Ellena Purnell
October 19, 2015
Mexican History
The Conquest of Mexico
Over the course of history certain accounts of the Spanish conquest of Mexica has been told different ways. This can be owed to the biased accounts of certain events by all parties involved. While some might argue that the Spaniards actions were due to the savageness of the Aztec people, others might argue that the Aztecs were a advanced civilization that conducted life according to their customs and religious beliefs and that they were violated by the Spaniards. Whatever the reason, the expedition led by Hernan Cortes in 1519 resulted in the fall of the Mexica Empire. Like European contemporaries, Mesoamerican societies were urban, agricultural, literate, and militaristic. …show more content…
Upon arriving in Cholula they were greatly welcomed so they decided to stay. In the days that they stayed they were fed worse each day. Cortes was suspicious that the chiefs and nobles had stopped coming to see the Spaniards. Cortes interpreter Dona Marina was told that the women and children were sent from the city and that Montezuma’s men were waiting very close to kill them. He decided to forstall an attack on the Natives and as a result over 3000 natives were killed. Cortes wrote a series of letters to King Charles V portraying himself and the Spaniards as chivalrous soldiers. And argued that it wasn’t their fault what happened that the Cholulans waged war on them and they retaliated.
Costillo account of the event was similar to Cortes’ but he places the battle only a day after they arrived at Cholula not a couple of days as Cortes led King Charles to believe in his letters. Through Castillo's account, it is suggested that Cortes proposed that the people of Cholula and Tlaxcala must enter into a treaty in order to end the hatred. After the fighting, which according to Bernal Diaz del Castillo, was by the Cholulan's choice. Throughout the Castillo's testimony, it is obvious that the Cholulan's were taking orders from Montezuma to prepare for …show more content…
This too have opposing versions to how this event happened. The Spanish version of the incident claims the conquistadors intervened to prevent a ritual of human sacrifice in the Templo Mayor. The Aztec version says the Spaniards were enticed into action by the gold the Aztecs were wearing, prompting an Aztec rebellion against the orders of Montezuma.
There are only a few surviving accounts of the Spanish conquest of Mexico as told by Aztec authors. According to Nahuatl text the Aztecs were celebrating the Fiesta of Huitzilopochtli, the god of the Sun. The Spaniards went to watch them perform this famous and praised dance, and seeing how rich they were and wanting the gold that they were wearing, he covered each of the entrances with ten or twelve Spaniards and went inside with more than fifty, and without remorse and lacking any Christian piety, they brutally stabbed and killed the Indians, and took what they were
October 19, 2015
Mexican History
The Conquest of Mexico
Over the course of history certain accounts of the Spanish conquest of Mexica has been told different ways. This can be owed to the biased accounts of certain events by all parties involved. While some might argue that the Spaniards actions were due to the savageness of the Aztec people, others might argue that the Aztecs were a advanced civilization that conducted life according to their customs and religious beliefs and that they were violated by the Spaniards. Whatever the reason, the expedition led by Hernan Cortes in 1519 resulted in the fall of the Mexica Empire. Like European contemporaries, Mesoamerican societies were urban, agricultural, literate, and militaristic. …show more content…
Upon arriving in Cholula they were greatly welcomed so they decided to stay. In the days that they stayed they were fed worse each day. Cortes was suspicious that the chiefs and nobles had stopped coming to see the Spaniards. Cortes interpreter Dona Marina was told that the women and children were sent from the city and that Montezuma’s men were waiting very close to kill them. He decided to forstall an attack on the Natives and as a result over 3000 natives were killed. Cortes wrote a series of letters to King Charles V portraying himself and the Spaniards as chivalrous soldiers. And argued that it wasn’t their fault what happened that the Cholulans waged war on them and they retaliated.
Costillo account of the event was similar to Cortes’ but he places the battle only a day after they arrived at Cholula not a couple of days as Cortes led King Charles to believe in his letters. Through Castillo's account, it is suggested that Cortes proposed that the people of Cholula and Tlaxcala must enter into a treaty in order to end the hatred. After the fighting, which according to Bernal Diaz del Castillo, was by the Cholulan's choice. Throughout the Castillo's testimony, it is obvious that the Cholulan's were taking orders from Montezuma to prepare for …show more content…
This too have opposing versions to how this event happened. The Spanish version of the incident claims the conquistadors intervened to prevent a ritual of human sacrifice in the Templo Mayor. The Aztec version says the Spaniards were enticed into action by the gold the Aztecs were wearing, prompting an Aztec rebellion against the orders of Montezuma.
There are only a few surviving accounts of the Spanish conquest of Mexico as told by Aztec authors. According to Nahuatl text the Aztecs were celebrating the Fiesta of Huitzilopochtli, the god of the Sun. The Spaniards went to watch them perform this famous and praised dance, and seeing how rich they were and wanting the gold that they were wearing, he covered each of the entrances with ten or twelve Spaniards and went inside with more than fifty, and without remorse and lacking any Christian piety, they brutally stabbed and killed the Indians, and took what they were