_Negotiations of Cortes at the Court of Spain, in respect to the Conquest
and Government of Mexico_.
In the year 1521, the holy father Adrian de Lobayana, succeeded to the
papacy, he being then governor of Castille and resident in the city of
Vittoria, where our agents waited upon him to kiss the foot of his
holiness. About the same time a great nobleman, named M. de la Soa,
arrived from Germany, who was chamberlain to our emperor, and was sent by
him to congratulate the new pope on his election. When this nobleman was
informed of the heroic deeds of the conquerors of Mexico, and the great
things they had performed for the extension of the holy faith, by the
conversion and baptism of such myriads of Indians, he became interested in
our behalf, and made application to his holiness to expedite the business
of our agents. This was readily acceded to, as besides the allegations of
our agents, the pope had received other complaints against the bishop of
Burgos from persons of quality and honour. Our chief agents on this
occasion were Francisco de Montejo, Diego de Ordas, Francisco Nunez cousin
to our general, and his father Martin Cortes; who were countenanced by
many powerful noblemen, and chiefly by the Duke of Bejar. Thus supported,
they brought forward their charges against the bishop to good purpose.
These were, that Velasquez had bribed the bishop by the gift of a
considerable district in Cuba, the natives of which were made to work in
the gold mines for his emolument, to the manifest injury of the royal
revenue. That when, in 1517, 110 of us had sailed at our own expence under
the command of Hernandez de Cordova for the discovery of New Spain, the
bishop had falsely informed his majesty that it was done by Velasquez.
That Velasquez had transmitted 20,000 crowns in gold, which had been
procured by his nephew Juan de Grijalva on our second voyage, all of which
was given to the bishop, and no part of it to his majesty to whom it
belonged. That when Cortes sent home a large contribution in gold to his
majesty, the bishop had suppressed our letters, substituting others, and
ascribed the present to Velasquez, retaining half of the treasure to his
own use; and, when Puertocarrera applied to him for permission to wait
upon his majesty, the bishop had thrown him into prison, where he died.
That the bishop had forbidden the officers of the _Casa de contratation_
of Seville to give any assistance to Cortes, by which the public service
had suffered manifest injury. That he had appointed very unfit persons to
the military command in New Spain, as was particularly the case with
regard to Christoval de Tapia, to whom he had given a commission as
governor of New Spain, in order to bring about a marriage between his
niece and Tapia. That he had given authenticity to the false accounts
transmitted by the agents of Velasquez, suppressing the true relations
which came from Cortes. There were many other charges against the bishop
which he could not gainsay, as they were all substantiated by good
evidence.
All these things being made clear to his holiness, he was pleased to order,
that the bishop should have no longer any authority in regard to the
affairs of New Spain, of which the government should be conferred on
Cortes, and that Velasquez should be remunerated for all the expences he
had incurred on account of the expedition, which he could duly
substantiate. His holiness sent also to New Spain, a great number of
indulgences for the hospitals and churches, and recommended to Cortes and
the other conquerors to pay unremitting attention to the conversion of the
Indians, and was pleased to send us his holy bulls of absolution. His
majesty graciously confirmed all these orders of the pope, ordering
Velasquez to be deprived of the government of Cuba, on account of having
sent the expedition under Narvaez, in defiance of peremptory orders to the
contrary from the royal audience of St Domingo, and the Jeronymite
brethren. The bishop was so much affected by his disgrace on this occasion,
that he fell dangerously ill.
About this time, Panfilo de Narvaez and Christoval de Tapia arrived in
Spain, together with the pilot Umbria and Cardenas, who by the instigation
of the bishop of Burgos, preferred many severe accusations against Cortes
to his majesty, in which they were gladly joined by the agents of
Velasquez. They alleged, that Velasquez had fitted out three several
expeditions for New Spain at vast expence, the last of which he had
confided to Cortes, who broke his engagements and converted the armament
to his own advantage. That when Velasquez sent Narvaez as governor of New
Spain, with his majesties commission, Cortes made war upon him, defeated
him and made him a prisoner. That when the bishop of Burgos sent Tapia to
take the command of New Spain in the name of his majesty, Cortes refused
obedience, and compelled him to re-embark. They also accused Cortes of
having embezzled a great quantity of gold which he had obtained for his
majesty; of taking a fifth of all the plunder to his own use; of having
tortured Guatimotzin; of defrauding the soldiers of their shares; of
making the natives of Mexico construct for his use magnificent palaces and
castles as large as villages; of having poisoned Francisco de Garay, in
order to get possession of his ships and troops, and many other charges of
a similar nature. By command of his majesty, a court of inquiry was
appointed from the privy council, to hear and determine upon these
allegations, before which the following answers were given in. That
Cordova was the real discoverer of New Spain, which had been done by him
and his companions at their own cost. That although Velasquez had sent
Juan de Grijalva on an expedition to New Spain, it was only for the
purpose of trade, and not of colonization. That the principal charges had
been expended by the different captains, and not by Velasquez, who had
received the chief part of 20,000 crowns which these captains had
collected. That Velasquez gave Indians in Cuba to the bishop of Burgos to
collect gold for him, which ought to have belonged to his majesty. That
although it was true Velasquez had sent Cortes to New Spain, his orders
were only to barter; and the establishment he had made was entirely owing
to the representations of his companions for the service of God and his
majesty, and in no respect due to the instructions of Velasquez. That it
was well known to all, that Cortes had reported the whole of his
proceedings to his majesty, to whom he and his companions sent all the
gold they could procure, waiting his majesties ultimate orders in the
utmost humility; whereas the bishop of Burgos suppressed his letters, and
appropriated the gold to his own use, concealing our meritorious services
from his majesty, preventing our agents from gaining access to the emperor,
and even throwing one of them into prison, where he died; and that he
prevented the royal officers from supplying us with such things as we
needed, by which our enterprize had been much retarded. That all these
things had been done by the bishop from corrupt motives, that he might
give the government of Mexico to Velasquez or Tapia, in order that one of
them might marry his _niece_ Donna Petronilla de Fonseca, being anxious to
make his _son-in-law_ governor of that splendid kingdom. As for the
expedition of Narvaez, our agents contended that Velasquez ought to suffer
death for having sent it in direct disobedience of his majesties orders as
communicated by the royal audience; and that he had behaved with high
disrespect to his majesty, in making his application to the bishop of
Burgos on this occasion. In support of all these accusations they offered
to bring substantial proofs, and prayed the court to award punishment for
these multiplied offences.
In reply to the accusations of Narvaez against Cortes, they represented,
that Narvaez sent word to Montezuma on his arrival in Mexico, that he came
to rescue him, by which he occasioned a dangerous war. That when Cortes
desired to see his commission, and represented the necessity of an
amicable junction of their forces for the good of the service, Narvaez
would give no answer, but immediately declared war against Cortes and his
companions, by which they were forced to defend themselves, and that
Narvaez had even presumed to seize his majesties oydor, for which Cortes
deemed it requisite to bring him to punishment. That when Cortes went to
wait on Narvaez, that he might see his commission and remonstrate with him
on his proceedings, Narvaez had attempted to make him prisoner by surprise,
of which proof could be made by witnesses. As to the failure of Garay, and
the ridiculous charge of having poisoned him; it was well known that the
expedition under Garay had failed through his own misconduct and ignorance
of the country; after which he had gladly accepted the friendly offers of
Cortes, who had given him an hospitable reception in Mexico, where an
alliance was agreed upon between their families, and Garay was to have
been assisted in establishing a colony on the river Palmas; and finally,
it was established beyond all doubt, by the oaths of the physicians who
attended him, that Garay had died of a pleurisy. In regard to the charge
of retaining his majesties fifth, it was proved that Cortes had fairly
expended it in the public service, together with 6000 crowns of his own
property. That the fifth which he had retained for himself, was according
to compact with the soldiers; and as to the shares belonging to the
soldiers, it was well known that very little gold was found in Mexico on
its capture, as almost all the wealth of the place had fallen into the
hands of our allies of Tlascala and Tezcuco. That the torture given to
Guatimotzin had been done by his majesties officers, contrary to the
inclination of Cortes, in order to force a discovery of where the
treasures of Montezuma had been concealed. As for the buildings, though
certainly sumptuous, they were intended for the use of his majesty and his
successors, and that the work had been carried on by the Indians, under
the order of Guatimotzin, as was always done in building houses for the
great in that country. As to Alonzo de Avila having taken the commission
from Narvaez by force; it appeared there was no commission among his
papers, which consisted entirely of receipts for the purchase of horses
and the like; and farther, that these papers had been taken without any
order from Cortes, who never saw any of them. As for Tapia, it was urged,
that if he had come to Mexico and produced his majesties orders, they
should have been received and obeyed by Cortes with the utmost humility:
But that his incapacity was so notorious to every one then in New Spain,
that it was the universal advice and desire of all that Cortes should
retain the command. As to the pilot Umbria, whose feet had been cut off,
this had been done in the due course of justice, for having run away with
his ship. That Cardenas had consented along with all the rest to give up
his share of the gold, that the whole might be sent to his majesty; and
that Cortes had given him 300 crowns from his own pocket, which was more
than he deserved, being a person of no consideration and no soldier.
The court having duly weighed all the charges and answers, the whole
proceedings were reported to his majesty, together with their opinion and
sentence, which were entirely in favour of Cortes, whose merit and valour,
and that of all the veteran conquerors of Mexico, were highly praised.
Velasquez was enjoined silence in respect to his complaints against Cortes,
and was told that he might seek for the remuneration of his expences by a
legal process. Cortes was declared governor-general of New Spain, pursuant
to the orders of the pope, and the court approved of the arrangements
which he had made in the country, authorizing him to distribute and
appoint the districts or _repartimientos_ in the way he thought proper.
Narvaez was referred for redress to France, where Avila was still a
prisoner. The pilots Umbria and Cardenas obtained royal grants of property
in New Spain, to the extent of a thousand crowns in annual rent. And it
was ordained that all the veterans of Cortes should have immediate and
ample gratifications in lands and Indians, with such precedency in rank as
their valour and services had deserved. This sentence was confirmed by the
emperor at Valladolid, who was then on his road to Flanders; and he gave
orders likewise for the banishment of all relapsed converts in New Spain,
and that no _Scholars_[1] should be admitted into that country for a
certain term of years. His majesty, and his brother the king of Hungary,
were graciously pleaded to write letters to Cortes, and to us the
conquerors, thanking us for the good service we had performed.
This affair being decided in our favour, the necessary documents were
entrusted to two relations of Cortes, Roderigo de Paz and Francisco de las
Casas, who carried them in the first place to St Jago in the island of
Cuba, where Velasquez resided. On the sentence being made known to him,
and proclaimed by sound of trumpet, he fell ill from vexation, and died
soon afterwards poor and miserable. Francisco de Montejo had the
government of Yucutan and Cozumel from his majesty, with the title of Don.
Diego de Ordas was ennobled, getting for his coat of arms the volcano of
Guaxocingo, and was confirmed in all his possessions in New Spain. He went
back to Spain two years afterwards to solicit permission to conquer the
province of Maranion, in which enterprize he lost his life and all his
property. On the arrival of Las Casas and De Paz in Mexico with the
appointment of Cortes to the government, there were great rejoicings
everywhere. Las Casas was made a captain, and got the _encomienda_ of a
good district called Anquitlan; and De Paz was appointed major-domo and
secretary to Cortes, getting likewise valuable possessions. Cortes
liberally rewarded the captain of the vessel which brought out this
pleasing information, and provided handsomely for all who came out to New
Spain from his native country of Medellin. All the proceedings of our
agents in Spain were regularly conveyed to us the conquerors; but it
seemed to me that they agented solely for Cortes and themselves, as we who
had raised Cortes to his greatness, were continually encountering dangers
and hardships, without any reward. May God protect us, and inspire our
great emperor to cause his just intentions towards us to be carried into
effect. To us, the ancient, wise, and brave conquerors of Mexico, it
appeared that Cortes ought to have duly considered his true friends, who
had supported him from the first through all his difficulties and dangers,
and ought to have rewarded us according to our respective merits, and his
majesties orders, by giving us good and profitable situations, instead of
leaving us poor and miserable. By his majesties orders, and by his duty,
Cortes was bound to have given to us and our children all the good offices
in the kingdom of New Spain; but be thought only of himself and his
favourites. In our opinion, who were the conquerors, the whole country
ought to have been divided into five equal parts, allotting one to the
crown, another for the holy church, and the remaining three parts to
Cortes and the rest of us, who were the true original conquerors, giving
each a share in perpetuity in proportion to our rank and merits,
considering that we had not only served his majesty in gratuity, but
without his knowledge, and, almost against his will. This arrangement
would have placed us at our ease; instead of which, many of us are
wandering about, almost without a morsel to eat, and God only knows what
may become of our children.
To the veedor Pedro Alonzo Chirinos, Gonzalo Salazar the factor, Rodrigo
Albornos the contador, and many others who came now from Spain, and to the
dependents of great men, who flattered him and told him fine tales, Cortes
refused nothing; but he treated us the true conquerors like vassals,
forgetting us entirely in the distribution of property, yet never failing
to call upon us when he wanted our assistance, as if we had been fit only
for expeditions and battles. I do not blame him for being generous, as
there was enough for all; but he ought in the first place to have
considered those who had served his majesty in the conquest of this noble
kingdom, and to whose blood and valour he was indebted for his own
elevation. Long afterwards, when Luis Ponce de Leon came out to supersede
Cortes, we the veteran conquerors represented to our general that he ought
to give us that property which he had been ordered by his majesty to
resign. He expressed his sorrow for having so long neglected us, and
promised even with an oath, that he would provide for us all, if he
returned to his government, thinking to satisfy us with smooth words and
empty promises.
[1] This probably alludes to _lawyers_, as on a former occasion, Diaz
mentions a request from the Spaniards that none of that fraternity
might be sent over to New Spain, probably to avoid the introduction of
litigious law suits.--E.