Tenochtitlan, annihilated

MEXICO — What happened to Tenochtitlan after the Spaniards destroyed this imperial city? How did the Mexicas (Me-shee-cas) cope with that terrible defeat? There was a Spanish soldier, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who wrote about that period, most shattering for the Mexicas.

In his first account written shortly after Hernan Cortes entered Tenochtitlan Del Castillo could not conceal his awe at what he saw from the top of the Templo Mayor. He marveled at the landscape:

“We saw three avenues that entered Mexico…and the sweet waters that came from Chapultepec which supplied the city, and the bridges under which the waters of the lake came in and out; and in that enormous lake there was a multitude of canoes, some with food supplies and others with cargo and merchandise; and we saw all the houses of the city and those that were built on water; passage from house to house was through draw bridges made of wood or in canoes; and we saw the adoration sites that looked like towers and forts; all were quite admirable…”

What a stark contrast to his account written after 13 August 1521, the day Tenochtitlan was annihilated. The same Bernal Diaz del Castillo could barely conceal his horror at what they had done:

“I swear, amen, that all the houses and barbacanas (fortifications) of the lake were filled with heads and bodies of the dead, I don’t know how to describe it, but on the streets and in the every patio of Tatelulco (Tlatelolco, a town of Tenochtitlan) there was nothing else but dead bodies; we could walk only among the heads and bodies of dead indios. I have read about the destruction of Jerusalem but I am not sure if there the death rate was higher. There were so many people here, warriors from all the provinces and towns controlled by Mexico are now all dead; and just as I said, the ground, lake, and barbacanas are all filled with dead bodies and the stench is so that no man can tolerate it. .” (My own loose translation)

The above account was written by one who wielded the sword, the following was penned by a conqueror that brandished the Cross, Fray Toribio de Benavente. This Franciscan friar described how Tenochtitlan was destroyed to build a new Christian city on its ruins:

“The 7th plague was the construction of the great city of Mexico, during the first years, there were more people involved than in the construction of the temple of Jerusalem during the time of King Solomon; there were so many people involved in the construction work. They came with materials, with tribute to pay for the needs of the Spaniards and those working there, one could hardly pass through the streets even if these are wide. At the construction sites, some [indios] were crushed by falling beams, others fell off from the tops, there were those who were crushed as the old edifices were being demolished to construct new ones. There was no lack of arrogance when new buildings were constructed by destroying the houses and towns of the Indio gentiles…”

Curiously, both soldier and priest alluded to Jerusalem. For their part, the Mexicas, the conquered people, expressed their resistance to the destruction of their gods and their culture in poignant, heart-gripping ways.

While the friar missionaries lost not time in building “capillas abiertas” (outdoor chapels) where they could celebrate Holy Mass and begin to convert and Christianize the natives, the Mexicas, found creative ways to hide their deities in the walls of their houses and under the columns of the new edifices they were ordered to construct. Fray De Benavente himself noticed that they were being fooled by the indios. He said “the devils and idols” were incorporated in the parapets, walls, even in the Christian altars. The Mexicas would carefully and surreptitiously select blocks of stones with carved images of their gods and use these to build the Christian temples.

In one occasion, Fray De Benavente caught a Mexica imbedding a carved image of Tlaltecluhtli, the goddess of the Earth, as the base of a column. “How could you have brought one of your devils here!” the friar angrily exclaimed to which the Mexica humbly replied, “Don’t worry, Your Mercy, I am putting her face down. “Little did de Benavente know that that was the correct position of Tlaltecluhtli as goddess of the Earth.

The Mexicas left a number of chronicles about the conquest written in nahuatl, but it took many centuries before these saw light, most of them were compiled by historian Miguel Leon-Portilla in is book Vision de los Vencidos. (Vision of the Vanquished). The earliest testimony dates back to 1523 and is in the form of a song: “Weep my dear friends/ understand that with these events, we have lost the Mexicatl nation/ The water has been cursed, our food has soured! /That is what the Giver of Life has done in Tlatelolco…”

To the Mexicas, their tragic fate was pre-destined: Quetzalcoatl, an ancient god defeated by Huitzilopochtli (their patroness), would return in the form of a pale-skinned bearded deity to reclaim his lost kingdom.