Just finished Bernal Diaz' The True History of the Conquest of New Spain

[Zorro]

Bernal Diaz was a Spanish conquistador who accompanied Cortés in the campaign against the Aztecs. It's an amazing epic, stuffed with tales of heroism, barbarity, jealousy, treachery, predation, greed, guile, and lust.

The sheer audacity of the Spanish conquest is stunning. From arriving with 500 men on the coast at Veracruz, to burning their ships so there was no way to return to Cuba, to defeating and then diplomatically allying with various tribes along the way to Tenochtitlan, to marching into the capital and brazenly kidnapping Montezuma, to all the subsequent events -- it truly is a story for the ages.

Diaz fills in a lot of interesting details about the events he witnessed and the magnificent sites the conquistadors encountered as they marched inexorably toward Tenochtitlan, and how conflicted Montezuma was -- alternately demanding his allies ambush them on their approach, and then welcoming them into the heart of the city -- as Cortés persisted in his objective to meet (and subjugate) him. There are minor anecdotes -- how Montezuma complained to Cortés about one of his guards continuing to fart in his presence, how many of the Spaniards suffered from the "disease of the groins" (syphilis), etc. that add color to the tale.

It must have been horrific for Catholic Spaniards to encounter altars carved with feathered serpent heads where ritual murders were conducted almost daily. Not only did the blood-matted priests cut the beating hearts out of their living victims, but wide-scale cannibalism was a cultural practice -- Diaz describes how they would enter towns and find caged men, women, and children being fattened up prior to their sacrifice. Damn.

Revile him or admire him, Cortés is described in a way that is not altogether flattering -- Diaz was especially critical of Cortés not recognizing the efforts his original cohort contributed to the success of the campaign, and not sharing the riches he acquired with them -- but nevertheless he does provide an insightful portrait of Cortés, and just how cunning, diplomatic, brave, judicious, and ruthless a man he was. As fierce and as brutal as the Aztecs were, they more than met their match with Cortés and his conquistadors.

It's an incredible memoir, and I think there's not another book quite like this. It can actually be found and read for free at gutenberg.org (search for Bernal Diaz -- it's in 2 volumes, and is a long -- but rewarding -- read).

Whew.

[TlalocW]

1. I read it about 12 years ago

I was a Spanish major, and I recall a few things Bernal left out or didn't consider important at the time. Cortes came to Tenochitlan in the Aztec year, Reed One, which was when their god, Quetzalcoatl the plumed serpent god, was supposed to come back. I've heard that the legend also said that he was supposed to return in the form of a man with white skin, but that could have been Aztec priests back-filling the story (more on that), which was the cause for Moctezuma's hesitation. The Aztecs were pretty well hated by all neighboring tribes because of their demands of human sacrifice and gold as tribute to them so a lot of the tribes were happy to join up with Cortes.

You're right though - it's a lengthy but good read.

Back to back-filling. One of my Spanish professors had an interesting take on the founding of Tenochitlan. The legend has it that when the Aztecs were a nomadic tribe, their gods told them to look for a sign of an eagle eating a serpent while perched on a cactus. When they came to Lake Texcoco, they saw the sign, and one of their priests dived into the water where he was met by my namesake, Tlaloc, the god of wind and water, who told him that this was where they were to build their city.

My Spanish professor said he bet it happened more like this: After years of wandering around, the Aztecs came to Lake Texcoco, and they saw the eagle on the cactus eating the serpent. The priests got together to discuss things among themselves, decided they were ready to start living large as the priest class did in those days and said, "Let's say that eagle is a sign from our gods and get the peasants working on building a city. But first to really sell it, let's draw straws to see who should jump in the lake first to go underwater and pretend to talk to Tlaloc."

TlalocW

[Zorro]

2. Diaz does mention -- more as an aside -- The Quetzalcoatl prophecy

and how Cortés cannily exploited it, but he didn't dwell on it.

He did write that Montezuma received a Spanish helmet and compared it with the headdress representations of Quetzalcoatl was shown wearing, and that he became resigned to his fate as was prophesized. Guess it was a good match.

Apparently he returned the helmet filled with gold in hopes that it would buy off the conquistadors from continuing their march. It wasn't really the best incentive to encourage them to turn back.