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The year was 1504. A cruel, greedy, ruthless, wild, and relentless man by the name of Hernan Cortes decided to set sail to The New World in order to establish a better life for himself after receiving an education in law and Latin in Spain. He left university at 19 in order to follow his interest in alleged tales of Christopher Columbus in the New World.
In the New World, he worked with the governor of Hispaniola who would eventually embark on a conquest of Cuba with him. After a successful conquest of the Maya of Potonchan, he was rewarded with many slaves and land in Cuba. One of these slaves played a vital role however in the success of the Spanish conquest. This slave was called Malinche, who was Cortes’ interpreter, advisor, mistress, and intermediary. She ends up playing a vital role in this whole narrative.
After many more years of associating with men of high status in Cuba, Hernan was made one of the top officials by the Cuban governor. At this point in time, Cortes is exceedingly increasing his status and power. After 7 years as a top official, Hernan was then appointed as the Captain of an upcoming expedition to Mexico by Diego Valasquez, the governor of Cuba at the time.
However, these two had a very rocky friendship, due to various issues arising through their time together. This is illustrated in 1518 when Valasquez proceeded to revoke Cortes’ title of captain of his upcoming conquest of Mexico after Cortes decided not to marry Valasquez’s sister the day before. Cortes, being quite the character, then decided to go against his friend’s wishes and set sail to Mexico as planned with 500 men and 11 ships. In doing this, Hernan Cortes from that point created enemies with Diego Valasquez and would see the aftermath of this decision in the future.
Hernan Cortes’ motivations for conquesting Mexico were to obtain new land, natural resources and to spread Christianity. Cortes, due to his personality, also had ulterior motives to obtain wealth and riches. Now that we have the context behind the Spanish side, let’s view what was happening in the Aztec civilization prior to their coming.
Prior to the arrival of Hernan Cortes, the Aztec civilization believed that impending doom was encroaching, as they had seen a comet flying by that signified this. At this time, Aztec civilization had large amounts of human sacrifice in order to sustain their God’s power and protect them.
Their current ruler was Montezuma II, who was the ninth king of the Aztec empire. He was known mostly for demanding that more human sacrifices should be made in order to suffice their God’s desire for human blood. He had also attempted (though failed) to conquer their local enemies, the Tlaxcaltec. They had attempted to do so many times, though most recently in 1515, but always failed. This led the Tlaxcaltec to have a long-lasting hatred for the Mexica (Aztecs).
Later on, however, this hatred that the Tlaxcaltec had would serve useful to Hernan Cortes, as the saying goes, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’.
On February 17, 1519, Hernan Cortes began his self-governed expedition to Mexico. Once he landed, he almost immediately claimed the newfound land for Spain. Shortly after landing, he defeated a small coastal town called Tabasco.
Cortes then wanted to conquer the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan, however, was severely outnumbered. Cortes had a few hundred men whilst the Aztecs had a few hundred thousand men. In order to even balance out, Cortes had to ally with locals in order to even out the playing field. The Tlaxcaltec were the main people that he allied with.
At first, the Tlaxcaltec attacked Cortes with hostility, but eventually, they came to peace with each other over the combined motivation and hatred of the Aztec civilization. They helped the Spanish by getting them to the Valley of Anahuac and providing a key contingent of the invasion force. They also let them recover and regenerate from their voyages inside their village.
The conquistadors reached Tenochtitlan in November of that year. The Aztec leader at the time, Montezuma, believed that Cortes was sent by the Gods and treated him accordingly. When he heard of Cortés’s arrival, Montezuma refused to meet with the Spaniards, instead, he sent gifts, offering a tribute that frequently resolved disputes in Mesoamerican society. Moctezuma gave Cortés the gift of an Aztec calendar, one disc of crafted gold, and another of silver. The gold one was smaller than the silver and represented the sun whilst the silver one represented the moon. Cortés later melted these down for their value.
When Cortés and Montezuma finally met in person, all was relatively calm. The Spaniard was given a tour of the city and more gifts were exchanged between the two. Cortés received a necklace of golden crabs and Motecuhzoma a necklace of Venetian glass strung on gold thread.
Then, Within just two weeks, he was promptly taken hostage and placed under house arrest by a small Spanish force. Montezuma was forced to hand over more treasure and even allow the placing of a crucifix on top of the Great Pyramid.
Hernan Cortes upon the first contact disliked the Aztec culture, fashion, and customs.
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