The Massacre Of The Great Temple By Hernan Cortes

The Massacre of the Great Temple is a famous incident that occurred during the overtaking of the Aztec Capital city ‘Tenichititlan’ by the Spanish in the year 1520. While this famous massacre is most often remembered of the fall of the Aztec Empire, and the rise of Spanish domination in the region, the fall of the empire was most attributed to Hernan Cortes and his small army of men disregarding orders from the Spanish crown, and using violence and persuasion to bring down an empire.

In the years leading up to this famous massacre, there was a long background in Mexico and South America for the Spanish soldiers and explorers led by the Conquistador Hernan Cortes. Cortes arrived in Hisponola in 1504 and after spending years there gaining influence, he travelled to Cuba where this influence increased …show more content…
Cortes left the city under the rule of Pedro de Alvarado. Pedro de Alvarado started the Massacre of the Great Temple, by allowing the citizens and soldiers to have the Fiesta of Huitzilopochtli, and spent two days celebrating and covering the statue of their god in Gold and Jewels. Alvarado used this fiesta to massacre thousands of citizens and soldiers who were unarmed. This massacre prompted a city wide rebellion that neither the Spanish or Moctezuma could control.

Cortes arrived after defeating the Governor of Cuba’s men and brought many of them back as new allies, but were not welcomed with open arms from the civilians as they were in city-wide protest and revolt. Cortes and his army fled the city and escaped by pure luck, with many of their men killed and almost all of their plunder and artillery left behind. Moctezuma was killed during the revolt that followed, either by his own citizens through stoning, or by the Spanish as they saw he was no longer able to control his