See AZTEC AND MAYA PICTURE-WRITING.
----------MEXICO: Start--------
MEXICO.
Ancient: The Maya and Nahua peoples and their civilization.
"Notwithstanding evident marks of similarity in nearly all the
manifestations of the progressional spirit in aboriginal
America, in art, thought, and religion, there is much reason
for and convenience in referring all the native civilization
to two branches, the Maya and the Nahua, the former the more
ancient, the latter the more recent and wide-spread. … It is
only, however, in a very general sense that this
classification can be accepted, and then only for practical
convenience in elucidating the subject; since there are
several nations that must be ranked among our civilized
peoples, which, particularly in the matter of language, show
no Maya nor Nahua affinities. Nor is too much importance to be
attached to the names Maya and Nahua, by which I designate
these parallel civilizations. The former is adopted for the
reason that the Maya people and tongue are commonly regarded
as among the most ancient in all the Central American region,
a region where formerly flourished the civilization that left
such wonderful remains at Palenque, Uxmal, and Copan; the
latter as being an older designation than either Aztec or
Toltec, both of which stocks the race Nahua includes. The
civilization of what is now the Mexican Republic, north of
Tehuantepec, belonged to the Nahua branch, both at the time of
the conquest and throughout the historic period preceding.
Very few traces of the Maya element occur north of Chiapas,
and these are chiefly linguistic, appearing in two or three
nations dwelling along the shores of the Mexican gulf. In
published works upon the subject the Aztecs are the
representatives of the Nahua element; indeed, what is known of
the Aztecs has furnished material for nine tenths of all that
has been written on the American civilized nations in general.
The truth of the matter is that the Aztecs were only the most
powerful of a league or confederation of three nations, which
in the 16th century, from their capitals in the valley, ruled
central Mexico."
_H. H. Bancroft,
Native Races of the Pacific States,
volume 2, chapter 2._
"The evidence … has pointed—with varying force, but with
great uniformity of direction—towards the Central or
Usumacinta region [Central America], not necessarily as the
original cradle of American civilization, but as the most
ancient home to which it can be traced by traditional,
monumental, and linguistic records. …
{2157}
Throughout several centuries preceding the Christian era, and
perhaps one or two centuries following, there flourished in
Central America the great Maya empire of the Chanes, Culhuas,
or Serpents, known to its foes as Xibalba, with its centre in
Chiapas at or near Palenque, and with several allied capitals
in the surrounding region. Its first establishment at a remote
period was attributed by the people to a being called Votan,
who was afterwards worshipped as a god. … From its centre in
the Usumacinta region the Votanic power was gradually extended
north-westward towards Anáhuac, where its subjects vaguely
appear in tradition as Quinames, or giants. It also penetrated
northeastward into Yucatan, where Zamná was its reputed
founder, and the Cocomes and Itzas probably its subjects. …
The Maya empire seems to have been in the height of its
prosperity when the rival Nahua power came into prominence,
perhaps two or three centuries before Christ. The origin of
the new people and of the new institutions is as deeply
shrouded in mystery as is that of their predecessors. … The
Plumed Serpent, known in different tongues as Quetzalcoatl,
Gucumatz, and Cukulcan, was the being who traditionally
founded the new order of things. The Nahua power grew up side
by side with its Xibalban predecessor, having its capital
Tulan apparently in Chiapas. Like the Maya power, it was not
confined to its original home, but was borne … towards
Anáhuac. … The struggle on the part of the Xibalbans seems
to have been that of an old effete monarchy against a young
and progressive people. Whatever its cause, the result of the
conquest was the overthrow of the Votanic monarchs at a date
which may be approximately fixed within a century before or
after the beginning of our era. From that time the ancient
empire disappears from traditional history. … Respecting the
ensuing period of Nahua greatness in Central America nothing
is recorded save that it ended in revolt, disaster, and a
general scattering of the tribes at some period probably
preceding the 5th century. The national names that appear in
connection with the closing struggles are the Toltecs,
Chichimecs, Quichés, Nonohualcas, and Tutul Xius, none of them
apparently identical with the Xibalbans. … Of the tribes
that were successively defeated and forced to seek new homes,
those that spoke the Maya dialects, although considering
themselves Nahuas, seem to have settled chiefly in the south
and east. Some of them afterwards rose to great prominence in
Guatemala and Yucatan. … The Nahua-speaking tribes as a rule
established themselves in Anáhuac and in the western and
north-western parts of Mexico. … The valley of Mexico and
the country immediately adjoining soon became the centre of
the Nahuas in Mexico."
_H. H. Bancroft,
Native Races of the Pacific States,
volume 5, chapter 3._
See, also, AMERICAN ABORIGINES: MAYAS;
and AZTEC AND MAYA PICTURE-WRITING.
MEXICO: Ancient:
The Toltec empire and civilization.
Are they mythical?
"The old-time story, how the Toltecs in the 6th century
appeared on the Mexican table-land, how they were driven out
and scattered in the 11th century, how after a brief interval
the Chichimecs followed their footsteps, and how these last
were succeeded by the Aztecs who were found in
possession,—the last two, and probably the first, migrating
in immense hordes from the far north-west,—all this is
sufficiently familiar to readers of Mexican history, and is
furthermore fully set forth in the 5th volume of this work. It
is probable, however, that this account, accurate to a certain
degree, has been by many writers too literally construed;
since the once popular theory of wholesale national migrations
of American peoples within historic times, and particularly of
such migrations from the northwest, may now be regarded as
practically unfounded. The 6th century is the most remote
period to which we are carried in the annals of Anáhuac by
traditions sufficiently definite to be considered in any
proper sense as historic records. … At the opening … of
the historic times, we find the Toltecs in possession of
Anáhuac and the surrounding country. Though the civilization
was old, the name was new, derived probably, although not so
regarded by all, from Tollan, a capital city of the empire,
but afterward becoming synonymous with all that is excellent
in art and high culture. Tradition imputes to the Toltecs a
higher civilization than that found among the Aztecs, who had
degenerated with the growth of the warlike spirit, and
especially by the introduction of more cruel and sanguinary
religious rites. But this superiority, in some respects not
improbable, rests on no very strong evidence, since this
people left no relics of that artistic skill which gave them
so great traditional fame; there is, however, much reason to
ascribe the construction of the pyramids at Teotihuacan and
Cholula to the Toltec or a still earlier period. Among the
civilized peoples of the 16th century, however, and among
their descendants down to the present day, nearly every
ancient relic of architecture or sculpture is accredited to
the Toltecs, from whom all claim descent. … So confusing has
been the effect of this universal reference of all traditional
events to a Toltec source, that, while we can not doubt the
actual existence of this great empire, the details of its
history, into which the supernatural so largely enters, must
be regarded as to a great extent mythical. There are no data
for fixing accurately the bounds of the Toltec domain,
particularly in the south. There is very little, however, to
indicate that it was more extensive in this direction than
that of the Aztecs in later times, although it seems to have
extended somewhat farther northward. On the west there is some
evidence that it included the territory of Michoacan, never
subdued by the Aztecs; and it probably stretched eastward to
the Atlantic. … During the most flourishing period of its
traditional five centuries of duration, the Toltec empire was
ruled by a confederacy, similar in some respects to the
alliance of later date between Mexico, Tezcuco and Tlacopan.
The capitals were Culhuacan, Otompan, and Tollan, the two
former corresponding somewhat in territory with Mexico and
Tezcuco, while the latter was just beyond the limits of the
valley toward the north-west. Each of these capital cities
became in turn the leading power in the confederacy. Tollan
reached the highest eminence in culture, splendor, and fame,
and Culhuacan was the only one of the three to survive by name
the bloody convulsions by which the empire was at last
overthrown, and retain anything of her former greatness.
Long-continued civil wars, arising chiefly from dissensions
between rival religious factions, … gradually undermine the
imperial thrones. … So the kings of Tollan, Culhuacan, and
Otompan, lose, year by year, their prestige, and finally, in
the middle of the 11th century, are completely overthrown,
leaving the Mexican tableland to be ruled by new combinations
of rising powers."
_H. H. Bancroft,
Native Races of the Pacific States,
volume 2, chapter 2._
{2158}
"Long before the Aztecs, a Toltec tribe called the Acolhuas,
or Culhuas, had settled in the valley of Mexico. The name is
more ancient than that of Toltec, and the Mexican civilization
might perhaps as appropriately be called Culhua as Nahua. The
name is interpreted 'crooked' from coloa, bend; also
'grandfather' from colli. Colhuacan might therefore signify
Land of Our Ancestors."
_H. H. Bancroft,
History of the Pacific States,
volume 4, page 23, foot-note._
"The most venerable traditions of the Maya race claimed for
them a migration from 'Tollan in Zuyva.' … This Tollan is
certainly none other than the abode of Quetzalcoatl. … The
cities which selected him as their tutelary deity were named
for that which he was supposed to have ruled over. Thus we
have Tollan and Tollantzinco ('behind Tollan') in the Valley
of Mexico, and the pyramid Cholula was called
'Tollan-Cholollan,' as well as many other Tollans and Tulas
among the Nahuatl colonies. The natives of the city of Tula
were called, from its name, Tolteca, which simply means 'those
who dwell in Tollan.' And who, let us ask, were these Toltecs?
They have hovered about the dawn of American history long
enough. To them have been attributed not only the primitive
culture of Central America and Mexico, but of lands far to the
north, and even the earthworks of the Ohio Valley. It is time
they were assigned their proper place, and that is among the
purely fabulous creations of the imagination, among the giants
and fairies, the gnomes and sylphs, and other such fancied
beings which in all ages and nations the popular mind has
loved to create. Toltec, Toltecatl, which in later days came
to mean a skilled craftsman or artificer, signifies, as I have
said, an inhabitant of Tollan—of the City of the Sun—in
other words, a Child of Light. … In some, and these I
consider the original versions of the myth, they do not
constitute a nation at all, but are merely the disciples or
servants of Quetzalcoatl. They have all the traits of beings
of supernatural powers."
_D. G. Brinton,
American Hero-Myths,
chapter 3, section 3._
ALSO IN:
_D. G. Brinton,
Essays of an Americanist,
pages 83-100._
A recent totally contrary view, in which the Toltecs are fully
accepted and modernized, is presented by M. Charnay.
_D. Charnay,
Ancient Cities of the New World._
MEXICO: A. D. 1325-1502.
The Aztec period.
The so called empire of Montezuma.
"The new era succeeding the Toltec rule is that of the
Chichimec empire, which endured with some variations down to
the coming of Cortes. The ordinary version of the early annals
has it, that the Chichimecs, a wild tribe living far in the
north-west, learning that the fertile regions of Central
Mexico had been abandoned by the Toltecs, came down in immense
hordes to occupy the land. … The name Chichimec at the time
of the Spanish conquest, and subsequently, was used with two
significations, first, as applied to the line of kings that
reigned at Tezcuco, and second, to all the wild hunting
tribes, particularly in the broad and little-known regions of
the north. Traditionally or historically, the name has been
applied to nearly every people mentioned in the ancient
history of America. This has caused the greatest confusion
among writers on the subject, a confusion which I believe can
only be cleared up by the supposition that the name Chichimec,
like that of Toltec, never was applied as a tribal or national
designation proper to any people, while such people were
living. It seems probable that among the Nahua peoples that
occupied the country from the 6th to the 11th centuries, a few
of the leading powers appropriated to themselves the title
Toltecs, which had been at first employed by the inhabitants
of Tollan, whose artistic excellence soon rendered it a
designation of honor. To the other Nahua peoples, by whom
these leading powers were surrounded, whose institutions were
identical, but whose polish and elegance of manner were deemed
by these self-constituted aristocrats somewhat inferior, the
term Chichimecs, barbarians, etymologically 'dogs,' was
applied. After the convulsions that overthrew Tollan, and
reversed the condition of the Nahua nations, the 'dogs' in
their turn assumed an air of superiority and retained their
designation, Chichimecs, as a title of honor and nobility."
_H. H. Bancroft,
Native Races of the Pacific States,
volume 2, chapter 2._
"We may suppose the 'Toltec period' in Mexican tradition to
have been simply the period when the pueblo-town of Tollan was
flourishing, and domineered most likely over neighbouring
pueblos. One might thus speak it as one would speak of the
'Theban period' in Greek history. After the 'Toltec period,'
with perhaps an intervening 'Chichimec period' of confusion,
came the 'Aztec period;' or, in other words, some time after
Tollan lost its importance, the city of Mexico came to the
front. Such, I suspect, is the slender historical residuum
underlying the legend of a 'Toltec empire.' The Codex Ramirez
assigns the year 1168 as the date of the abandonment of the
Serpent Hill by the people of Tollan. We begin to leave this
twilight of legend when we meet the Aztecs already encamped in
the Valley of Mexico. Finding the most obviously eligible
sites preoccupied, they were sagacious enough to detect the
advantages of a certain marshy spot through which the outlets
of lakes Chalco and Xochimilco, besides sundry rivulets,
flowed northward and eastward into Lake Tezcuco. Here in the
year 1325 they began to build their pueblo, which they called
Tenochtitlan,—a name whereby hangs a tale. When the Aztecs,
hard pressed by foes, took refuge among these marshes, they
came upon a sacrificial stone which they recognized as one
upon which some years before one of their priests had
immolated a captive chief. From a crevice in this stone, where
a little earth was imbedded, there grew a cactus, upon which
sat an eagle holding in its beak a serpent. A priest
ingeniously interpreted this symbolism as a prophecy of signal
and long-continued victory, and forthwith diving into the lake
he had an interview with Tlaloc, the god of waters, who told
him that upon that very spot the people were to build their
town. The place was therefore called Tenochtitlan, or 'place
of the cactus-rock,' but the name under which it afterward came
to be best known was taken from Mexitl, one of the names of
the war-god Huitzilopochtli. The device of the rock and
cactus, with the eagle and serpent, formed a tribal totem for
the Aztecs, and has been adopted as the coat-of-arms of the
present Republic of Mexico.
{2159}
The pueblo of Tenochtitlan was surrounded by salt marshes;
which by dint of dikes and causeways the Aztecs gradually
converted into a large artificial lake, and thus made their
pueblo by far the most defensible stronghold in Anahuac,—
impregnable, indeed, so far as Indian modes of attack were
concerned. The advantages of this commanding position were
slowly but surely realized. A dangerous neighbour upon the
western shore of the lake was the tribe of Tecpanecas, whose
principal pueblo was Azcaputzalco. The Aztecs succeeded in
making an alliance with these Tecpanecas, but it was upon
unfavourable terms and involved the payment of tribute to
Azcaputzalco. It gave the Aztecs, however, some time to
develop their strength. Their military organization was
gradually perfected, and in 1375 they elected their first
tlacatecuhtli, or 'chief-of-men,' whom European writers, in
the loose phraseology formerly current, called 'founder of the
Mexican empire.' The name of this official was Acamapichtli,
or 'Handful-of-Reeds.' During the eight-and-twenty years of
his chieftancy the pueblo houses in Tenochtitlan began to be
built very solidly of stone, and the irregular water-courses
flowing between them were improved into canals. Some months
after his death in 1403 his son Huitzilihuitl, or
'Humming-bird,' was chosen to succeed him. This Huitzilihuitl
was succeeded in 1414 by his brother Chimalpopoca, or 'Smoking
Shield,' under whom temporary calamity visited the Aztec town.
The alliance with Azcaputzalco was broken, and that pueblo
joined its forces to those of Tezcuco on the eastern shore of
the lake. United they attacked the Aztecs, defeated them, and
captured their chief-of-men, who died a prisoner in 1427. He
was succeeded by Izcoatzin, or 'Obsidian Snake,' an aged
chieftain who died in 1436. During these nine years a complete
change came over the scene. Quarrels arose between
Azcaputzalco and Tezcuco; the latter pueblo entered into
alliance with Tenochtitlan, and together they overwhelmed and
destroyed Azcaputzalco, and butchered most of its people. What
was left of the conquered pueblo was made a slave mart for the
Aztecs, and the remnant of the people were removed to the
neighbouring pueblo of Tlacopan, which was made tributary to
Mexico. By this great victory the Aztecs also acquired secure
control of the springs upon Chepultepec, or 'Grasshopper
Hill,' which furnished a steady supply of fresh water to their
island pueblo. The next step was the formation of a
partnership between the three pueblo towns, Tenochtitlan,
Tezcuco, and Tlacopan, for the organized and systematic
plunder of other pueblos. All the tribute or spoils extorted
was to be divided into five parts, of which two parts each
were for Tezcuco and Tenochtitlan, and one part for Tlacopan.
The Aztec chief-of-men became military commander of the
confederacy, which now' began to extend operations to a
distance. The next four chiefs-of-men were Montezuma, or
'Angry Chief,' the First, from 1436 to 1464; Axayacatl, or
'Face-in-the-Water,' from 1464 to 1477; Tizoc, or 'Wounded
Leg,' from 1477 to 1486; and Ahuizotl, or 'Water-Rat,' from
1486 to 1502. Under these chiefs the great temple of Mexico
was completed, and the aqueduct from Chepultepec was increased
in capacity until it not only supplied water for ordinary
uses, but could also be made to maintain the level of the
canals and the lake. In the driest seasons, therefore,
Tenochtitlan remained safe from attack. Forth from this
well-protected lair the Aztec warriors went on their errands
of blood. Thirty or more pueblo towns, mostly between
Tenochtitlan and the Gulf coast, scattered over an area about
the size of Massachusetts, were made tributary to the
Confederacy; and as all these communities spoke the Nahua
language, this process of conquest, if it had not been cut
short by the Spaniards, might in course of time have ended in
the formation of a primitive kind of state. This tributary
area formed but a very small portion of the country which we
call Mexico. If the reader will just look at a map of the
Republic of Mexico in a modern atlas, and observe that the
states of Queretaro, Guanaxuato, Michoacan, Guerrero, and a
good part of La Puebla, lie outside the region sometimes
absurdly styled 'Montezuma's Empire,' and surround three sides
of it, he will begin to put himself into the proper state of
mind for appreciating the history of Cortes and his
companions. Into the outlying region just mentioned, occupied
by tribes for the most part akin to the Nahuas in blood and
speech, the warriors of the Confederacy sometimes ventured,
with varying fortunes. They levied occasional tribute among
the pueblos in these regions, but hardly made any of them
regularly tributary. The longest range of their arms seems to
have been to the eastward, where they sent their tax-gatherers
along the coast into the isthmus of Tehuantepec, and came into
conflict with the warlike Mayas and Quiches. … Such was, in
general outline, what we may call the political situation in
the time of the son of Axayacatl, the second Montezuma, who
was elected chief-of-men in 1502, being then thirty-four years
of age."
_J. Fiske,
The Discovery of America,
chapter 8 (volume 2)._
MEXICO: A. D. 1517-1518.
First found by the Spaniards.
See AMERICA: A. D. 1517-1518.
MEXICO: A. D. 1519 (February-April).
The coming of Cortes and the Spaniards.
Some time in the latter part of the year 1517, the Spaniards
in Cuba had acquired definite knowledge of a much civilized
people who inhabited "terra firma" to the west of them, by the
return of Hernandez de Cordova from his involuntary voyage to
Yucatan (see AMERICA: A. D. 1157-1518). In the spring of 1518
the Cuban governor, Velasquez, had enlarged that knowledge by
sending an expedition under Grijalva to the Mexican coast,
and, even before Grijalva returned, he had begun preparations
for a more serious undertaking of conquest and occupation in
the rich country newly found. For the command of this second
armament he selected Hernando Cortes, one of the boldest and
most ambitious of the adventurers who had helped to subdue and
settle the island of Cuba. Before the fleet sailed, however, a
jealous distrust of his lieutenant had become excited by some
cause in the governor's mind, and he attempted to supersede
him in the command, Cortes slipped out of port, half prepared
as he was for the voyage, defied the orders of his superior,
and made his way (February, 1519) to the scene of his future
conquests, actually as a rebel against the authority which
commissioned him. "The squadron of Cortés was composed of
eleven small vessels.
{2160}
There were 110 sailors, 553 soldiers, of which 13 were armed
with muskets, and 32 with arquebuses, the others with swords
and pikes only. There were 10 little field-pieces, and 16
horses. Such were the forces with which the bold adventurer
set forth to conquer a vast empire, defended by large armies,
not without courage, according to the report of Grijalva. But
the companions of Cortes were unfamiliar with fear. Cortés
followed the same route as Grijalva. … At the Tabasco River,
which the Spanish called Rio de Grijalva, because that
explorer had discovered it, they had a fight with some natives
who resisted their approach. These natives fought bravely, but
the fire-arms, and above all the horses, which they conceived
to be of one piece with their riders, caused them extreme
terror, and the rout was complete. … The native prince,
overcome, sent gifts to the conqueror, and, without much
knowing the extent of his agreement, acknowledged himself as
vassal of the king of Spain, the most powerful monarch of the
world." Meantime, tidings of a fresh appearance of the same
strange race which had briefly visited the shores of the
empire the year before were conveyed to Montezuma, and the
king, who had sent envoys to the strangers before, but not
quickly enough to find them, resolved to do so again. "The
presents prepared for Grijalva, which had reached the shore
too late, were, alas! all ready. To these were now added the
ornaments used in the decoration of the image of Quetzalcoatl,
on days of solemnity, regarded as the most sacred among all
the possessions of the royal house of Mexico. Cortés accepted
the rôle of Quetzalcoatl and allowed himself to be decorated
with the ornaments belonging to that god without hesitation.
The populace were convinced that it was their deity really
returned to them. A feast was served to the envoys, with the
accompaniment of some European wine which they found
delicious. … During the feast native painters were busy
depicting every thing they saw to be shown to their royal
master. … Cortes sent to Montezuma a gilt helmet with the
message that he hoped to see it back again filled with gold.
… The bearer of this gift and communication, returning
swiftly to the court, reported to the monarch that the
intention of the stranger was to come at once to the capital
of the empire. Montezuma at once assembled a new council of
all his great vassals, some of whom urged the reception of
Cortés, others his immediate dismissal. The latter view
prevailed, and the monarch sent, with more presents to the
unknown invader, benevolent but peremptory commands that he
should go away immediately. … Meanwhile the Spanish camp was
feasting and reposing in huts of cane, with fresh provisions,
in great joy after the weariness of their voyage. They
accepted with enthusiasm the presents of the emperor, but the
treasures which were sent had an entirely different effect
from that hoped for by Montezuma; they only inflamed the
desire of the Spaniard to have all within his grasp, of which
this was but a specimen. It was now that the great mistake in
policy was apparent, by which the Aztec chieftain had for
years been making enemies all over the country, invading
surrounding states, and carrying off prisoners for a horrible
death by sacrifice. These welcomed the strangers and
encouraged their presence."
_S. Hale,
The Story of Mexico,
chapter 13._
ALSO IN:
_Bernal Diaz del Castillo,
Memoirs,
chapter 2-39 (volume 1). _
_J. Fiske,
The Discovery of America,
chapter 8 (volume 2)._
MEXICO: A. D. 1519 (June-October).
The advance of Cortés to Tlascala.
"Meanwhile Cortés, by his craft, quieted a rising faction of
the party of Velasquez which demanded to be led back to Cuba.
He did this by seeming to acquiesce in the demand of his
followers in laying the foundations of a town and constituting
its people a municipality competent to choose a representative
of the royal authority. This done, Cortés resigned his
commission from Velasquez, and was at once invested with
supreme power by the new municipality. The scheme which
Velasquez had suspected was thus brought to fruition. Whoever
resisted the new captain was conquered by force, persuasion,
tact, or magnetism; and Cortés became as popular as he was
irresistible. At this point messengers presented themselves
from tribes not far off who were unwilling subjects of the
Aztec power. The presence of possible allies was a propitious
circumstance, and Cortés proceeded to cultivate the friendship
of these tribes. He moved his camp day by day along the shore,
inuring his men to marches, while the fleet sailed in company.
They reached a large city [Cempoalla, or Zempoalla, the site
of which has not been determined], and were regaled. Each
chief told of the tyranny of Montezuma, and the eyes of Cortés
glistened. The Spaniards went on to another town, slaves being
provided to bear their burdens. Here they found tax-gatherers
of Montezuma collecting tribute. Emboldened by Cortés' glance,
his hosts seized the Aztec emissaries and delivered them to
the Spaniards. Cortés now played a double game. He propitiated
the servants of Montezuma by secretly releasing them, and
added to his allies by enjoining every tribe he could reach to
resist the Aztec collectors of tribute. The wandering
municipality, as represented in this piratical army, at last
stopped at a harbor where a town (La Villa Rica de Vera Cruz)
sprang up, and became the base of future operations." At this
point in his movements the adventurer despatched a vessel to
Spain, with letters to the king, and with dazzling gifts of
gold and Aztec fabrics. "Now came the famous resolve of
Cortés. He would band his heterogeneous folk together—
adherents of Cortés and of Velasquez—in one common cause and
danger. So he adroitly led them to be partners in the deed
which he stealthily planned. Hulk after hulk of the apparently
worm-eaten vessels of the fleet sank in the harbor, until
there was no flotilla left upon which any could desert him.
The march to Mexico was now assured. The force with which to
accomplish this consisted of about 450 Spaniards, six or seven
light guns, fifteen horses, and a swarm of Indian slaves and
attendants. A body of the Totonacs accompanied them. Two or
three days brought them into the higher plain and its
enlivening vegetation. When they reached the dependencies of
Montezuma, they found orders had been given to extend to them
every courtesy. They soon reached the Anahuac plateau, which
reminded them not a little of Spain itself. They passed from
cacique to cacique, some of whom groaned under the yoke of the
Aztec; but not one dared do more than orders from Montezuma
dictated.
{2161}
Then the invaders approached the territory of an independent
people, those of Tlascala, who had walled their country
against neighboring enemies. A fight took place at the
frontiers, in which the Spaniards lost two horses. They forced
passes against great odds, but again lost a horse or two,—
which was a perceptible diminution of their power to terrify.
The accounts speak of immense hordes of the Tlascalans, which
historians now take with allowances, great or small. Cortés
spread what alarm he could by burning villages and capturing
the country people. His greatest obstacle soon appeared in the
compacted army of Tlascalans arrayed in his front. The
conflict which ensued was for a while doubtful. Every horse
was hurt, and 60 Spaniards were wounded; but the result was
the retreat of the Tlascalans. Divining that the Spanish power
was derived from the sun, the enemy planned a night attack;
but Cortés suspected it, and assaulted them in their own
ambush. Cortés now had an opportunity to display his
double-facedness and his wiles. He received embassies both
from Montezuma and from the senate of the Tlascalans. He
cajoled each, and played off his friendship for the one in
cementing an alliance with the other. But to Tlascala and
Mexico he would go, so he told them. The Tlascalans were not
averse, for they thought it boded no good to the Aztecs, if he
could be bound to themselves. Montezuma dreaded the contact,
and tried to intimidate the strangers by tales of the horrible
difficulties of the journey. Presently the army took up its
march for Tlascala, where they were royally received, and
wives in abundance were bestowed upon the leaders. Next they
passed to Cholula, which was subject to the Aztecs."
_J. Winsor,
Narrative and Critical History of America,
volume 2, chapter 6._
MEXICO: A. D. 1519 (October).
The Massacre at Cholula.
The march to Mexico.
"The distance from Tlascala to Chololan [or Cholula] is but
from 15 to 20 miles. It was a kind of holy place, venerated
far and wide in Anahuac; pilgrimages were made thither, as the
Mahometans go to Mecca, and Christians to Jerusalem or Rome.
The city was consecrated to the worship of Quetzalcoatl, who
had there the noblest temple in all Mexico, built, like all
the temples in the country, on the summit of a truncated
pyramid. The traveller of the present day beholds this pyramid
on the horizon as he approaches Puebla, on his route from Vera
Cruz to Mexico. But the worship of the beneficent Quetzalcoatl
had been perverted by the sombre genius of the Aztecs. To this
essentially good deity 6,000 human victims were annually
immolated in his temple at Chololan. … The Spaniards found
at Chololan an eager and, to all appearance at least, a
perfectly cordial welcome." But this hospitality masked, it is
said, a great plot for their destruction, which Montezuma had
inspired and to aid which he had sent into the neighborhood of
the city a powerful Mexican army. The plot was revealed to
Cortez—so the Spanish historians relate—and "he took his
resolution with his accustomed energy and foresight. He made
his dispositions for the very next day. He acquainted the
caciques of Chololan that he should evacuate the city at break
of dawn, and required them to furnish 2,000 porters or
'tamanes,' for the baggage. The caciques then organized their
attack for the morrow morning, not without a promise of the
men required, whom, in fact, they brought at dawn to the great
court in which the foreigners were domiciled. The conflict
soon began. The Spaniards, who were perfectly prepared,
commenced by massacring the caciques. The mass of Chololans
that attempted to invade their quarters were crushed under the
fire of their artillery and musketry, and the charges of their
cavalry. Hearing the reports, the Tlascalans, who had been
left at the entrance of the city, rushed on to the rescue. …
They could now glut their hatred and vengeance; they
slaughtered as long as they could, and then set to work at
plunder. The Spaniards, too, after having killed all that
resisted, betook themselves to pillage. The unfortunate city
of Chololan was thus inundated with blood and sacked. Cortez,
however, enjoined that the women and children should be
spared, and we are assured that in that he was obeyed, even by
his cruel auxiliaries from Tlascala. … To the praise of
Cortez it must be said that, after the victory, he once more
showed himself tolerant: he left the inhabitants at liberty to
follow their old religion on condition that they should no
longer immolate human victims. After this signal blow, all the
threats, all the intrigues, of Montezuma, had no possible
effect, and the Aztec emperor could be under no illusion as to
the inflexible intention of Cortez. The latter, as soon as he
had installed new chiefs at Chololan, and effaced the more
hideous traces of the massacre and pillage that had desolated
the city, set out with his own troops and his Indian
auxiliaries from Tlascala for the capital of the Aztec empire,
the magnificent city of Tenochtitlan."
_M. Chevalier,
Mexico, Ancient and Modern,
part 2, chapter 4 (volume 1)._
MEXICO:
The Capital of Montezuma as described
by Cortés and Bernal Diaz.
"This Province is in the form of a circle, surrounded on all
sides by lofty and rugged mountains; its level surface
comprises an area of about 70 leagues in circumference,
including two lakes, that overspread nearly the whole valley,
being navigated by boats more than 50 leagues round. One of
these lakes contains fresh, and the other, which is the larger
of the two, salt water. On one side of the lakes, in the
middle of the valley, a range of highlands divides them from
one another, with the exception of a narrow strait which lies
between the highlands and the lofty Sierras. This strait is a
bow-shot wide, and connects the two lakes; and by this means a
trade is carried on between the cities and other settlements
on the lakes in canoes without the necessity of travelling by
land. As the salt lake rises and falls with its tides like the
sea, during the time of high water it pours into the other
lake with the rapidity of a powerful stream; and on the other
hand, when the tide has ebbed, the water runs from the fresh
into the salt lake. This great city of Temixtitan
[Tenochtitlan—Mexico] is situated in this salt lake, and from
the main land to the denser parts of it, by whichever route
one chooses to enter, the distance is two leagues. There are
four avenues or entrances to the city, all of which are formed
by artificial causeways, two spears' length in width. The city
is as large as Seville or Cordova; its streets, I speak of the
principal ones, are very wide and straight; some of these, and
all the inferior ones, are half land and half water, and are
navigated by canoes.
{2162}
All the streets at intervals have openings, through which the
water flows, crossing from one street to another; and at these
openings, some of which are very wide, there are also very
wide bridges, composed of large pieces of timber, of great
strength and well put together; on many of these bridges ten
horses can go abreast. … This city has many public squares,
in which are situated the markets and other places for buying
and selling. There is one square twice as large as that of the
city of Salamanca, surrounded by porticoes, where are daily
assembled more than 60,000 souls, engaged in buying and
selling; and where are found all kinds of merchandise that the
world affords, embracing the necessaries of life, as for
instance articles of food, as well as jewels of gold and
silver, lead, brass, copper, tin, precious stones, bones,
shells, snails, and feathers. … Every kind of merchandise is
sold in a particular street or quarter assigned to it
exclusively, and thus the best order is preserved. They sell
everything by number or measure; at least so far we have not
observed them to sell any thing by weight. There is a building
in the great square that is used as an audience house, where
ten or twelve persons, who are magistrates, sit and decide all
controversies that arise in the market, and order delinquents
to be punished. … This great city contains a large number of
temples, or houses for their idols, very handsome edifices,
which are situated in the different districts and the suburbs.
… Among these temples there is one which far surpasses all
the rest, whose grandeur of architectural details no human
tongue is able to describe; for within its precincts,
surrounded by a lofty wall, there is room enough for a town of
500 families. Around the interior of this enclosure there are
handsome edifices, containing large halls and corridors, in
which the religious persons attached to the temple reside.
There are full 40 towers, which are lofty and well built, the
largest of which has 50 steps leading to its main body, and is
higher than the tower of the principal church at Seville. The
stone and wood of which they are constructed are so well
wrought in every part that nothing could be better done. …
This noble city contains many fine and magnificent houses;
which may be accounted for from the fact that all the nobility
of the country, who are the vassals of Muteczuma, have houses
in the city, in which they reside a certain part of the year;
and, besides, there are numerous wealthy citizens who also
possess fine houses."
_H. Cortés,
Despatches [Letters] (translated by G. Folsom),
letter 2, chapter 5. _
"We had already been four days in the city of Mexico, and
neither our commander nor any of us had, during that time,
left our quarters, excepting to visit the gardens and
buildings adjoining the palace. Cortes now, therefore,
determined to view the city, and visit the great market, and
the chief temple of Huitzilopochtli. … The moment we arrived
in this immense market, we were perfectly astonished at the
vast numbers of people, the profusion of merchandise which was
there exposed for sale, and at the good police and order that
reigned throughout. … Every species of goods which New Spain
produces were here to be found; and everything put me in mind
of my native town Medina del Campo during fair time, where
every merchandise has a separate street assigned for its sale.
… On quitting the market, we entered the spacious yards
which surround the chief temple. … Motecusuma, who was
sacrificing on the top to his idols, sent six papas and two of
his principal officers to conduct Cortes up the steps. There
were 114 steps to the summit. …Indeed, this infernal temple,
from its great height, commanded a view of the whole
surrounding neighbourhood. From this place we could likewise
see the three causeways which led into Mexico. … We also
observed the aqueduct which ran from Chapultepec, and provided
the whole town with sweet water. We could also distinctly see
the bridges across the openings, by which these causeways were
intersected, and through which the waters of the lake ebbed
and flowed. The lake itself was crowded with canoes, which
were bringing provisions, manufactures and other merchandise
to the city. From here we also discovered that the only
communication of the houses in this city, and of all the other
towns built in the lake, was by means of drawbridges or
canoes. In all these towns the beautiful white plastered
temples rose above the smaller ones, like so many towers and
castles in our Spanish towns, and this, it may be imagined,
was a splendid sight."
_Bernal Diaz del Castillo,
Memoirs (translated by Lockhart),
chapter 92 (volume 1)._
MEXICO:
The same as viewed in the light of modern historical criticism.
"In the West India Islands the Spanish discoverers found small
Indian tribes under the government of chiefs; but on the
continent, in the Valley of Mexico, they found a confederacy
of three Indian tribes under a more advanced but similar
government. In the midst of the valley was a large pueblo, the
largest in America, surrounded with water, approached by
causeways; in fine, a water-girt fortress impregnable to
Indian assault. This pueblo presented to the Spanish
adventurers the extraordinary spectacle of an Indian society
lying two ethnical periods back of European society, but with
a government and plan of life at once intelligent, orderly,
and complete. … The Spanish adventurers who captured the
pueblo of Mexico saw a king in Montezuma, lords in Aztec
chiefs, and a palace in the large joint-tenement house
occupied, Indian fashion, by Montezuma and his
fellow-householders. It was, perhaps, an unavoidable
self-deception at the time, because they knew nothing of the
Aztec social system. Unfortunately it inaugurated American
aboriginal history upon a misconception of Indian life which
has remained substantially unquestioned until recently. The
first eye-witnesses gave the keynote to this history by
introducing Montezuma as a king, occupying a palace of great
extent crowded with retainers, and situated in the midst of a
grand and populous city, over which, and much besides, he was
reputed master. But king and kingdom were in time found too
common to express all the glory and splendor the imagination
was beginning to conceive of Aztec society; and emperor and
empire gradually superseded the more humble conception of the
conquerors. … To every author, from Cortes and Bernal Diaz
to Brasseur de Bourbourg and Hubert H. Bancroft, Indian
society was an unfathomable mystery, and their works have left
it a mystery still. Ignorant of its structure and principles,
and unable to comprehend its peculiarities, they invoked the
imagination to supply whatever was necessary to fill out the
picture. …
{2163}
Thus, in this case, we have a grand historical romance, strung
upon the conquest of Mexico as upon a thread; the acts of the
Spaniards, the pueblo of Mexico, and its capture, are
historical, while the descriptions of Indian society and
government are imaginary and delusive. … There is a strong
probability, from what is known of Indian life and society,
that the house in which Montezuma lived, was a joint-tenement
house of the aboriginal American model, owned by a large
number of related families, and occupied by them in common as
joint proprietors; that the dinner [of Montezuma, in his
palace, as described by Cortes and Bernal Diaz] … was the
usual single daily meal of a communal household, prepared in a
common cookhouse from common stores, and divided, Indian
fashion, from the kettle; and that all the Spaniards found in
Mexico was a simple confederacy of three Indian tribes, the
counterpart of which was found in all parts of America. It may
be premised further that the Spanish adventurers who thronged
to the new world after its discovery found the same race of
Red Indians in the West India Islands, in Central and South
America, in Florida, and in Mexico. In their mode of life and
means of subsistence, in their weapons, arts, usages, and
customs, in their institutions, and in their mental and
physical characteristics, they were the same people in
different stages of advancement. No distinction of race was
observed, and none in fact existed. … Not a vestige of the
ancient pueblo of Mexico (Tenochtitlan) remains to assist us
to a knowledge of its architecture. Its structures, which were
useless to a people of European habits, were speedily
destroyed to make room for a city adapted to the wants of a
civilized race. We must seek for its characteristics in
contemporary Indian houses which still remain in ruins, and in
such of the early descriptions as have come down to us, and
then leave the subject with but little accurate knowledge. Its
situation, partly on dry land and partly in the waters of a
shallow artificial pond formed by causeways and dikes, led to
the formation of streets and squares, which were unusual in
Indian pueblos, and gave to it a remarkable appearance. …
Many of the houses were large, far beyond the supposable wants
of a single Indian family. They were constructed of adobe
brick, and of stone, and plastered over in both cases with
gypsum, which made them a brilliant white; and some were
constructed of a red porous stone. In cutting and dressing
this stone flint implements were used. The fact that the
houses were plastered externally leads us to infer that they
had not learned to dress stone and lay them in courses. It is
not certainly established that they had learned the use of a
mortar of lime and sand. In the final attack and capture, it
is said that Cortes, in the course of seventeen days,
destroyed and levelled three-quarters of the pueblo, which
demonstrates the flimsy character of the masonry. … It is
doubtful whether there was a single pueblo in North America,
with the exception of Tlascala, Cholula, Tezcuco, and Mexico,
which contained 10,000 inhabitants. There is no occasion to
apply the term 'city' to any of them. None of the Spanish
descriptions enable us to realize the exact form and structure
of these houses, or their relations to each other in forming a
pueblo. … It is evident from the citations made that the
largest of these joint-tenement houses would accommodate from
500 to 1,000 or more people, living in the fashion of Indians;
and that the courts were probably quadrangles, formed by
constructing the building on three sides of an inclosed space,
as in the New Mexican pueblos, or upon the four sides, as in
the House of the Nuns, at Uxmal."
_L. H. Morgan,
Houses and House-life of the American Aborigines
(United States Geographical and Geological Survey of
Rocky Mountain Region:
Contribution to North American Ethnology, volume 4),
chapter 10._
MEXICO: A. D. 1519-1520.
Captivity of Montezuma, Cortés ruling in his name.
The discomfiture of Narvaez.
The revolt of the capital.
When Cortés had time to survey and to realize his position in
the Mexican capital, he saw that it was full of extreme
danger. To be isolated with so small a force in the midst of
any hostile, populous city would be perilous; but in Mexico
that peril was immeasurably increased by the peculiar
situation and construction of the island-city—Venice-like in
its insulation, and connected with the mainland by long and
narrow, causeways and bridges, easily broken and difficult to
secure for retreat. With characteristic audacity, the Spanish
leader mastered the danger of the situation, so to speak, by
taking Montezuma himself in pledge for the peace and good
behavior of his subjects. Commanded by Cortés to quit his
palace, and to take up his residence with the Spaniards in
their quarters, the Mexican monarch remonstrated but obeyed,
and became from that day the shadow of a king. "During, six
months that Cortes remained in Mexico [from November, 1519,
until May, 1520], the monarch continued in the Spanish
quarters, with an appearance of as entire satisfaction and
tranquillity as if he had resided there, not from constraint,
but through choice. His ministers and officers attended him as
usual. He took cognizance of all affairs; every order was
issued in his name. … Such was the dread which both
Montezuma and his subjects had of the Spaniards, or such the
veneration in which they held them, that no attempt was made
to deliver their sovereign from confinement, and though
Cortes, relying on this ascendant which he had acquired over
their minds, permitted him not only to visit his temples, but
to make hunting excursions beyond the lake, a guard of a few
Spaniards carried with it such a terrour as to intimidate the
multitude, and secure the captive monarch. Thus, by the
fortunate temerity of Cortes in seizing Montezuma, the
Spaniards at once secured to themselves more extensive
authority in the Mexican empire than it was possible to have
acquired in a long course of time by open force; and they
exercised more absolute sway in the name of another than they
could have done in their own. … Cortes availed himself to
the utmost of the powers which he possessed by being able to
act in the name of Montezuma. He sent some Spaniards, whom he
judged best qualified for such commissions, into different
parts of the empire, accompanied by persons of distinction,
whom Montezuma appointed to attend them both as guides and
protectors. They visited most of the provinces, viewed their
soil and productions, surveyed with particular care the
districts which yielded gold or silver, pitched upon several
places as proper stations for future colonies, and endeavoured
to prepare the minds of the people for submitting to the
Spanish yoke." At the same time, Cortes strengthened his
footing in the capital by building and launching two brigantines
on the lake, with an equipment and armament which his royal
prisoner caused to be brought up for him from Vera Cruz.
{2164}
He also persuaded Montezuma to acknowledge himself a vassal of
the King of Castile, and to subject his kingdom to the payment
of an annual tribute. But, while his cunning conquest of an
empire was advancing thus prosperously, the astute Spanish
captain allowed his prudence to be overridden by his religious
zeal. Becoming impatient at the obstinacy with which Montezuma
clung to his false gods, Cortes made a rash attempt, with his
soldiers, to cast down the idols in the great temple of the
city, and to set the image of the Virgin in their place. The
sacrilegious outrage roused the Mexicans from their tame
submission and fired them with an inextinguishable rage. At
this most unfortunate juncture, news came from Vera Cruz which
demanded the personal presence of Cortes on the coast.
Velasquez, the hostile governor of Cuba, to whom the
adventurer in Mexico was a rebel, had sent, at last, an
expedition, to put a stop to his unauthorized proceedings and
to arrest his person. Cortes faced the new menace as boldly as
he had faced all others. Leaving 150 men in the angry Mexican
capital, under Pedro de Alvarado, he set out with the small
remainder of his force to attack the Spanish intruders. Even
after picking up some detachments outside and joining the
garrison at Vera Cruz, he could muster but 250 men; while
Narvaez, who commanded the expedition from Cuba, had brought
800 foot soldiers and 80 horse, with twelve pieces of cannon.
The latter had taken possession of the city of Zempoalla and
was strongly posted in one of its temples. There Cortes
surprised him, in a night attack, took him prisoner, in a
wounded state, and compelled his troops to lay down their
arms. Nearly the whole of the latter were soon captivated by
the commanding genius of the man they had been sent to arrest,
and enlisted in his service. He found himself now at the head
of a thousand well armed men; and he found in the same moment
that he needed them all. For news came from Mexico that
Alvarado, thinking to anticipate and crush a suspected
intention of the Mexicans to rise against him, had provoked
the revolt and made it desperate by a most perfidious, brutal
massacre of several hundred of the chief persons of the
empire, committed while they were celebrating one of the
festivals of their religion, in the temple. The Spaniards at
Mexico were now beleaguered, as the consequence, in their
quarters, and their only hope was the hope that Cortes would
make haste to their rescue,—which he did.
_W. Robertson,
History of America,
book 5 (volume 2)._
ALSO IN:
_H. H. Bancroft,
History of the Pacific States,
volume 4, chapters 17-23._
MEXICO: A. D. 1520 (JUNE-JULY).
The return of Cortes to the Mexican Capital.
The battle in the city.
The death of Montezuma.
The disastrous Retreat of the Spaniards.
The alarming intelligence which came to him from the Mexican
capital called out in Cortés the whole energy of his nature.
Hastily summoning back the various expeditions he had already
sent out, and gathering all his forces together, he "reviewed
his men, and found that they amounted to 1,300 soldiers, among
whom were 96 horsemen, 80 cross-bowmen, and about 80
musketeers. Cortez marched with great strides to Mexico, and
entered the city at the head of this formidable force on the
24th of June, 1520, the day of John the Baptist. Very
different was the reception of Cortez on this occasion from
that on his first entry into Mexico, when Montezuma had gone
forth with all pomp to meet him. Now, the Indians stood
silently in the doorways of their houses, and the bridges
between the houses were taken up. Even when he arrived at his
own quarters he found the gates barred, so strict had been the
siege, and he had to demand an entry." The Mexicans, strangely
enough, made no attempt to oppose his entrance into the city
and his junction with Alvarado; yet the day after his return
their attack upon the Spanish quarters, now so strongly
reinforced, was renewed. "Cortez, who was not at all given to
exaggeration, says that neither the streets nor the terraced
roofs ('azoteas') were visible, being entirely obscured by the
people who were upon them; that the multitude of stones was so
great that it seemed as if it rained stones; and that the
arrows came so thickly that the walls and the courts were full
of them, rendering it difficult to move about. Cortez made two
or three desperate sallies, and was wounded. The Mexicans
succeeded in setting fire to the fortress, which was with
difficulty subdued, and they would have scaled the walls at
the point where the fire had done most damage but for a large
force of cross-bowmen, musketeers, and artillery, which Cortez
threw forward to meet the danger. The Mexicans at last drew
back, leaving no fewer than 80 Spaniards wounded in this first
encounter. The ensuing morning, as soon as it was daylight,
the attack was renewed. … Again, and with considerable
success, Cortez made sallies from the fortress in the course
of the day; but at the end of it there were about 60 more of
his men to be added to the list of wounded, already large,
from the injuries received on the preceding day. The third day
was devoted by the ingenious Cortez to making three movable
fortresses, called 'mantas,' which, he thought, would enable
his men, with less danger, to contend against the Mexicans
upon their terraced roofs. … It was on this day that the
unfortunate Montezuma, either at the request of Cortez, or of
his own accord, came out upon a battlement and addressed the
people." He was interrupted by a shower of stones and arrows
and received wounds from which he died soon after. The
fighting on this day was more desperate than it had been
before. The Spaniards undertook to dislodge a body of the
Indians who had posted themselves on the summit of the great
temple, which was dangerously near at hand. Again and again
they were driven back, until Cortez bound his shield to his
wounded arm and led the assault. Then, after three hours of
fighting, from terrace to terrace, they gained the upper
platform and put every Mexican to the sword. But 40 Spaniards
perished in the struggle. "This fight in the temple gave a
momentary brightness to the arms of the Spaniards and afforded
Cortez an opportunity to resume negotiations. But the
determination of the Mexicans was fixed and complete. … They
would all perish, if that were needful, to gain their point of
destroying the Spaniards. They bade Cortez look at the
streets, the squares, and the terraces, covered with people;
and then, in a business-like and calculating manner, they told
him that if 25,000 of them were to die for each Spaniard, still
the Spaniards would perish first. …
{2165}
It generally requires at least as much courage to retreat as
to advance. Indeed, few men have the courage and the ready
wisdom to retreat in time. But Cortez, once convinced that his
position in Mexico was no longer tenable, wasted no time or
energy in parleying with danger. Terror had lost its influence
with the Mexicans, and superior strategy was of little avail
against such overpowering numbers. … Cortez resolved to quit
the city that night [July 1, 1520]. … A little before
midnight the stealthy march began. The Spaniards succeeded in
laying down the pontoon over the first bridge-way, and the
vanguard with Sandoval passed over; but, while the rest were
passing, the Mexicans gave the alarm with loud shouts and
blowing of horns. … Almost immediately upon this alarm the
lake was covered with canoes. It rained, and the misfortunes
of the night commenced by two horses slipping from the pontoon
into the water. Then the Mexicans attacked the pontoon-bearers
so furiously that it was impossible for them to raise it up
again." After that, all seems to have been a confused struggle
in the darkness, where even Cortez could do little for the
unfortunate rear-guard of his troops. "This memorable night
has ever been celebrated in American history as 'la noche
triste.' In this flight from Mexico all the artillery was
lost, and there perished 450 Spaniards, … 4,000 of the
Indian allies, 46 horses, and most of the Mexican prisoners,
including one son and two daughters of Montezuma, and his
nephew the King of Tezcuco. A loss which posterity will ever
regret was that of the books and accounts, memorials and
writings, of which there were some, it is said, that contained
a narrative of all that had happened since Cortez left Cuba.
… In the annals of retreats there has seldom been one
recorded which proved more entirely disastrous."
_Sir A. Helps,
Spanish Conquest in America,
book 10, chapters 7-8 (volume 2)._
MEXICO: A. D. 1520-1521.
The retreat to Tlascala.
Reinforcements and recovery.
Cortes in the field again.
Preparations to attack Mexico.
"After the disasters and fatigues of the 'noche triste,' the
melancholy and broken band of Cortez rested for a day at
Tacuba, whilst the Mexicans returned to their capital,
probably to bury the dead and purify their city. It is
singular, yet it is certain, that they did not follow up their
successes by a death blow at the disarmed Spaniards. But this
momentary paralysis of their efforts was not to be trusted,
and accordingly Cortez began to retreat eastwardly, under the
guidance of the Tlascalans, by a circuitous route around the
northern limits of lake Zumpango. The flying forces and their
auxiliaries were soon in a famishing condition, subsisting
alone on corn or on wild cherries gathered in the forest, with
occasional refreshment and support from the carcase of a horse
that perished by the way. For six days these fragments of the
Spanish army continued their weary pilgrimage, and, on the
seventh, reached Otumba." At Otumba their progress was barred
by a vast army of the Aztecs, which had marched by a shorter
road to intercept them; but after a desperate battle the
natives fled and the Spaniards were troubled no more until
they reached the friendly shelter of Tlascala. The Tlascalans
held faithfully to their alliance and received the flying
strangers with helpful hands and encouraging words. But many
of Cortez' men demanded permission to continue their retreat
to Vera Cruz. "Just at this moment, too, Cuitlahua, who
mounted the throne of Mexico on the death of Montezuma,
despatched a mission to the Tlascalans, proposing to bury the
hatchet, and to unite in sweeping the Spaniards from the
realm." A hot discussion ensued in the council of the
Tlascalan chiefs, which resulted in the rejection of the
Mexican proposal, and the confidence of Cortez was restored.
He succeeded in pacifying his men, and gave them employment by
expeditions against tribes and towns within reach which
adhered to the Mexican king. After some time he obtained
reinforcements, by an arrival of vessels at Vera Cruz bringing
men and supplies, and he began to make serious preparations
for the reconquest of the Aztec capital. He "constructed new
arms and caused old ones to be repaired; made powder with
sulphur obtained from the volcano of Popocatopetl; and, under
the direction of his builder, Lopez, prepared the timber for
brigantines, which he designed to carry, in pieces, and launch
on the lake at the town of Tezcoco. At that port, he resolved
to prepare himself fully for the final attack, and, this time,
he determined to assault the enemy's capital by water as well
as by land." The last day of December found him once more on
the shores of the Mexican lake, encamped at Tezcoco, with a
Spanish force restored to 600 men in strength, having 40
horses, 80 arquebuses and nine small cannon. Of Indian allies
he is said to have had many thousands. Meantime, Cuitlahua had
died of smallpox—which came to the country with the
Spaniards—and had been succeeded by Guatemozin, his nephew, a
vigorous young man of twenty-five. "At Tezcoco, Cortéz was
firmly planted on the eastern edge of the valley of Mexico, in
full sight of the capital which lay across the lake, near its
western shore, at the distance of about twelve miles. Behind
him, towards the sea-coast, he commanded the country, …
while, by passes through lower spurs of the mountains, he
might easily communicate with the valleys of which the
Tlascalans and Cholulans were masters." One by one he reduced
and destroyed or occupied the neighboring towns, and overran
the surrounding country, in expeditions which made the
complete circle of the valley and gave him a complete
knowledge of it, while they re-established the prestige of the
Spaniards and the terror of their arms. On the 28th of April
the newly built brigantines, 12 in number, were launched upon
the lake, and all was in readiness for an attack upon the
city, with forces now increased by fresh arrivals to 87 horse
and 818 Spanish infantry, with three iron field pieces and 15
brass falconets.
_B. Mayer,
Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican,
book 1, chapters 6-8 (volume 1)._
MEXICO: A. D. 1521 (May-July).
The siege of the Aztec capital begun.
"The observations which
Cortes had made in his late tour of reconnaissance
had determined him to begin the siege by
distributing his forces into three separate camps,
which he proposed to establish at the extremities
of the principal causeways," under three of his
captains, Alvarado, Olid and Sandoval. The
movement of forces from Tezcuco began on the
10th of May, 1521.
{2166}
Alvarado and Olid occupied Tacuba,
cut the aqueduct which conveyed water
from Chapoltepec to the capital, and made an
unsuccessful attempt to get possession of the
fatal causeway of "the noche triste." Holding
Tacuba, however, Alvarado commanded that
important passage, while Sandoval, seizing the
city of Iztapalapan, at the southern extremity
of the lake, and Olid, establishing himself near the
latter, at Cojohuacan, were planted at the two
outlets, it would seem, of another of the causeways,
which branched to attain the shore at
those two points. When so much had been accomplished,
Cortés, in person, set sail with his
fleet of brigantines and speedily cleared the lake
of all the swarm of light canoes and little vessels
with which the unfortunate Mexicans tried vainly
though valorously to dispute it with him. "This
victory, more complete than even the sanguine
temper of Cortés had prognosticated, proved the
superiority of the Spaniards, and left them,
henceforth, undisputed masters of the Aztec sea.
It was nearly dusk when the squadron, coasting
along the great southern causeway, anchored off
the point of junction, called Xoloc, where the
branch from Cojohuacan meets the principal dike.
The avenue widened at this point, so as to afford
room for two towers, or turreted temples, built
of stone, and surrounded by walls of the same
material, which presented altogether a position
of some strength, and, at the present moment,
was garrisoned by a body of Aztecs. They were
not numerous; and Cortés, landing with his soldiers,
succeeded without much difficulty in dislodging
the enemy, and in getting possession of
the works." Here, in a most advantageous
position on the great causeway, the Spanish
commander fortified himself and established his
headquarters, summoning Olid with half of his
force to join him and transferring Sandoval to
Olid's post at Cojohuacan. "The two principal
avenues to Mexico, those on the south and the
west, were now occupied by the Christians.
There still remained a third, the great dike of
Tepejacac, on the north, which, indeed, taking
up the principal street, that passed in a direct
line through the heart of the city, might be
regarded as a continuation of the dike of Iztapalapan.
By this northern route a means of escape
was still left open to the besieged, and they
availed themselves of it, at present, to maintain
their communications with the country, and to
supply themselves with provisions. Alvarado,
who observed this from his station at Tacuba,
advised his commander of it, and the latter
instructed Sandoval to take up his position on the
causeway. That officer, though suffering at the
time from a severe wound, … hastened to
obey; and thus, by shutting up its only
communication with the surrounding country,
completed the blockade of the capital. But Cortés
was not content to wait patiently the effects of a
dilatory blockade." He arranged with his
subordinate captains the plan of a simultaneous
advance along each of the causeways toward the
city. From his own post he pushed forward with
great success, assisted by the brigantines which
sailed along side, and which, by the flanking fire
of their artillery, drove the Aztecs from one
barricade after another, which they had erected
at every dismantled bridge. Fighting their way
steadily, the Spaniards traversed the whole
length of the dike and entered the city;
penetrated to the great square; saw once more their
old quarters; scaled again the sides of the
pyramid-temple, to slay the bloody priests and to
strip the idols of their jewels and gold. But the
Aztecs were frenzied by this sacrilege, as they
had been frenzied by the same deed before, and
renewed the battle with so much fury that the
Spaniards were driven back in thorough panic
and disarray. "All seemed to be lost;—when
suddenly sounds were heard in an adjoining
street, like the distant tramp of horses galloping
rapidly over the pavement. They drew nearer
and nearer, and a body of cavalry soon emerged
on the great square. Though but a handful in
number, they plunged boldly into the thick of
the enemy," who speedily broke and fled, enabling
Cortés to withdraw his troops in safety. Neither
Alvarado nor Sandoval, who had greater difficulties
to overcome, and who had no help from
the brigantines, reached the suburbs of the city;
but their assault had been vigorously made, and
had been of great help to that of Cortés. The
success of the demonstration spread consternation
among the Mexicans and their vassals, and
brought a number of the latter over to the
Spanish side. Among these latter was the prince
of Tezcuco, who joined Cortés, with a large
force, in the next assault which the latter made
presently upon the city. Again penetrating to
the great square, the Spaniards on this occasion
destroyed the palaces there by fire. But the
spirit of the Mexicans remained unbroken, and
they were found in every encounter opposing as
obstinate a resistance as ever. They contrived,
too, for a remarkable length of time, to run the
blockade of the brigantines on the lake and to
bring supplies into the city by their canoes. But,
at length, when most of the great towns of the
neighborhood had deserted their cause, the
supplies failed and starvation began to do its work
in the fated city. At the same time, the Spaniards
were amply provisioned, and their new
allies built barracks and huts for their shelter.
Cortés "would gladly have spared the town and
its inhabitants. … He intimated more than
once, by means of the prisoners whom he released,
his willingness to grant them fair terms of
capitulation. Day after day, he fully expected
his proffers would be accepted. But day after
day he was disappointed. He had yet to learn
how tenacious was the memory of the Aztecs."
_W. H. Prescott,
History of the Conquest of Mexico,
book 6, chapters 4-5._
MEXICO: A. D. 1521 (July).
Disastrous repulse of the Spaniards.
"The impatience of the soldiers grew to a great height, and
was supported in an official quarter—by no less a person than
Alderete, the king's treasurer. Cortez gave way, against his
own judgment, to their importunities" and another general
attack was ordered. "On the appointed day Cortez moved from
his camp, supported by seven brigantines, and by more than
3,000 canoes filled with his Indian allies. When his soldiers
reached the entrance of the city, he divided them in the
following manner. There were three streets which led to the
market-place from the position which the Spaniards had already
gained. Along, the principal street, the king's treasurer,
with 70 Spaniards and 15,000 or 20,000 allies, was to make his
way. His rear was to be protected by a small guard of
horsemen. The other two streets were smaller, and led from the
street of Tlacuba to the market-place.
{2167}
Along the broader of these two streets Cortez sent two of his
principal captains, with 80 Spaniards and 10,000 Indians; he
himself, with eight horsemen, 75 foot-soldiers, 25 musketeers,
and an 'infinite number' of allies, was to enter the narrower
street. At the entrance to the street of Tlacuba he left two
large cannon, with eight horsemen to guard them, and at the
entrance of his own street he also left eight horsemen to
protect the rear. … The Spaniards and their allies made
their entrance into the city with even more success and less
embarrassment than on previous occasions. Bridges and
barricades were gained, and the three main bodies of the army
moved forward into the heart of the city." But in the
excitement of their advance they left unrepaired behind them a
great breach in the causeway, ten or twelve paces wide,
although Cortez had repeatedly enjoined upon his captains that
no such dangerous death-trap should be left to catch them in
the event of a retreat. The neglect in this case was most
disastrous. Being presently repulsed and driven back, the
division which had allowed this chasm to yawn behind it was
engulfed. Cortez, whose distrust had been excited in some way,
discovered the danger, but too late. He made his way to the
spot, only to find "the whole aperture so full of Spaniards
and Indians that, as he says, there was not room for a straw
to float upon the surface of the water. The peril was so
imminent that Cortez not only thought that the Conquest of
Mexico was gone, but that the term of his life as well as of
his victories had come, and he resolved to die there fighting.
All that he could do at first was to help his men out of the
water; and, meanwhile, the Mexicans charged upon them in such
numbers that he and his little party were entirely surrounded.
The enemy seized upon his person, and would have carried him
off but for the resolute bravery of some of his guard, one of
whom lost his life there in succouring his master. … At last
he and a few of his men succeeded in fighting their way to the
broad street of Tlacuba, where, like a brave captain, instead
of continuing his flight, he and the few horsemen who were
with him turned round and formed a rear guard to protect his
retreating troops. He also sent immediate orders to the king's
treasurer and the other commanders to make good their
retreat."
_Sir A. Helps,
The Spanish Conquest in America,
book 11, book 1 (volume 2)._
"As we were thus retreating, we continually heard the large
drum beating from the summit of the chief temple of the city.
Its tone was mournful indeed, and sounded like the very
instrument of Satan. This drum was so vast in its dimensions
that it could be heard from eight to twelve miles distance.
Every time we heard its mournful sound, the Mexicans, as we
subsequently learnt, offered to their idols the bleeding
hearts of our unfortunate countrymen. … After we had at
last, with excessive toil, crossed a deep opening, and had
arrived at our encampment, … the large drum of
Huitzilopochtli again resounded from the summit of the temple,
accompanied by all the hellish music of shell trumpets, horns,
and other instruments. … We could plainly see the platform,
with the chapel in which those cursed idols stood; how the
Mexicans had adorned the heads of the Spaniards with feathers,
and compelled their victims to dance round the god
Huitzilopochtli; we saw how they stretched them out at full
length on a large stone, ripped open their breasts with flint
knives, tore out the palpitating heart and offered it to their
idols. Alas! we were forced to be spectators of all this, and
how they then seized hold of the dead bodies by the legs and
threw them headlong down the steps of the temple, at the
bottom of which other executioners stood ready to receive
them, who severed the arms, legs, and heads from the bodies,
drew the skin off the faces, which were tanned with the beards
still adhering to them, and produced as spectacles of mockery
and derision at their feasts; the legs, arms, and other parts
of the body being cut up and devoured. … On that terrible
day the loss of the three divisions amounted to 60 men and 7
horses."
_Bernal Diaz del Castillo,
Memoirs,
chapter 152 (volume 2)._
MEXICO: A. D. 1521 (August).
The last days of the Siege.
The taking of the ruined city.
The end of the Aztec dominion.
"Guatemozin's victory diffused immense enthusiasm among the
Aztecs and those who remained united to them. The priests
proclaimed that the gods, satiated by the sacrifice of the
Spanish prisoners, had promised to rid the country of the
foreigners, and that the promise would be fulfilled within
eight days. This intelligence spread alarm among the allies of
the Spaniards. They deserted in great numbers—not to go over
to the Aztecs, whose anger they dreaded, but to return to
their homes. Cortez had good watch kept in the camp. The
sorties of the besieged were repulsed; the eight days passed
without the Spaniards having lost more than a few marauders.
The allies, seeing that the oracle was wrong, came back to
their former friends. The aggressive ardour of the besieged
grew cooler, and they soon found themselves assailed by the
plagues that ordinarily attack troops massed in a city—not
only famine, but epidemic diseases, the result of want and
overcrowding. … Famine pinched them more cruelly day after
day. Lizards and such rats as they could find were their
richest nourishment; reptiles and insects were eagerly looked
for, trees stripped of their bark, and roots stealthily sought
after by night. Meanwhile, Cortez, seeing that there was no
other means of bringing them to submission, pursued the work
of destruction he had resolved on with so much regret. …
Heaps of bodies were found in every street that was won from
them; this people, so punctilious in their customs of
sepulture, had ceased to bury their dead. … Soon there was
left to the besieged but one quarter, and that the most
incommodious of all, forming barely an eighth of the city,
where there were not houses enough to give them shelter. …
The 13th August, 1521, had now arrived, and that was to be the
last day of this once flourishing empire. Before making a
final assault, Cortez once more invited the emperor to his
presence. His envoys came back with the 'cihuacoatl,' a
magistrate of the first rank, who declared, with an air of
consternation, that Guatemozin knew how to die, but that he
would not come to treat. Then, turning towards Cortez, he
added: 'Do now whatever you please.' 'Be it so,' replied
Cortez; 'go and tell your friends to prepare; they are going
to die.' In fact, the troops advanced; there was a last mêlée,
a last carnage, on land and on the lake. …
{2168}
Guatemozin, driven to the shore of the lake, threw himself
into a canoe with a few warriors, and endeavoured to escape by
dint of rowing; but he was pursued by a brigantine of the
Spanish fleet, taken and brought to Cortez, who received him
with the respect due to a crowned head. … The Aztec empire
had ceased to exist; Spanish sway was established in Mexico.
The Cross was triumphant in that fine country, and there was
no sharer in its reign. The number of persons that perished in
the siege has been differently estimated. The most moderate
calculation puts it at 120,000 on the side of the Aztecs. Very
many Indians fell on the side of the besiegers. The historian
Ixtlixochitl says there were 30,000 dead of the warriors of
Tezcuco alone. All that were left alive of the Aztecs were, at
the request of Guatemozin, allowed to leave the city in
freedom, on the morning after it was taken. … They dispersed
in all directions, everywhere spreading a terror of the
Spaniards, and the feeling that to resist them was impossible.
That conviction must have been established speedily and
firmly, for there was no further attempt at resistance, unless
it were at one point, in the territory of Panuco, near the
Atlantic Ocean."
_M. Chevalier,
Mexico, Ancient and Modern,
part 2, chapters 8-9 (volume 1)._
ALSO IN:
_H. Cortes,
Despatches [Letters] MEXICO,
translated by G. Folsom,
letter 3, chapter 5._
MEXICO: A. D. 1521-1524.
The rebuilding of the capital.
The completion and settlement of the Conquest.
"The first ebullition of triumph was succeeded in the army by
very different feelings, as they beheld the scanty spoil
gleaned from the conquered city;" and Cortés was driven, by
the clamors and suspicions of his soldiers, to subject his
heroic captive, Guatemozin, to torture, in the hope of
wringing from him a disclosure of some concealment of his
imagined treasures. Its only result was to add another infamy
to the name and memory of the conquerors. "The
commander-in-chief, with his little band of Spaniards, now
daily recruited by reinforcements from the Islands, still
occupied the quarters of Cojohuacan, which they had taken up
at the termination of the siege. Cortés did not immediately
decide in what quarter of the Valley to establish the new
capital which was to take the place of the ancient
Tenochtitlan. … At length he decided on retaining the site
of the ancient city, … and he made preparations for the
reconstruction of the capital on a scale of magnificence which
should, in his own language, 'raise her to the rank of Queen
of the surrounding provinces, in the same manner as she had
been of yore.' The labor was to be performed by the Indian
population, drawn from all quarters of the Valley, and
including the Mexicans themselves, great numbers of whom still
lingered in the neighborhood of their ancient residence. …
In less than four years from the destruction of Mexico, a new
city had risen on its ruins, which, if inferior to the ancient
capital in extent, surpassed it in magnificence and strength.
It occupied so exactly the same site as its predecessor that
the 'plaza mayor,' or great square, was the same spot which
had been covered by the huge 'teocalli' and the palace of
Montezuma; while the principal streets took their departure as
before from this central point, and, passing through the whole
length of the city, terminated at the principal causeways.
Great alterations, however, took place in the fashion of the
architecture." Meantime, Cortés had been brought into much
danger at the Spanish court, by the machinations of his
enemies, encouraged by Bishop Fonseca, the same minister who
pursued Columbus with hostility. His friends in Spain rallied,
however, to his support, and the result of an investigation,
undertaken by a board to which the Emperor Charles V. referred
all the charges against him, was the confirmation of his acts
in Mexico to their full extent. "He was constituted Governor,
Captain-General, and Chief Justice of New Spain, with power to
appoint to all offices, civil and military, and to order any
person to leave the country whose residence there he might
deem prejudicial to the interests of the Crown. This judgment
of the council was ratified by Charles V., and the commission
investing Cortés with these ample powers was signed by the
emperor at Valladolid, October 15th, 1522. … The attention
of Cortés was not confined to the capital. He was careful to
establish settlements in every part of the country which
afforded a favourable position for them. … While thus
occupied with the internal economy of the country, Cortés was
still bent on his great schemes of discovery and conquest." He
fitted out a fleet to explore the shores of the Pacific, and
another in the Gulf of Mexico—the prime object of both being
the discovery of some strait that would open one ocean to the
other. He also sent Olid in command of an expedition by sea to
occupy and colonize Honduras, and Alvarado, by land, at the
head of a large force, to subdue Guatemala. The former, having
partly accomplished his mission, attempted to establish for
himself an independent jurisdiction, and his conduct induced
Cortés to proceed to Honduras in person. It was in the course
of this expedition that Guatemozin, the dethroned Mexican
chief, who had been forced to accompany his conqueror, was
accused of a plot against the Spaniards and was hung to a
tree. 'We have the testimony of Bernal Diaz, one of the
Spaniards on the spot, that the execution "was most unjust,
and was thought wrong by all of us." "Within three short years
after the Conquest [Cortés] had reduced under the dominion of
Castile an extent of country more than 400 leagues in length,
as he affirms, on the Atlantic coast, and more than 500 on the
Pacific; and, with the exception of a few interior provinces
of no great importance, had brought them to a condition of
entire tranquillity."
_W. H. Prescott,
History of the Conquest of Mexico,
book 7, chapters 1-3._
ALSO IN:
_H. H. Bancroft,
History of the Pacific States,
volume 5 (Mexico, volume 2), chapters 1-8._
MEXICO: A. D. 1535-1540.
Introduction of Printing.
See PRINTING, &C: A. D. 1535—1709.
MEXICO: A. D. 1535-1822.
Under the Spanish viceroys.