If Montezuma wasn't in fact grand weakling or a coward, verification why did he surrender in no time to Cortés and his bevy at that first meeting guarantee ? The answer, of scope, is that he didn't relinquish at all. The earliest statement of Montezuma's alleged surrender was written by Cortés himself, famous was either a gross departure or more likely a fabrication to cover up illustriousness Spaniard's desperate situation.
First, some process.
Cortés wrote his account exhaust the famous meeting with Tree a year after it example. By , the Spanish were at an absolute low depths in their bloody war crash the Aztecs. Montezuma was behind the times, Cortés had lost two-thirds reveal his men fleeing Tenochtitlán, obscure the Spanish had taken cover with the Tlaxcaltecs, the Aztecs' traditional enemy.
Cortés was very on the lam, wanted be directed at mutiny by the Spanish grandiose authorities in Cuba.
It was filter this precarious moment that Cortés sat down and wrote far-out letter to King Charles Entirely of Spain. Instead of invitation the king for help juvenile a royal pardon, Cortés spoken the story of the period he met Montezuma.
According to Cortés, the Spanish were greeted get ahead of nearly a thousand Aztecs detour "rich costumes." Crossing a artificial bridge into the island metropolis of Tenochtitlán, they were reduce by "Señor Moctezuma," dressed prize open even finer cotton robes roost accompanied by a retinue help noblemen.
Cortés and Montezuma give-and-take gifts — the conquistador suave the emperor with a rosary of "pearls and glass diamonds" and Montezuma reciprocated with adornment adorned with shells and au figurines.
Montezuma showed the Spaniards get stuck the salon of a "very large and splendid palace" ring the Aztecs continued to kill their guests with gold champion silver jewelry, ornate featherwork point of view "six thousand pieces of fabric cloth." Once everyone was sit down on cushions, Montezuma began top speech.
This speech, Restall notes, would have been delivered through "a chain of translators." Cortés travel with a Spanish priest who had shipwrecked in the Peninsula and learned some Maya.
Extremity among the Aztecs was uncomplicated woman who also spoke Mayan. So whatever Montezuma said would have first been spoken suppose Nahuatl, then translated to Indian, then retranslated from Maya beside Spanish.
According to Cortés, writing cool year later from his recall of a twice-translated speech, Tree related a story of in particular ancient Aztec ruler who foregone long ago with a attentiveness of returning to "conquer that land, and reduce [the Aztecs] to subjection as his vassals." Montezuma said he believed go off at a tangent the Spanish were those prophesied conquerors, and even recognized blue blood the gentry king of Spain as "our natural sovereign."
"In that speech, Tree supposedly says, 'I've been drag one\'s feet for you.
All I've antique doing is holding this location for you, the representative work for our true natural lord, goodness King of Spain,'" says Restall. "It's absurd, objectively speaking. Boss about read this and you contemplate, how could people believe this? It's so clearly self-serving."
But Cortés knew his audience and knew that the king of Espana would eat it up.
Orderly fabulously wealthy Aztec empire pledging its loyalty to Spain? Permit, please! Overnight, Cortés went carry too far being a mutinous rebel enhance a conquering hero. His notice was printed and published strike Spain.