The Aztecs

by Michael E Smith

  This period also witnessed an unprecedented level of stylistic communication and sharing. Murals in the International Style (part of the Mixteca-Puebla style; see chapter 12) were painted in all areas, and elites throughout Mesoamerica exchanged painted codices whose calendrical, ritual, and historical content – in addition to their styles and iconography – were widely shared. For example, the highland Maya city of Iximche', capital of the Kaqchikel peoples, was in many ways a typical Late Postclassic Maya city (figure 13.2).3 Nearly all of the artifacts and architecture conform to local highland Maya patterns, but attached to two temples are low platforms decorated with skulls and crossbones that would be right at home in Tenochtitlan. Although some archaeologists have suggested that Mexica peoples moved to Guatemala and brought such symbols with them, a much more likely explanation is that the local Kaqchikel king knew about the skull-and-crossbone symbol, and its use on low platforms (chapter 9), from a traded codex or from visiting ambassadors or merchants. Symbols like this were well traveled in Postclassic Mesoamerica, providing visual evidence for the high level of communication and integration – both commercial and stylistic – that linked the entire area into a single social and cultural network.

  Figure 13.2 Palace and temples at the highland Maya city of Iximché (photograph by Timothy Smith; reproduced with permission)

  Aztec civilization was just one culture among many in Late Postclassic Mesoamerica. But it is the culture that we know the most about today. Its pathway of development illustrates the two-headed results of demographic, economic, and political expansion: prosperity and cultural florescence coupled with growing hardship for the commoner class. This was the situation that Hernando Cortés and his army encountered in 1519.

  Conquest by Spain

  Cortés and Motecuhzoma

  In the decades after Columbus's first voyage of 1492, the Spaniards colonized the Caribbean islands and set up a base in Cuba.4 Several expeditions explored parts of the Mexican and Central American coasts. In 1518 Juan de Grijalva sighted the Maya city of Tulum along the coast of Yucatan, and one of his sailors noted, “We followed the shore day and night, and the next day toward sunset we perceived a city or town so large, that Seville would not have seemed more considerable nor better; one saw there a very large tower.”5 As one of the Postclassic Maya cities with murals painted in the Mixteca-Puebla style, Tulum was part of the system of active commerce and interaction that linked Mesoamerican together in Late Postclassic times; many of the cliff-side buildings sighted in 1518 are still standing today (figure 13.3).

  Figure 13.3 Structure at the coastal Maya city of Tulum (photograph by Katelyn Sainz; reproduced with permission)

  The Spaniards had heard rumors of a rich and powerful kingdom in Mexico, and in February of 1519 Hernando Cortés set sail from Cuba with 11 ships and 500 men to explore the Mexican coast. Funding for the expedition was split between the Spanish crown, represented by governor Diego de Velásquez in Cuba, and Cortés himself. At the last minute, Velásquez had second thoughts about the ambitious Cortés and withdrew permission for the trip, but Cortés sailed anyway. Later the governor tried unsuccessfully to recall and imprison Cortés. On the island of Cozumel, off the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Cortés came upon Gerónimo de Aguilar, a Spaniard who had survived shipwreck several years earlier. Aguilar had learned to speak Yucatec Maya, and he joined the expedition as an interpreter.

  The group then rounded the peninsula and stopped at Potonchan on the Gulf Coast. A local army came out to meet the Spaniards, but after a brief battle, the natives withdrew. Their leaders offered Cortés gifts, including several young women. Among the women was Malintzin, a noblewoman, bilingual in Nahuatl and Maya, who had been sold into slavery. The combined linguistic abilities of Malintzin and Aguilar enabled Cortés to communicate with the Aztecs. Malintzin (also called Marina or Malinche) proved to be a useful assistant to the Spaniards. She later became Cortés's mistress and bore him a son, Martín.

  When the Spaniards landed in the territory of the Totonac peoples, near what is today the city of Veracruz, they were greeted by messengers from Motecuhzoma. The Mexica king had been following their progress, and he sent Cortés gifts of precious feathers and gold. This offering was made in part to ascertain who these strange foreigners were. Some wondered whether the Spaniards could be gods, and their reactions to the gifts would help to clarify their nature. But the Spaniards did not respond like gods. In the words of Friar Sahagún's Nahua informants:

  They laid before them golden streamers, quetzal feather streamers, and golden necklaces.

  And when they have given them the gift, they appeared to smile, to rejoice exceedingly, and to take great pleasure. Like monkeys they seized upon the gold. It was as if then they were satisfied, sated, and gladdened. For in truth they thirsted mightily for gold; they stuffed themselves with it, and starved and lusted for it like pigs.6

  Cortés imprisoned the messengers and forced them to witness the firing of a cannon, which terrified them. He then released them to return to Motecuhzoma with a frightening account of the strangers. The Mexica king was perplexed. He summoned his wise men and magicians, but they, too, were unable to fathom the nature of the Spaniards. Cortés and his army did not behave like gods, nor did they behave like a Mesoamerican invading army. Motecuhzoma chose to wait before taking any action against the strangers. His hesitation contributed to the rapid Spanish victory.

  Hernando Cortés set up camp and spent several months exploring the area in the vicinity of his landfall. He engaged the local Totonac rulers in skirmishes and negotiations. The Totonacs soon came to respect the military abilities of the Spaniards, whose swords, guns, armor, horses, fighting dogs, and military tactics held great advantage over Mexican obsidian swords and the one-on-one fighting style of Mesoamerican armies. Local rulers complained bitterly about the heavy burden of imperial taxes, and Cortés responded by taking some haughty Mexica tax-collectors prisoner. The audacity of this action astonished the Totonac nobles, who quickly came over to the side of the Spaniards when Cortés offered to free them of Mexica domination.

  By this time, Cortés had heard descriptions of the great imperial capital Tenochtitlan and its incredible riches. His army set out for central Mexico accompanied by hundreds of allied Totonac troops. The Spaniards did not head directly for the Valley of Mexico, however. Cortés had learned that Motecuhzoma could field armies of many thousands of soldiers, and his small group of Spaniards and Totonacs was no match for such forces. Instead, the expedition headed for Tlaxcalla, the powerful Aztec state that still resisted conquest by the Triple Alliance. At first Cortés's soldiers were challenged by the Tlaxcallan armies, but Cortés soon convinced the rulers to join him in his march to Tenochtitlan. Motecuhzoma was increasingly worried about the Spaniards' intentions. Several times he sent precious gifts (including objects of gold) to Cortés, accompanied by the suggestion that there was no need for Cortés to visit the capital city. His troops were welcome to take the gifts and simply return across the water. The gold, of course, made the Spaniards more anxious than ever to see the city. Gold was what they sought.

  The Spaniards and their Totonac allies left Tlaxcalla with several thousand additional soldiers. The party first visited the nearby holy city of Cholula. There they were welcomed by the nobles. Cortés, however, fearing an ambush, ordered his armies to massacre thousands of unarmed Cholulan warriors. Then, the people of Cholula were compelled to declare their loyalty to Spain. Cortés and his forces now struck out for Tenochtitlan. Motecuhzoma continued to send gifts and messages urging Cortés to head back to Spain, but the Spaniards and their allies pressed on. At last they entered the Valley of Mexico and approached the lake. The Spaniards were awed by the sight of the great cities with their monumental buildings (see the quotation that begins chapter 1).

  Cortés proceeded along the causeway toward Tenochtitlan, and Motecuhzoma went to greet him. In the words of Friar Durán:

  When Motecuhzoma heard that the Sp
anish captain was approaching, he again ascended his litter and then, carried on the noblemen's shoulders in the same way he had come, he went out to meet him. On seeing Cortés, he descended. When Cortés saw this, he climbed down from his horse and went to embrace the Aztec sovereign, treating him with much reverence. Motecuhzoma did the same, paying homage to the other with humility and words of welcome. From one of his noblemen he took a splendid necklace of gold, inlaid with precious stones, and placed it around Cortés's neck.7

  Great crowds had gathered to witness the meeting and gawk at the Spaniards. The soldier Bernal Díaz later recalled:

  Who could now count the multitude of men, women, and boys in the streets, on the roof-tops and in canoes on the waterways, who had come out to see us? . . . So, with luck on our side, we boldly entered the city of Tenochtitlan or Mexico on 8 November in the year of our Lord 1519.8

  Motecuhzoma made the Spaniards welcome and put them up in the sumptuous palace compound of his father, the great Mexica tlatoani Axayacatl. Cortés repaid this courtesy by taking Motecuhzoma prisoner on the pretext that a group of Spaniards on the coast had been attacked by native warriors. Cortés began to govern Tenochtitlan through the fiction that Motecuhzoma was still in authority. The Spaniards tried to suppress sacrificial rituals, with only partial success. This tense situation continued for several months. Then, in April of 1520, Cortés received news that an expedition had landed on the coast with orders from Velásquez to arrest him. He set off at once with half of his forces, leaving Pedro de Alvarado in charge of the capital.

  Cortés managed to defeat the newly arrived Spanish force and won them over to his side. Meanwhile, Alvarado was having serious difficulties in Tenochtitlan. When he heard that human sacrifices were to be performed at a ceremony honoring Huitzilopochtli, Alvarado had the defenseless participants massacred in the temple courtyard. Outraged by the slaughter, the Mexica armies attacked the Axayacatl palace. At this point Cortés returned with his troops and new recruits, who managed to fight their way back into the palace. The ruling council of Tenochtitlan had long opposed Motecuhzoma's cooperation with the Spaniards and voted to depose the king. They elected his brother, Cuitlahuac, to replace Motecuhzoma as tlatoani. Hostilities continued, and at some point Motecuhzoma was killed. Spanish sources stated that he was killed by a stone thrown by one of his own people, whereas native accounts related that he was murdered by the Spaniards.

  Cortés and his group were besieged. Amidst the fighting they made plans to flee the city (figure 13.4). On the night of June 30, 1520, they attempted to slip out of Tenochtitlan. Many of the Spaniards had laden themselves with heavy loads of gold, which slowed down their escape. This night has since been called the noche triste (night of sorrows) due to the heavy casualties of the bloody battles that took place. Eventually Cortés and his army made it across the causeway and retreated over the mountains to regroup in Tlaxcalla. Additional Spanish soldiers arrived to fortify the positions on the coast and to reinforce Cortés's army. The general kept busy recruiting new native allies and organizing his troops.

  Figure 13.4 Aztec warriors attack the Spaniards, who try to flee Tenochtitlan (modified after Durán 1994:pl.60; drawing by Ellen Cesarski)

  Several months later, Cortés set off for Tenochtitlan once again. This time he was supported by over 700 Spaniards and close to 70,000 native troops. The army split into two parts, and each fought its way to the edge of the lakes by a different route. The combined Spanish and Tlaxcallan armies successfully defeated many local city-states that had been fortified with Mexica soldiers (figure 13.5). Numerous tlatoque declared their allegiance to Spain. When the armies met up, they laid siege to the island capital. The fighting was fierce, with many casualties on both sides, but the invaders wreaked the greatest devastation with an unintentional weapon: disease. Friar Sahagún's native informants described the situation as follows:

  While the Spaniards were in Tlaxcala, a great plague broke out here in Tenochtitlan. It began to spread during the thirteenth month [the month of Tepeilhuitl, October 11–30] and lasted for seventy days, striking everywhere in the city and killing a vast number of our people. Sores erupted on our faces, our breasts, our bellies; we were covered with agonizing sores from head to foot.

  The illness was so dreadful that no one could walk or move. The sick were so utterly helpless that they could only lie on the beds like corpses . . . If they did move their bodies, they screamed with pain.

  A great many died from this plague, and many others died of hunger. They could not get up to search for food, and everyone else was too sick to care for them, so they starved to death in their beds.9

  Figure 13.5 Battle between the Mexica and Spaniards (with their Tlaxcallan allies; modified after Muñoz Camargo 1984:f.277r; drawing by Ellen Cesarski)

  The siege of Tenochtitlan went on for several months, during which time many who were not injured became seriously ill. At some point before or during the siege, Cuitlahuac died of smallpox. He was replaced by Cuauhtemoc, a nephew of Motecuhzoma and a fierce warrior. The Spaniards blocked shipments of food into the city and cut off the fresh water supply by destroying the aqueduct from Chapultepec. The Mexica warriors fought bravely, but the outcome of the siege was inevitable. On August 13, 1521, Cuauhtemoc was captured and the Spaniards claimed victory over the Mexica. The Tlaxcallan soldiers, however, went on to massacre many of the remaining inhabitants of Tenochtitlan. The defeat and destruction of the city was remembered in the following elegy:

  Broken spears lie in the roads;

  we have torn our hair in grief.

  The houses are roofless now, and their walls

  are red with blood.

  We have pounded our hands in despair

  against the adobe walls,

  for our inheritance, our city, is lost and dead.

  The shields of our warriors were its defense,

  but they could not save it.10

  Perspective

  The question is sometimes asked, “How did 500 Spaniards manage to defeat the Aztec Empire whose armies had tens of thousands of warriors?” As the above account should make clear, this question is not well phrased. The Aztec Empire was defeated by 500 Spaniards, aided by tens of thousands of native allies and a disease epidemic of proportions never before seen in the New World. Much of the initial Spanish success was owed to the political astuteness of Hernando Cortés, who quickly divined the disaffection towards the Mexica that prevailed in the eastern empire. He turned that desire for rebellion to his own benefit through strategic alliances with the Totonacs and other Mexica subjects as well as with their traditional enemies, the Tlaxcallans. These indigenous troops deserve credit for a major part of the Spanish victory. The superior weapons of the Spaniards – particularly guns and swords – are another reason for their success.

  Motecuhzoma's hesitancy to attack the initial Spanish forces also contributed to the Aztec's defeat. Had the Mexica tlatoani challenged the Spaniards before they reached the Valley of Mexico, he might have prevailed.11 Motecuhzoma's actions so puzzled and troubled the Nahua nobility that, after the conquest, they contrived a story to account for them. First, they concocted an “ancient” prophecy which stated that the god-king Quetzalcoatl would return from across the eastern sea to rule Mexico in the year 1 Acatl, or 1519. Next, they invented a series of omens and signs that pointed to the coming of Quetzalcoatl. Finally, they claimed that Motecuhzoma truly believed Cortés to have been the deity himself. In the context of this story, Motecuhzoma's hesitation made sense; he thought that the arrival of the Spaniards was the second coming of Quetzalcoatl, not an invasion of strange foreigners.12

  Ethnohistorians Ross Hassig and Michel Graulich have suggested more reasonable explanations for Motecuhzoma's indecision. Hassig argues that at first Motecuhzoma was unafraid of the Spaniards since the power of the Triple Alliance Empire was great enough to awe most potential enemies. Nor did Cortés and the Spaniards behave like a Mesoamerican invading army. Their behavior was puzzling t
o the Mexica, but not initially threatening. In Mesoamerican warfare, invading forces did not arrive unannounced. Intentions were clearly broadcast in advance of actual hostilities, but Cortés professed friendly intentions. Furthermore, following his defeat of the Mexica's enemies, Tlaxcalla and Cholula, Cortés might have been approaching Tenochtitlan to propose an alliance. In Hassig's words, “So instead of meeting the Spaniards at some distance from Tenochtitlan and fighting them as they would have met an enemy force, the Aztecs permitted them to enter their capital, as they would have if they were peaceful.”13

  Graulich notes that in Mesoamerican warfare, defeated kings who did not resist their conquerors were left in power and assessed a lower tribute or tax quota than kings who put up a fight. He suggests that Motecuhzoma's hesitation can be explained in part by his use of this principle. The Mexica king may have thought that his armies stood little chance against the Spaniards, and therefore a policy of limited resistance was more likely to leave him in power and to obtain a less severe tax burden for his people. By the time the Spaniards were expelled from Tenochtitlan and Motecuhzoma replaced by more aggressive rulers (first Cuitlahuac and then Cuauhtemoc), it was too late for the Aztecs. The invading force had been heavily reinforced by both Spanish and native soldiers, and the dreaded smallpox virus had begun to decimate the population. Ultimately, this microorganism proved far more deadly than either Cortés's political shrewdness or Motecuhzoma's failure to attack.

  The smallpox virus that devastated Tenochtitlan has been traced to a single soldier who arrived in Mexico in 1520 while Cortés was in Tlaxcalla preparing for his final assault.14 Because many communicable diseases, such as smallpox, measles, and typhus, were absent in the New World, the Aztecs and other native peoples did not have any resistance to them. The situation was different in Europe (and in most of the world today), where a long history of exposure to these diseases had lessened their impact on the population. The first appearance of a contagious disease in an area always sets off the most devastating epidemic. When a disease such as one of these is unleashed on a new population, the resulting “virgin-soil epidemic” is usually catastrophic. The smallpox epidemic of 1520–1521 was the first of many such virgin-soil epidemics to sweep through the New World in the centuries following European contact. According to one estimate, the population of the Valley of Mexico was reduced from 1.6 million in 1519 to 900,000 in 1521 as a result of this epidemic alone.15