| TRIUMPHS and TRAGEDY, a History
of The Mexican people (Chapter 1) |
by Prof. German Estrada
March, 2005 |
CHAPTER 1 THE FOREFATHERS (part 29th) continues ....
2
THE CONQUEST OF TENOCHTITLÁN
VI
For the Spaniards, the future looked bleak, more so because there arrived from Veracruz at this moment news of the landing of Pánfilo de Narvaez and his men, dispatched by Governor Velázquez from Cuba to depose Cortés and ship him back to Spain in irons. Narváez had a fleet of fifteen ships and nine hundred men. To Cortés good fortune, Gonzalo de Sandoval, the lieutenant in charge of the garrison at Veracruz , captured two of Narváez men and sent them to Cortés, their hands and feet bound together, on the backs of Totonac porters. The astute Cortés set them free, gave them a tour of fabulous Tenochtitlan , loaded them with gifts, and returned them to their companions at Cempoala; but, not before offering them a share of the spoils if they joined in the battle against the Aztecs. Meanwhile, Cortés, with half of his men, departed for the coast and, during a night of heavy rains, fell upon Narváez, routed his men, and took him prisoner. Repeating his earlier promise, he promised Narváez's men a part of the loot if they would return with him. Such was Cortés power of persuasion that most of them chose to join the enterprise. Narváez, to his unhappiness, stayed behind as a captive in Veracruz .
Just as Cortés seemed to have everything under control, terrible tidings arrived from Tenochtitlan . The Aztecs were attacking the Spaniards. Determined to hold on Tenochtitlan , Cortés returned immediately. Again, the Tlaxcalans received him with hospitality and the offer of two thousand soldiers. When Cortés and his allies once more entered Tenochtitlan , only sullen faces could be seen. Pedro de Alvarado, whom Cortés left in charge of the garrison, had blundered. When the Aztecs had gathered together in a big courtyard of Tenochtitlan for the May festival in honor of Huitzilopochtli, Alvarado had his men attack them. The angry Aztecs drove the Spaniards back to their quarters. For all intent and purposes, they were prisoners of the Aztecs, now unwilling to listen to Moctezuma.
Alvarado and his soldiers had inflicted terrible losses to the Aztecs. It was, according to Aztec accounts, a bloodbath. While they celebrated, dancing and singing, the Spaniards, swords in hand, had sealed the entrances to the courtyard and started to kill Aztecs. They cut off hands and arms of some and decapitated others; some Aztecs died from knife wounds in their backs. When they attempted to flee, their intestines hanging out, their feet became entangled in them. On he floor of the great Teocalli ( main temple ), the blood of the Aztecs "ran like water." This slaughter convinced the Aztecs that the Spaniards, far from being gods, were just popolucas who wanted to plunder and destroy the city.
The Aztecs, having allowed Cortés and his men to enter the city, closed their ring around them, intending to starve the Spaniards and, when their resistance weakened, to storm their battlements and kill them. Trying to break the siege, Cortés released Cuitláhuac, the brother of Moctezuma, taken prisoner earlier for his part in the plot hatched in Texcoco, believing he would persuade the Aztecs to surrender and provide the Spaniards with food and water. Instead, Cuitláhuac made himself their leader and ordered an attack n the Spaniards. Soon the entire city was up in arms. Thousands of warriors crowded rooftops, streets, and causeways where the Spaniards had barricaded themselves. After a week of heavy fighting and mounting Spanish casualties, Cortés prevailed upon Moctezuma to appeal to his subjects to permit the Spaniards to leave Tenochtitlan . After some hesitation, Moctezuma, hoping probable to end the killing of his people, consented. However, when he climbed a rooftop, he was struck dead by a shower of stones and arrows; his former subjects, according to the Spanish tale, killed their pusillanimous lord.
The Indian account, usually ignored by the storytellers, says that the Spanish, aware that a Moctezuma bereft of his authority was of no use to them. murdered him. 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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