Wrath of Cortés
What motivated his rampaging conquest of Central America?
The shadow of Hernán Cortés looms long and large over present-day Mexico. Within a few short years of landing in the country in 1519, he and his comrades would be responsible for the destruction of the Aztec peoples and their culture. The 15th century Spanish conquistadors’ brutal conquest has been described by historians such as Norman Naimark as genocide and its effects are still hotly debated, even some 500 years later. Looking into the events surrounding the Spanish invasion raises the question, what kind of a man was Cortés? Contemporary paintings and illustrations portray him very much as the typical conquistador, with his neatly trimmed beard and steely gaze. Yet history reveals him as a man with an almost uncontrollable ambition matched by an even deadlier determination.
The story of Cortés’ conquest of
Mexico is the story of a man who would let no one and nothing stand in his way.
“Hernán Cortés was Spanish, born in 1485,” author and host of The Explorers Podcast Matt Breen begins. “His family was of noble blood but they were poor, known as ‘hidalgos’. These people were very common in Spain, there was lots of nobility but very few people with money.” It’s possible it was this upbringing, born into a family who were of noble blood but who had lost the riches they once had, which was the driving force behind the young man’s relentless ambition. “They wanted him
to be a lawyer,” Breen continues. “As a teenager he trained but it wasn’t for him, so instead he took a ship and went to the New World looking for money and position.” Making his way to Hispaniola in the West Indies, Cortés worked as a farmer and notary until in 1511 he seized the chance he had been looking for. Joining an expedition led by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, Cortés assisted in the invasion of Cuba. The word ‘invasion’ conjures up images of hordes of men with vast amounts of weaponry, but as Breen reminds us: “This wasn’t thousands of people, it was a few hundred conquistadors trying to take the island.” Nonetheless, the Spaniards were successful and Cortés’ role in the conquest earned him land, power and the attention of Velázquez. In the successive years Velázquez would remain an influential presence in Cortés’ life, whether the two men liked it or not…
Following the invasion of Cuba, Cortés found himself in a position of some note. He worked initially as clerk to the treasurer before later being named the Mayor of Santiago – he was still only around
30. It was at this point that Cortés and Velázquez’s relationship began to sour, as the latter became increasingly afraid of the former’s unchecked ambition and lust for power. Cortés gained a reputation as a charismatic individual with an appetite for women and a gift for public speaking. Velázquez recognised that the younger man could be dangerous but admired his obvious skills as a leader. He also had a problem to which Cortés was a possible solution. “Velázquez wanted more action, he wasn’t getting returns financially – remember these expeditions are all financial ventures,” Breen explains. This factor in the motivation of the Spanish conquests cannot be understated. Their love for gold during this period seems to have been all-consuming and they would let nothing get in their way. Indeed, once in Mexico Cortés is reputed to have said: “I and my companions suffer from a sickness of the heart that can only be cured with gold.” So despite the relatively recent conquest of Cuba, Velázquez was not prepared to stop there and sought to put the younger man’s abilities to the test. “He ordered Cortés to organise an expedition to Mexico,” Breen continues. “Cortés attracted a lot of people and Velázquez started to get nervous about this, it was like Cortés was creating a personal army. So at the last minute Velázquez rescinded his orders. Cortés wasn’t prepared to stop, however, and disobeyed the command, put everyone on the ships and headed off.” Needless
to say, Velázquez was infuriated. “The expeditions were controlled by Velázquez and this is very important,” Breen says. “You can’t just say: ‘I’m gonna get a couple of hundred guys and go stomping around trying to find gold.’ You have to have charters from the Spanish crown.” Velázquez was now becoming painfully aware that Cortés was a man who would let nothing stand in his way.
Cortés arrived in Mexico in February 1519 with 11 ships, 508 soldiers and roughly 100 sailors – not to mention war horses and dogs, cannons and various other weapons. The first few months of the expedition were spent traversing and exploring the coastal area, getting into several skirmishes with indigenous tribes. By July, Cortés’ attention has been drawn to a fabulous city lying further inland. “One of the first things he heard of is this amazing place to the west,” Breen reveals.
“They were talking about Montezuma and Tenochtitlan, so Cortés wanted to move up the coast of Mexico and inland.”
Montezuma was the emperor of the Mexicah Empire (also commonly referred to as the Aztecs) and very quickly became aware of Cortés’ presence in Mexico. “Montezuma was, I think to a degree, afraid,” Breen suggests. “Some people say that there was a prophecy that the god Quetzalcoatl will return as a bearded man from the east and conquer Tenochtitlan, the Mexicah capital, and that Montezuma believed this. Some of this is due to the fancy of western writers of the time, making indigenous peoples look superstitious and simple next to sophisticated westerners.” It’s more than likely that Montezuma’s concerns came from what he did know about Cortés. “They had never seen a war horse, war dogs or Spanish steel,” Breen continues.
"I AND MY COMPANIONS SUFFER FROM A SICKNESS OF THE HEART THAT CAN ONLY BE CURED WITH GOLD"
“Fifteen or 20 war horses could take out thousands of men and it was terrifying but I don’t think anything caused more damage than Spanish steel. The indigenous peoples never had swords like that, or shields or helmets. So when you have guys running up with bows and arrows but the conquistadors throw up their shields, it just doesn’t do a thing.”
Yet Cortés was still far away from Tenochtitlan, with his forces concentrated at the coast. In perhaps one of his most famous and well-documented moves, he dealt swiftly with a growing feeling of dissent among his men, who weren’t pleased to learn of the proposed plan to march inland. Placing all treasure captured so far on his best ship, Cortés wrote a letter directed to King Charles I of Spain explaining his actions and his intention to continue the invasion. Upon hearing of this, many of the men were furious. They had believed this was a brief expedition and wished to return to Cuba. A small group of rebels formed and began to stockpile supplies. Their plan was simple: they would steal one of the smaller boats and slip away silently during the night. They would then rendezvous with the ship carrying the treasure, capture it and take the loot for themselves. Yet, somehow, the seemingly omnipresent Cortés learned of their plans, imprisoning the men and executing their leader by hanging. However, Cortes was shrewd enough to be aware that he could not make this foiled plot too widely known, as it might have encouraged others. Nor could he fully make an example of them and risk becoming unpopular. His move was simple, he instructed several of his closest comrades to secretly drill holes in the bottom of the boats. The next day the men were informed that worms had eaten through the hulls and they were no longer seaworthy. Whether they liked it or not, they were here to stay and they were going to Tenochtitlan.
Marching into the jungle they encountered numerous indigenous tribes, such as the Tlaxcala, whom Cortés was able to partner with – the Tlaxcala would prove to be a helpful ally in the conflicts to come. They told him of the wondrous city, Tenochtitlan, but even he could not have prepared himself the sight that greeted him. In one of his many letters, Cortés took great trouble to describe everything from the layout and construction of the city to vivid descriptions of the markets, food and jewellery. “There is one square,” Cortés begins, “twice as large as the city of Salamanca, surrounded by porticoes,
where are daily assembled more than 60,000 souls, engaged in buying and selling; and where are found all kinds of merchandise that the world affords, embracing the necessities of life, as for instances articles of food, as well as the jewels of gold and silver, lead, brass, copper, tin, precious stones, bones, shells, snails and feathers.”
Clearly, it was the riches of Tenochtitlan that excited Cortés the most and it was through these that Montezuma sought to keep the Spanish at bay. “He tried to be nice to the Spanish, he gave them gifts, gave them gold – which is what they desired the most,” Breen explains. “He put them in a huge palace and let them stay there as his guests, but with every step the Spanish got even more greedy. They saw the gold and the gems and they just wanted more and more.” According to Breen, Montezuma’s plan was simple: he
would give the Spanish what they wanted in order to make them go away. However, Cortés’ next move would drastically change the relationship between not only the two leaders, but the two peoples too.
“It may seem like a big leap and we don’t have any specifics in regard to why or when this occurred, but Cortés and his men took Montezuma prisoner,” says Breen. Somehow seizing the emperor, Cortés then used him as leverage in order to obtain further riches and control over the city. It’s important not to understate how drastic a move this was. After all, Montezuma was not only the emperor of his people, to them he was also much more. “Montezuma is a god to his people and so this was something that no one thought was possible,” says Breen. “I don’t think even Montezuma thought they would go this far. Cortés held him to ransom and he’s sent gold and silver in return for keeping Montezuma safe.” The relationship continued in this uneasy
"FIFTEEN OR 20 WAR HORSES COULD TAKE OUT THOUSANDS OF MEN BUT I DON'T THINK ANYTHING CAUSED MORE DAMAGE THAN SPANISH STEEL"
manner for some time, but back in Cuba Velázquez was not prepared to let Cortés’ deeds go unpunished. The conquistador’s past was about to catch up with him.
As a result of Cortés sailing without authority and hearing of his actions in Mexico, Velázquez dispatched a second expedition, headed by Pánfilo de Narváez. Like Cortés, Narváez had also been with Velázquez during the conquest of Cuba, commanding a company of archers, and it’s likely the two men knew each other. Following the Cuban conquest, Narváez was similarly rewarded with land and a position of high office. Now he was instructed to find and capture Cortés and replace him as head of the expedition. Narváez left with a company of 900 men in March of 1520 and set sail for Mexico. Word soon reached Cortés, who stated in a later letter to the king that: “As I perceived the great mischief that was about to result from this matter, and as the country had risen in support of Narváez, it appeared to me, that by going myself where he was, I should be able to quell the movement.” Cortés attempted to open discussions with
Narváez and convince him to join him, but all his letters were ignored. Perhaps Narváez assumed Cortés would have no choice but to surrender, yet once again Cortés proved himself a man without limits. What the rebel conquistador chose to do next must have not only surprised his would-be capturer but infuriated Velázquez even further. “He started by sending some men into Narváez’s camp to spread discontent and bribe the officers into taking Cortés’ side, undermining Narváez’s command,” Breen explains. “He then launched a night attack on the camp and totally surprised them. There was a small number of deaths, but mostly on Narváez’s side. Cortés now had a thousand new men, who joined up after seeing the treasure and the gold.”
However, things were about to get a great deal more complicated for the wily old conquistador. While Cortés marched through the jungle to deal with Narváez’s expedition he left a small group of men in Tenochtitlan, commanded by Pedro de Alvarado. Whereas Cortés had managed to mostly keep the peace, Alvarado had a distinct lack of diplomatic skill and a bloodthirsty streak that rivalled even that of his superior. Tensions began to rise and it didn’t take long before they erupted violently. “The Aztecs had been given permission to celebrate a big spring festival,” says Breen, setting the scene.
“At the great temple, there was a huge courtyard where thousands of people gathered. These were the elite of Aztec society, noblemen and noblewomen, priests, children, none of whom are armed. The Spanish locked the doors and slaughtered them.”
Like much of Cortés’ and the Spanish conquistadors’ history, the reasoning behind this is hotly contested, with both sides presenting alternative viewpoints. “Alvarado stated that the Aztecs were plotting rebellion,” Breen continues. “But the Aztecs said that the Spanish attacked when they saw the gems and jewellery being worn.” Whatever the catalyst for the slaughter, the results were horrific, with thousands killed. When Cortés returned he found the Mexicah furious but unable to organise proper retaliation because so many of their elite had been massacred in the bloodbath.
Cortés was now in a very difficult situation. He had defeated Narváez but unless he could succeed in his conquest of Mexico and the subjugation of its people, then his treachery would not go unpunished. After all, he could not return to Cuba, for Velázquez would surely seek revenge. Initially, he instructed Montezuma to speak to his people and attempt to quell their discontent. Yet the ruler had been humiliated and was seen as nothing more than a puppet for the Spanish conquistadors. For several days the emperor stood and spoke to the Mexicah, but he was pelted with rocks and stones by people too enraged to listen to him. He died a few days later, either from
"CORTÉS STANDS FOR A VIOLENT CONQUEST AND THE BEGINNING OF CENTURIES OF COLONIALISM THAT STILL SHAPES THE INEQUALITIES IN MEXICO TODAY"
his wounds (as claimed by the Spanish) or from execution after failing to calm the populous (as stated by the Mexicah). The situation was slowly but surely getting out of control and soon Cortés would have no option but to flee the great city.
‘La Noche Triste’ or ‘Night of Sorrows’ would be the first major Mexicah victory against the conquistadors, as the Spanish attempted to escape the growing tension in Tenochtitlan. The Mexicah capital was situated in the centre of Lake Texcoco and was only accessible by a series of narrow causeways. Cortés became increasingly concerned that these routes would be blocked, stating in a letter: “Seeing the dangerous situation in which we were now placed, and the very serious injury that the Indians were doing us every day; and fearing that they would also destroy the remaining causeway, as they had done the others, and when that was effected death would be our inevitable fate; and moreover, having been often entreated by all my companions to abandon the place, the greater part of whom were so badly wounded as to be disabled from fighting, I determined to quit the city that night.”
But Cortés’ ambition, determination and greed saw that he would not abandon the city easily, despite the pleas of his companions. Waiting as long as he did meant that the Mexicah were expecting his attempt to flee. Weighed down with gold and heavy jewellery, the conquistadors, packed onto the narrow causeway, were vulnerable.
The escape began when several of Cortés’ men killed the few night watchmen stationed on the causeway. However, when their cries were heard, hordes of Mexicah warriors jumped into boats and began to attack. Trapped on the narrow pathway, the once powerful and terrifying war horses proved useless and an easy target.
Cortés’ own description of the battle, and his part in it, paints a vivid picture: “I sailed across with great speed, followed by five horsemen and
100 foot [soldiers], with whom I passed all the (broken) bridges swimming, and reached the mainland. Leaving the people who formed this advanced party, I returned to the rear, where I found troops hotly engaged. It is incalculable how much our people suffered, as well Spaniards as our Indian allies of Tascaltecal [Tlaxcala], nearly all of whom perished, together with many native Spaniards and horses, besides the loss of all the gold, jewels, cotton cloth, and many other things we had brought away, including the artillery.” Cortés later estimated that a total of 45 horses, 150
Spaniards and about 2,000 indigenous allies were lost during the battle.
This cataclysmic defeat could very well have been the end of Cortés. His army was defeated and demoralised, his equipment lost, not to mention the slain horses and men. Of course, as should be apparent by now, the conquistador was not the kind of man to give up. Instead of cutting his losses he resolved to take the city once and for all.
Yet it was a series of other factors that ultimately assisted in the fall of Tenochtitlan. Firstly, Cortés was able to regroup, with a number of indigenous peoples adding some 50,000 warriors to his forces. Secondly, the Mexicah had been severely hampered by an outbreak of smallpox, which had been brought to Mexico by the conquistadors. “This is something that happened almost everywhere in the New World,” explains Breen. “Disease was on Cortés’ side. Smallpox had arrived with the Spanish and now, a couple of years later, in
1521, it was going through the Mexicah population like wildfire. This was an incredibly complex empire and what you ended up with was a lot of very vulnerable areas who were no longer that impressed by the empire. When Cortés marched in and offered an allegiance, they sided with him. Cortés used political and cultural tensions to convert people to his side.”
Cortés began by capturing the causeways and besieging the city. In
May 1521, the conquistadors were able to take control of the Chapultepec aqueduct, cutting off all of Tenochtitlan’s fresh water supplies. Many of the Mexicah were already succumbing to starvation or dying of thirst and this made their situation even more desperate. “They fought bitterly to the end,” says Breen. “There were some very difficult moments for the Spanish. Cortés was almost killed a couple of times and he was badly injured.” At one point in July, the Mexicah were even able to take Cortés prisoner for a short period, wounding his leg and using his capture to regain lost land.
Despite fighting hard, however, they were unable to stop the inevitable. “At the end of the siege the city was in ruins,” Breen continues. “The Spanish burned whatever they captured to the ground to stop the Aztecs retaking buildings and using them to their advantage.”
The subsequent destruction of the Mexicah was brutal and ruthless, and it is for this that Cortés is remembered. “What was most targeted was the religion: objects considered ‘idolatrous’ or ‘heretic’ were widely destroyed,” explains Dr Sarah
Albiez-wieck of the University of Cologne, whose research covers Latin-american history during this period. “Churches [were] built on the ruins of temples, as in the case of the cathedral in Mexico City, which was built using stones from the central temple in Tenochtitlan and built next to its ruins. There have been a lot of excavations going on in what is today called ‘Templo Mayor’. Entire ‘libraries’ of codices were burnt and not a single one from the Basin of Mexico survives.”
While previously Cortés was idealised as a conqueror, now his actions are being reassessed. “It’s really difficult to think of any positive legacy Cortés left behind,” says Dr Albiez-wieck. “He stands for a violent conquest and the beginning of centuries of colonialism, which shapes the inequalities in Mexico today. If I would have to name something, I would maybe name the fact that he was the father of one of the first mestizos, Martín Cortés [whom] he had with his lover Malintzin/ Malinche. However, here again we can see a lot of inequalities: Hernán Cortés never married Malintzin but wed her off to one of his fellow conquerors. But mestizaje [the mixing together of different races and cultures in Latin America] became one of the central elements of Mexican national identity. This happened much later, in the 19th and 20th century, with José Vasconcelos’ essay The Cosmic Race from 1925 being a decisive element. Still, these ideas of mestizaje contain many racist elements.”
While Cortés can be seen as someone who shaped the modern world, he was clearly motivated by personal ambition and greed. He frequently put the lives of his own men at risk, ignoring their concerns and lying to them to obtain his own desire. He ignored the wishes of his superiors and his ruthlessness led to thousands of deaths.
"THE STORY OF CORTÉS' CONQUEST OF MEXICO IS THE STORY OF A MAN WHO WOULD LET NO-ONE AND NOTHING GET IN HIS WAY"