| TRIUMPHS and TRAGEDY, a History
of The Mexican people (Chapter 1) |
by Prof. German Estrada
January, 2005 |
CHAPTER 1 THE FOREFATHERS (part 25th) continues ....
2
THE CONQUEST OF TENOCHTITLÁN
This remarkable woman, the helpmate of Spaniards, is a legend in Mexico ; the name Malinche, which the Indians gave to her, is synonymous with betrayal. No figure in Mexican history, not even Antonio López de Santa Anna, who lost Texas and half of Mexico to the United States , writes Fernando Benitez, a noted author, epitomizes more eloquently the willingness of Mexicans to prostrate themselves before foreigners. By the mid-nineteenth century, this mistress of Cortés was the symbol of "the perfect Judas." Soon after her death, popular opinion made her into La Llorona, the "official ghost" of Mexico . With hair flying in the wind and her dress in disarray, La Llorona wandered about at night grieving for her lost children, the Indians she had betrayed.
IV
At a site he called Veracruz , Cortés established a town: its ayuntamiento, or town council, which he appointed, gave him an independent base for his operations. Legally, he was rid of Governor Velázquez. Under Spanish law, he was free to go his own way. Veracruz was the first city of New Spain . At Cempoala, a Totonac town near Veracruz , the Spaniards met Aztec emissaries, who greeted them warmly, bringing them game, fruits, vegetables, and cooked dishes; whetting Spanish appetites more were gold trinkets. The emissaries reported the presence of Spaniards to Moctezuma, informed of their movements since their landings at Yucatán and Tabasco . Cortés told the Aztecs of his desire to visit Moctezuma in his palace at Tenochtitlan . Trying to persuade the Spaniards to return home, Moctezuma committed the mistake of sending them two disks of solid gold and silver. With his gifts Moctezuma assured his downfall.
From the Totonacs, Cortés had learned of Indian dissension. Their chief had spoken bitterly of Moctezuma, who demanded tribute -women to be concubines and men to sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli. Nor only did the Aztecs have enemies, but their rivals fought with each other. This disunity would aid the Spaniards, who, under the leadership of Cortés, played off one Indian group against the other. When Cortés began his march, leaving behind a small garrison at Veracruz , four hundred Totonacs accompanied him as porters. It was August 19, 1519 .
When the Spaniards made their next stop, they were on the other side of the steep mountains that separated the heat and mosquitoes of coastal Veracruz from the cool and verdant Mesa Central, the domain of the Tlaxcalans. Fiercely independent, they were mortal enemies of the Aztecs. To defend themselves from their haughty neighbors, they built a stone wall more than two leagues long, nine feet tall, and twenty feet thick with parapets at the top. Behind this wall, the Tlaxcalans refuse adamantly to pay homage to the Aztecs; this led to interminable wars between the two people. The Aztecs, wealthier and more numerous, inflicted a heavy penalty on their indomitable neighbors, capturing them for human sacrifice and cutting them off from the salt, cacao, and cotton of the coast.
Having monitored the advance of the Spaniards, the Tlaxcalans were of two minds on how to handle them. One element, thinking the Spaniards likely allies against the Aztecs, wanted to allow them entrance to the kingdom. The faction led by the old chieftain Xicoténcatl believed that the Spaniards could not be trusted. His views prevailed; it was decided that an army of Tlaxcalans would confront the invaders. Cortés had to fight his way into Tlaxcala, once battling thirty thousand warriors. The Tlaxcalans wounded and killed Spaniards as well as their horses, but, ultimately, lances and crossbows prevailed, aided by volleys of musket fire, which inflicted staggering losses on the enemy. The bows and arrows, slings and javelins of the Tlaxcalans were no match. Despite the misgivings of Xicoténcatl, the Tlaxcalans made their peace with the Spaniards. Thereafter, Spaniards and Tlaxcalans were allies; without them, Cortés and his tiny band could not have defeated the Aztecs. Source: From the book Triumphs
and Tragedy, a History of the Mexican People by his
author Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, and with his authorization.
(W.W. Norton & Company. New York-London). We'll continue with this fascinating
book.
estradanav@yahoo.com
Prof. Germán
Estrada is the author of the best selling book,
"México
Mágico: Everything You Wanted To Know
About... But Nobody Told You..." available in Puerto
Vallarta at The Net House, Mail Boxes, Etc., Books,
Books as well as directly from the author by internet.
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