Tapia, Commissioned to Depose Cortes, is Induced to Return to
Cuba—Cortes is Confirmed as Governor of New Spain—He Goes to Spain and
is Ennobled—A Second Visit to Spain Discloses the Fickleness of the
Court—He Vainly Begs the Emperor’s Favor—His Death
The conquest of imperial provinces shortly followed the capture of the
city. One after another surrendered and their people suffered the same
hard fate which the American islanders had endured for twenty years.
They were enslaved and cruelly treated. Cortes in the meantime received
no reply from Spain and was uncertain how his operations were regarded
there. At last a vessel arrived at Vera Cruz, having on board a certain
Tapia, who had been sent to depose Cortes, bring him to trial, and fill
his position. Fortunately for Cortes, this man was both weak and
cowardly. He cunningly interposed so many obstacles and intimidated him
in so many ways that Tapia thought the safest course for him was to
return home without making any attempt to carry out the object of his
mission. Cortes also knew that he was a very covetous man and offered to
purchase his horses, slaves, and entire outfit indeed, at a handsome
price. Tapia was willing to sell and returned to Cuba with a goodly
amount of gold.
The storm impending over Cortes’ head, however, soon began to gather
again. In hopes of escaping it, he sent other messengers to Spain to lay
before the Emperor, Charles the Fifth, a complete report of his
operations and present him with his share of the booty. The brilliancy
of his deeds and the greatness and importance of his conquest both
rejoiced and amazed the young monarch. He not only approved of all that
Cortes had done but invested him with the dignity of Governor of New
Spain, and appointed a commission to investigate the pretensions of
Velasquez. As might have been expected, this commission made a report in
accordance with their master’s wishes. Velasquez’ complaint of Cortes’
disloyalty and his claims of governorship over the newly conquered
territory were pronounced null and void, and he was declared entitled to
no further compensation than the legitimate cost of the expedition. This
twofold disgrace was more than the proud and passionate Velasquez could
endure. It cost him his life and Cortes now found himself at the very
summit of fortune’s pinnacle.
He began to raise Mexico from its ruins and to consolidate the Spanish
power in the Empire. In carrying out his plans he resorted to the most
cruel and arbitrary measures, which invited the Mexicans to revolt
again. This revolt was speedily crushed, however, and inhuman penalties
were inflicted upon caciques and nobles. Upon the mere rumor that
Guatemozin had encouraged the Mexicans, that brave, magnanimous prince
and also the caciques of Tezcuco and Tacuba were hanged. Some Spanish
officials who had been sent to Mexico to administer the royal revenues
attempted to exercise authority without recognizing Cortes. But Cortes
was not in the habit of allowing his inferiors to treat him
contemptuously. He laughed at their efforts to weaken his authority. The
officials, however, sent to the Spanish Court a description of Cortes’
character and his administration. Their statements made such an
impression that it was decided to send a commissioner to Mexico to
investigate Cortes’ transactions, and if his findings warranted it, to
send him to Spain. When the commissioner arrived, however, he was taken
ill and died.
Cortes’ danger was not yet over. The officials continued sending
unfavorable reports to Spain and a new commission was appointed with
absolute power to investigate and punish him. Cortes was informed of its
purposes. He was furiously indignant to find the arduous and important
service he had rendered the fatherland thus requited, and his friends
counselled him, in view of such shameful treatment, to meet force with
force. He hesitated, however, to take a step which would conflict with
the loyalty and obedience he owed his sovereign, and at last decided to
suffer ungrateful and shameful treatment rather than resist the legal
authority of his country. He resolved to go to Spain and entrust his
fate to the mercy and justice of the King.
As he appeared before his sovereign, all eyes were turned with
admiration and respect upon the man whose achievements seemed to eclipse
those of the great heroes. The modesty with which he plead his cause
before the high judges removed the suspicions they had entertained. The
King received him with expressions of the highest respect and gratitude
and showered favors upon him. He decorated him with the order of St.
Iago, elevated him to the rank of count, and conferred upon him a broad
stretch of territory in Mexico which would yield him a large revenue.
But when they came to the confirmation of his governorship, it was
clearly apparent they considered it dangerous to invest him anew with
the power he might misuse. All that he received was his recognition as
general and permission to make new discoveries. The entire
administration of civil affairs was entrusted to a viceroy.
Cortes went back to Mexico, but from that time forward his career was
marked by an unbroken series of troubles. He was so hampered by the
viceroy’s strictness and so humiliated by his loss of authority that his
only relief was found in the discovery and conquest of new regions. He
fitted out an expedition on the west coast of Mexico for making
discoveries in the great South Sea and succeeded in finding the
peninsula of Lower California. Upon his return his life became so
embittered that he decided to go to Spain again, appeal to the justice
and former favor of the King, and lay his grievances before him in
person. He little anticipated the still greater troubles he must endure.
During his restless and martial life he had had little chance to know
the fickleness of a court and the unreliability of the favor of the
great. He was now to discover it.
He was coldly received, indifferently listened to, and his complaints
and appeals dismissed as of no consequence. He had grown old. What
further important service could he promise? What he had accomplished for
his King and country was forgotten or it was considered as already fully
recompensed. He found himself at the close of his career, like Columbus,
ignominiously treated by a thankless King and his malicious ministers,
and obliged to beg for justice. Six long wretched years passed in
solitude and neglect but at last grief and indignation at such treatment
brought his life to an end. He died October 11, 1547,[15] in the
sixty-third year of his age. His body at his express desire was taken to
New Spain, perhaps because he considered his ungrateful fatherland
unworthy to be its burial-place.[16]
Footnotes
[1]Diego Velasquez was born at Cúellar, Segovia, in 1465—some
authorities say in 1458—and died at Havana, Cuba, in 1522 or 1523. He
accompanied Columbus to Hispaniola (Haiti) in 1493.
[2]Francisco Hernandez de Cordova was born about 1475 and died at Leon,
Nicaragua, in 1526. He was beheaded for attempting to set up an
independent government in Honduras.
[3]Juan de Grijalva was born in Cuéllar in 1489 or 1490 and died in
Nicaragua. He was a nephew of Velasquez and the discoverer of Mexico.
[4]Villa Rica has been a movable municipality. It was nominally founded
on the present site of Vera Cruz and known as Villa Rica de la Vera
Cruz. This was in 1519. Later, actual settlement was made farther
north. In 1525 the site was changed to a place on the Rio de la
Antigua. The final removal to the present site was made in 1599, the
city being known by its present name, Vera Cruz.
[5]Picture-writing at this time was the means employed by the Mexican
priesthood for recording religious festivals and legends, for keeping
calendars of years, and for recording historical events, much after
the manner of the Egyptian hieroglyphs.
[6]The Tlaxcalan Indians were less advanced in the arts than the Aztecs,
but were very warlike and liberty-loving. Their principal pueblo was
on the spot now occupied by the city of Tlaxcala. Some of their
descendants still occupy that region.
[7]Cholula is a small town sixty miles southeast of the city of Mexico.
Its principal feature is its so-called Pyramid, a lofty mound or
series of mounds which was probably the site of the Indian village at
the time of the conquest.
[8]Puebla is a Mexican State of about 12,000 square miles. Its capital
is La Puebla de los Angeles, the second city in the Republic. It was
the scene of many struggles during the conquest, and of revolts in
the last century. The capital derives its name from the legend that
angel hosts were seen in the heavens above its site before the
conquest.
[9]Popocatepetl is a volcano forty-five miles southeast of the Mexican
capital. Its crater is 5000 feet in width and the peak is 17,853 feet
high. It is called the “smoking mountain,” from _popoca_, “to smoke,”
and _tepetl_, “mountain.”
[10]Iztaccihuatl is an extinct volcano north of Popocatepetl, about
17,000 feet high. It derives the name of “the white lady” because its
west side bears some resemblance to a woman in a white shroud.
[11]The City of Mexico at the time of the conquest was in all its
splendor and, as described by Cortes, “a thing of fairy creation
rather than the work of mortal hands.” It was about twelve miles in
circumference, intersected by canals, and connected with the mainland
by six causeways. The lake has diminished in depth and extent and is
now two and a half miles away from the city.
[12]“Tenochtitlan” (_nopal_ or _cactus on a stone_) was the original
name of the city, afterward changed to “Mexico” in honor of the war
god Mexitli.
[13]Montezuma, in Aztec Matenczoma, was born in 1479. He was the son of
Axayacatl and succeeded his uncle in 1503. Some of his descendants
are said to be living in Mexico now, and his name is still held in
great respect among the Indians.
[14]Quetzalcoatl in the Mexican religion represents the god of the air,
and in legend a ruler and civilizer. He is described as a white man
with long black hair and beard, who came from Yucatan and preached
austerity and virtue as well as hatred of war. His name means “the
feathered serpent.”
[15]Other authorities assign December 2, 1554, as the date of his death.
[16]Soon afterward he fell into neglect and could scarcely obtain an
audience. One day, however, having forced his way through the crowd
which surrounded the Emperor’s carriage and mounted on the doorstep,
Charles, astonished at an act of such audacity, demanded to know who
he was. “I am a man,” replied the conqueror of Mexico proudly, “who
has given you more provinces than your ancestors left you cities.”
Appendix
The following is a chronological statement of important events in
Cortes’ career:
1485 Birth of Cortes.
1504 Voyage to San Domingo.
1511 Accompanies Velasquez to Cuba.
1518 Expedition to Mexico.
1519 Founding of Vera Cruz.
1519 Defeat of the Tlaxcalans.
1519 Cholulan massacre.
1519 Interview with Montezuma.
1520 Montezuma made prisoner.
1520 Mexican revolt and Montezuma’s death.
1520 Battle of Otumba.
1520 Retreat from City of Mexico.
1521 City of Mexico retaken.
1521 Emperor Guatemozin hanged.
1522 Cortes confirmed as Governor of New Spain.
1523 Confirmation revoked and viceroy appointed.
1536 Cortes discovers peninsula of Lower California.
1547 Death of Cortes.
LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
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End of Project Gutenberg's Hernando Cortes, by Joachim Heinrich Campe