This battle took place in the latter part of June, 1520, several months
after the friendly reception, and was occasioned by the treacherous and
most atrocious proceedings of the Spaniards, which drove the Mexicans to
madness. Nearly a year passed before Cortez made another attack on the
Mexican capital. During this time he found means among the Tlascalans to
build a flotilla of thirteen vessels, which were transported in pieces
to Lake Tezcuco and there put together. This would have been impossible
if he had not found in the country suitable tools and mechanics. By
means of these vessels armed with cannon, and assisted by a great army
of native allies consisting of Tlascalans, Cholulans, and many others,
he took control of the lagunas, secured possession of the causeways, and
attacked the city in vain for forty-five days, although his men several
times penetrated to the great square. He now resolved to enter by
gradual advances, and destroy every thing as he went. This he did,
burning what was combustible, and tearing down most of the edifices
built of stone; nevertheless, thirty or forty days more passed before
this work of destruction was complete. The inhabitants of the city were
given over to extermination.
The conquerors proceeded immediately to rebuild the city, native
architects chiefly being employed to do the work. Materials for the
rebuilding were taken from the ruins; probably many of the old Aztec
foundations were retained, and there may now be edifices in the city of
Mexico which stand on some of these foundations. Twelve acres of the
great inclosure of the Aztec temple were taken for a Spanish plaza, and
are still used for this purpose, while the site of the temple is
occupied by a cathedral. The plaza is paved with marble. Like the rest
of the great inclosure, it was paved when the Spaniards first saw it,
and the paving was so perfect and so smooth that their horses were
liable to slip and fall when they attempted to ride over it.
Some relics recovered from ruins of the old temple have been preserved.
Among them is the great Aztec calendar which belonged to it, on which
are carved hieroglyphics representing the months of the year. This
calendar was found in 1790 buried in the great square. It was carved
from a mass of porous basalt, and made eleven feet eight inches in
diameter. It was a fixture of the Aztec temple; it is now walled into
one side of the cathedral. The "stone of sacrifice," another relic of
the temple, nine feet in diameter, and covered with sculptured
hieroglyphics, can still be seen in the city, and in the suburbs, it is
said, vestiges of the ruins of long lines of edifices can be traced.
Calendars made of gold and silver were common in Mexico. Before Cortez
reached the capital, Montezuma sent him two "as large as cartwheels,"
one representing the sun, the other the moon, both "richly carved."
During the sack of the city a calendar of gold was found by a soldier in
a pond of Guatemozin's garden. But these Spaniards did not go to Mexico
to study Aztec astronomy, nor to collect curiosities. In their hands
every article of gold was speedily transformed into coin.
In every Spanish description of the city we can see its resemblance to
cities whose ruins are found farther south. If the Spaniards had
invented the temple, they would not have made it unlike any thing they
had ever before seen or heard of, by placing its altar on the summit of
a high pyramid. This method of constructing temples is seen in the old
ruins, but it was unknown to Cortez and his men until they found it in
Mexico. The only reasonable or possible explanation of what they said of
it is, that the temple actually existed at the Aztec capital, and that
the Spaniards, being there, described what they saw. The uniform
testimony of all who saw the country at that time shows that the
edifices of towns and cities, wherever they went, were most commonly
built of cut stone laid in mortar, or of timber, and that in the more
rural districts thatch was frequently used for the roofs of dwellings.
Moreover, we are told repeatedly that the Spaniards employed "Mexican
masons," and found them "very expert" in the arts of building and
plastering. There is no good reason to doubt that the civilized
condition of the country, when the Spaniards found it, was superior to
what it has been at any time since the Conquest.