). Cortes was explaining his reasoning, and attempting to make it appear that he did the right thing. Also, the Florentine Codex’s tone was angry and spiteful. Then again, that is understandable seeing as how they had just lost their home. The codex said, “And the Spaniards walked everywhere; they went everywhere taking to pieces the hiding places, storehouses, storage places. They took all, all that they
... will”, which gives Cortes all the power of the kingdom. Plus, Moctezuma is willing to give all the gold to Cortes without interfer. After all the lecture, Moctezuma take off, Cortes and his soldiers rest. All this was recorded during the presence of the great Moctezuma and the conquistador Hernan cortes, which later on would conquer Aztec’s empire, a thing that Moctezuma was afraid.
Both times he was beaten back to the coast by Maya armies. Shortly after his expeditions, Cortes suffered the same fate during his attempt to penetrate Cozumel and Champoton. In March of 1519, after both men’s failed attempts, Cortes put together a larger expedition with the expectation of being able to set up trade with the Maya. He hoped this would help lead to the establishment of a permanent Spanish settlement. Instead, Cortes was able to defeat small groups of Maya armies during this time. After being defeated, the Maya offered Cortes objects made of gold and told stories great empires that layed further into the mainland. Overcome with ambition and visions of conquest, all focus was moved from the establishment of a permanent settlement to tracking down and finding these
One of the most interesting aspects of Diaz’s narrative is towards the end when Cortés broaches the subject of Christianity with Montezuma. Conversion and missionary work was one of the most important and lasting goals of the conquistadors and other contemporary explorers, they were charged with this duty by the rulers who sent t...
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
In 1510, Montezuma turned his attention to a series of revolts and revolutionary flare-ups in the Aztec territories. These battles only increased the size of the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs also continued their Flower Wars with the Tlaxcatlecans to provide human sacrifices to their god Huitzilopochtli. Around the same time, Montezuma’s oracles passed information that there were strangers in the midst. In fact, his astrologer priests foretold of the coming of Quetzalcóatl, a white bearded god who was believed to eventually reclaim their empire. Reputed claims of Whit...
Cortes was able to conquer the Aztecs for several very different reasons. In combination these reasons allowed him to have the upper hand in the conquest of Mexico. Arguably these reasons can be sorted into six different categories. The various causes for Cortes' success will be assessed in a climax pattern. To begin with the Aztecs had a harsh tribute system that was not popular among the people of Mexico. This cruel tribute system allowed Cortes to act as a liberator. Furthermore, with the Spanish brought several diseases into Mexico in witch they were immune to but the Aztecs were not. The spread of diseases such as small pox reduced the Aztec population and furthered Cortes' success unintentionally Also Marina was a tribal girl given as a gift to Cortes, she proved invaluable in translating local dialects in combination with Geronimo de Aguilar. Also an important aspect of his success was due to Montezuma's belief that Cortes was Quetzakoatl. A predominant reason for the Spanish success was due to their weaponry especially their armour and firepower. Perhaps the most important reason of all was that of Cortes' Indian allies such as the Tlaxcalans who made up the majority of his combined army. All these reasons worked together to allow Cortes, originally with 508 men to conquer the Aztec Empire of millions of people.
Cortés went to Tenochtitlan in mid-August 1519, along with 600 soldiers, 15 horsemen, 15 cannons, and hundreds of indigenous carriers and warriors. On the way to Tenochtitlan, Cortés made alliances with indigenous peoples such as the Totonacs of Cempoala and the Nahuas of Tlaxcala. The Otomis initially, and then the Tlaxcalans fought the Spanish a series of three battles from 2 Sept. to 5 Sept. 1519, After Cortés continued to release prisoners with messages of peace, Xicotencatl the Elder, and Maxixcatzin, persuaded the Tlaxcalan warleader, Xicotencatl the Younger, that it would be better to ally with the newcomers than to kill them. On November 8, 1519, they were peacefully received by Moctezuma
Bowden’s idea of why this happened focused mainly on the old misunderstood traditions of the tribes living in Mexico. He shows how the friars, churches and icons took the blunt of the revolts force. Bowden points out the religious differences and similarities be...
Conquests--- the art of obtaining power and authority through means of military forces--- have been adopted and practiced throughout the history of America for centuries. Similar to how two art paintings have resemblances and differences when replicated by different artists, the conquests of Sundiata and Cortés both share commonalities as well as a fair share of respective distinctions. In Djibril Tamsir Niane’s Sundiata: Epic of Old Mali and Bernal Díaz’s The Conquest of New Spain, the narrator’s arguments within each account display a ray of more similarities in regards to the conquests’ successes of Sundiata and Cortés compared to that of their differences.
When the Spaniards arrived on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in 1519, they encountered the advanced society of the Aztecs. With Tenochititlan at its capital, the Aztec empire was vast. The Aztecs had substantial wealth from trading and extensive payments of tribute from conquered peoples. Bernal Diaz in his The Conquest of New Spain comments, "We were dazzled at the richness of the country that we passed through" (282). The Spaniards encountered a powerful, advanced people in the New World, making Cortes and his crew of approximately 600 seemingly ensured of defeat. The Aztec religion lends much to Spanish success in conquest.
Despite the people’s dismay with Montezuma’s opinion of sacrifice, some important milestones were achieved during his reign. For example, they were one of the first civilizations to develop a written language. The one thing that could be considered one of the most important inventions ever, still used today, is the modern calendar. That’s right, the Aztecs of Montezuma’s time created that system of days, months, and even leap years that is of everyday use to us now. We have calendars in our homes, our school planners, and even on our phones. This is one of the longest lasting inventions of all time. Also, Aztecs were devoted to beauty, poetry, and music, which also are an influence ...
These practices of human sacrifice had seized during his time spent there. The motives of Cortes’ when writing “the wonders of Tenochtitlan” and the Aztecs were for him to return to this majestic place taking the wealth they had for himself as well as his country. This was all in an effort to convince Charles V to give him the funding that he needed to take over the country for the benefit of Spain. There were characteristics of the Aztec religion as well as common practice that Cortes’ wish to
In 1531, ten years after the capture of Mexico City, a poor Indian named Juan Diego left his house to attend divine service in the beginning of December. On his way he passed the hill of Tepeyacac ("Hill of the Nose", in Nahuatl) and he heard beautiful music from the top of the hill. The music was heavenly; he heard the most beautiful songbirds singing soft and pleasant. He wondered if he was worthy of hearing such beautiful music, and if maybe it was a dream. He thought he might have died and gone to heaven. Over the sounds of birds Juan heard a voice from the hilltop; however, it did not frighten him. In fact he was strangely set at ease by the voice. He climbed the hill in search of the mysterious voice. When he reached the top of the hill he saw a magnificent woman who appeared to glow like nothing he had ever seen before. She radiated like the sun, and the stones that she was standing on were like gems beneath her feet. The foliage surrounding the magnificent woman was full of translucent colors that glimmered in the radiating light.
I can infer that Cortes’ motives in writing about “the wonders of Tenochtitlan” and the Aztecs, were to describe it in such a way that the Sire could almost picture it himself. It seemed that he was impacted in such a way that it marveled him