| TRIUMPHS and TRAGEDY, a History
of The Mexican people (Chapter 1) |
by Prof. German Estrada
March, 2005 |
CHAPTER 1 THE FOREFATHERS (part 28th) continues ....
2
THE CONQUEST OF TENOCHTITLÁN
This Moctezuma, a vacillating but proud ruler, confronted Cortés, a man of the Reconquista, hungry for gold and adventure and willing to die for them. When Moctezuma descended from his litter, his principal chiefs supporting him with their arms, he appeared frail and weak. A "rich canopy of green feathers, worked with gold and silver pearls," and borne aloft by his chiefs, shielded him from the sun. He wore sandals, "with soled of gold covered with precious stones," and was richly dressed. Lesser lords walked ahead, sweeping the ground and placing mats for him to step on. When Cortés tried to embrace Moctezuma, they stopped him.
By invitation of Moctezuma, Cortés and his soldiers spent a week, more or less, in one of the palaces. With princely courtesy, Moctezuma ordered that they be well attended and, from time to time, paid them courtesy calls. As guest of the Aztec monarch, the Spaniards ate the best food and enjoyed the best of care. But, from their entrance into the city, they knew that they were but a step away from being Moctezuma's hostages. They were in hostile territory, where thousands of Aztecs watched their every move. Were the Aztecs to fall upon them, Spaniards feared they would be hard pressed to escape. Thus, when news arrived from Veracruz of the death of two Spaniards at the hands of natives ---at the instigation of Moctezuma, it was rumored---Cortés, after consulting with his lieutenants, decided to kidnap the emperor. Moctezuma was told to accompany the Spaniards to their quarters or be killed. A weeping Moctezuma, according to Spanish accounts, complied; on the way to the lodgings of the Spaniards, he kept hostile Aztecs, who watched sullenly the degradation of their emperor, from attacking the captors. Once in the quarters, Cortés put Moctezuma in chains.
For six months, Cortés, behind the façade of Moctezuma, attempted to govern Tenochtitlan . According to the Spaniards, Moctezuma did what he was told willingly; his subjects, accustomed to obeying chieftains, did the bidding of the captive emperor. Meanwhile, the Spaniards took advantage of this interval to loot Aztecs treasures, to hunt for gold mines, and to explore the territory. After setting aside a fifth of the treasure for the crown and a fifth for himself, Cortés split what was left among his men. Moctezuma watched this without protest, devoting himself to the business of administration, granting audiences to his subjects, and even playing games with Cortés. All the same, Moctezuma refused to embrace Christianity; no matter what the Spaniards said, he remained faithful to Huitzilopochtli. Plainly, the native peoples encountered by Cortés, if Bernal Diaz's account is truthful, accepted his rule more readily than the idea of religious conversion, though the Spaniards hoisted the image of the virgin atop the tallest pyramid of Tenochtitlan, toppled its idols, and ha Father Olmedo celebrate mass.
Not all Aztecs accepted the state of affairs as readily as their emperor did. Resentment and dissatisfaction with Moctezuma's obsequious behavior ran rampant. One angry chieftain was Cacama, nephew of Moctezuma and lord of Texcoco. No more than twenty-five years of age, Cacama disclaimed the behavior of his uncle. With the backing of neighboring caciques, among them Moctezuma's brother, the chief of Ixtapalapa, Cacama plotted the rescue of his uncle and the downfall of the Spaniards. Unfortunately for him, Cortés learned of the plan and, with the connivance of Moctezuma, capture Cacama and his fellow plotters and put them in chains. Cacama's plot was but one manifestation of the resentment, the more the Spaniards bent Moctezuma to their will, the greater the discontent among the Aztecs, especially after the Spaniards attempted to substitute their faith for the ancient creeds. At this juncture, Moctezuma, after conferring with his chieftains, told Spaniards to leave or face uprising of his people.
Next week we'll continue with this fascinating book.
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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