Taking Tenochtitlan. Spanish depiction of the 17th century.
Exhausted by a 93-day siege, the city was finally conquered. You could no longer hear the furious cries of "Santiago!" Or the hoarse war cries of Indian warriors on its streets. By evening, the merciless massacre also subsided - the victors themselves were exhausted by stubborn battles and were fed up with blood for today. Hernan Cortez, commander of the Spanish expeditionary force and military leader of numerous Indian allies, allowed the remnants of the population to leave Tenochtitlan, devastated by siege, famine and epidemics. About 30 thousand inhabitants - all that remained of the once densely populated city, exhausted and exhausted, wandered along the dams of Lake Texcoco. The smoking ruins and generously strewn with the dead summed up the result not only of the siege of the "capital of the savages" that began on May 22, 1521 from the Nativity of Christ, in comparison with which many cities of native Spain looked like large villages, but also completed a series of military expeditions against the country of the Aztecs. Expeditions, which were supposed to bring two of the most necessary things in the local, already beginning to become colonial lands - gold and glory. The Spaniards had no doubt about gaining fame. Their exploits in the jungles and swamps of the West Indies were supposed to overshadow even the achievements of the conquerors of Moorish Granada. It was assumed that none other than the ruler of the Aztecs Kuautemok, who was captured, would tell Eran Cortes about the gold. But the will of the last leader of the Aztecs was stronger than the walls of Tenochtitlan. The victors did not know this yet, hoping to take rich booty.
Following Columbus
The discovery in 1492 of new lands overseas created the prospect for Spain to transform from a regional kingdom into world leaders. The centuries-old process of reconquest was completed with the fall of the last Moorish stronghold - the Granada Caliphate. The numerous proud and as poor as the belligerent Spanish nobility reluctantly sheathed their sword. On the Iberian Peninsula, there were no more places left where it was possible to lose fame and get gold - all that remained was to hope for the search for distant and, according to rumors, fabulously rich countries located far in the East. It was possible, of course, to deal with the Berber pirates of the North African coast, but the trophies obtained in such raids could not be compared with the stories about the Indies, where gold is lying almost underfoot.
The energy of the military aristocracy and other service people who had become skilled in military affairs for some time had already begun to look for a way out, converting into an increase in internal tension. And here the news about an eccentric, but very energetic Genoese, who had secured funding for a risky expedition from the royal couple Ferdinand and Isabella, and about its successful completion, spread around the country very opportunely. Of course, not a possible riot of bored hidalgo prompted the monarchs to give good to the navigator - the state treasury was as far from full as the legendary Cathay or India was from Madrid. Columbus and his companions told about the numerous and fabulously rich tropical islands and the peaceful savages that lived on them. A start was made, and more and more expeditions stretched across the ocean.
Following Columbus, personalities went to new lands, in whose eyes and hearts the fire burned not of the knowledge of the world, but the pragmatic flame of profit. They were driven by a thirst for gold. Numerous islands were really beautiful, nature amazed with splendor and riot of colors. However, this splendor could in no way be turned into sonorous doubloons. The savages had little precious yellow metal, and it did not increase even when they began to be exterminated and enslaved on an ever-increasing scale. Very soon the Spaniards received information about the vast continent further to the west, where, according to obscure and contradictory rumors, large cities were located, chock-full of the much-coveted yellow metal. During their third voyage to the New World, Columbus's ships finally reached the shores of modern Panama and Costa Rica, where the locals told the newcomers about the lands rich in gold, which were located much to the south. Obviously, it was then that the Spaniards first learned about Peru.
For a long time, Spanish expansion in the New World was limited to the Caribbean Sea basin - it was required to create a base for further advancement to the west. The beginning of gold mining in Hispaniola spurred the Spanish to more intensive colonization. At the beginning of 1517, the expedition of Francisco de Cordoba on three ships as a result of a storm found itself off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. It was possible to find out that these lands are inhabited not by the savages of the Caribbean Sea, primitive from the point of view of Europeans, but by the much more developed Maya people. The natives wore gold jewelry in abundance, but they met the newcomers with hostility - the Spaniards, battered in armed clashes, where de Cordoba himself was seriously wounded, were forced to return to Cuba. So it became known that quite close to the recently founded colonies there are still unexplored and, most importantly, rich territories.
The information received by de Cordoba's men greatly excited the local settlers and aroused the keenest interest of the Governor of Cuba, Diego Velazquez de Cuellar. In 1518, an expedition of Juan de Grilhava was equipped for a more detailed study of the open lands. De Grilhava reached the Yucatan coast and moved west along it, soon reaching Mexico, which he called New Spain. Here the expedition came into contact with representatives of the ruler of the Aztec state, who already knew about the appearance of the aliens. De Grilhava kindly and skillfully negotiated with the Indians, assuring them of the most peaceful intentions, and, in addition, carried out a number of profitable trade deals, exchanging quite a lot of gold and precious stones. Having warmly said goodbye to the host, the Spaniards returned to Cuba after a 6-month campaign.
The guesses of Diego Velazquez were confirmed: in the west, there were indeed lands rich in gold and other jewels. And these lands did not yet belong to the Spanish crown. Such a glaring omission had to be corrected. And then the enterprising governor began to prepare a new expedition, and it was no longer research.
He had little money, but a lot of debts
Fernando Cortez de Monroy and Pizarro Altamirano. This is how the unknown artist of the 18th century represented the conquistador.
Almost immediately, Castilian passions with a Caribbean flavor began to rage around the future expedition. The estimated size of the wealth of the unexplored country in the enterprising heads of the colonists was conveniently transformed into a worthy jackpot. De Grilhava, who enjoyed great authority among his soldiers and sailors, was pushed aside by the governor from participating in the new project. Velazquez feared that all the gold and other accompanying pleasant factors, such as the location of the royal court and honors, would pass him by. For this purpose, the governor decided to appoint another person, not suspecting that there would be much more trouble with him.
Hernan Cortez, who was destined to expand the possessions of the Spanish crown and extraordinarily enrich the royal treasury, came from a poor, albeit very noble noble family. He was born in 1485 - by the time of adulthood, the young men of the Mauritanian states were no longer on the territory of Spain. Therefore, young Cortez went to study at the University of Salamanca, where he studied for two years. However, studying bored the young hidalgo, especially since everyone around was talking about new lands discovered overseas, where you can not only make a career, but also get rich quickly. In 1504, Cortez left the university and went across the ocean to Hispaniola. Later, in 1510-1514. he took part in the complete conquest of Cuba by the Spaniards under the command of Diego Velazquez.
By the time the expedition to Mexico was outfitted, Cortez was serving as mayor in the newly founded city of Santiago. His contemporaries noted his lively, dynamic mind and education - the failed graduate of Salamanca knew Latin well and more than once quoted ancient authors in his letters. At the end of October 1518 Velazquez signed a contract and instructions for Cortez, according to which the governor of Cuba equipped three ships, and funds for the remaining ten were provided by Cortez himself and the treasurer of the colony Amador de Lares. Thus, Velasquez oversaw the expedition, but invested much less money there than other organizers. To find the necessary funds, Cortez had to mortgage all his property and thoroughly get into debt. The recruitment of participants was suspiciously fast - each Cortez promised a share in the booty and a vast estate with slaves.
A detachment of fortune seekers of more than 500 people was recruited without much difficulty, but this activity somewhat puzzled Senor Velazquez. In the colonial administration, where one of the most effective means of reaching the top rungs of the career ladder was banal sneaking and regular denunciations, Cortez had enough enemies and rivals. They even whispered in the corners that the proud hidalgo wants to conquer Mexico for himself and become its ruler. Naturally, such rumors worried Senor Velazquez, and he issued an order to remove Cortez from the post of head of the expedition, but in response he received only an ironic letter asking not to take the snitchers seriously. The enraged governor ordered the arrest of the impudent man and the arrest of the squadron ready to sail, but on February 10, 1519, 11 ships of the expedition left Cuba and headed west.
Aliens and hosts
Cortez's enterprise was not inherently a full-fledged invasion, but rather was more like an ordinary robbery orchestrated by a large and well-armed gang. The adventurer had at his disposal just over 550 people (including 32 crossbowmen and 13 arquebusiers), who had 14 guns and 16 horses. To these should be added about a hundred sailors from the ship's crews and about two hundred Indian porters. On the side of the Spaniards was not only a solid combat experience of the European and colonial wars, but also a significant technological advantage. In addition to firearms and crossbows, they had steel weapons and armor. Horses, completely unfamiliar to the Indians, for a long time were perceived by them as a kind of "miracle weapon" of the white newcomers.
Having rounded the Yucatan Peninsula, Cortez made a stop at the Campeche Bay. The local population did not feel even a grain of hospitality for the Spaniards and therefore rushed into battle. Skillfully using artillery and horsemen against the Indians, Cortez managed to disperse the numerous enemy. The local leaders who made the necessary conclusions sent gifts to the formidable aliens, including 20 young women. One of them, after baptism received the sonorous name Donna Marina, was brought closer by the leader of the expedition, and she played an important role in the campaign of conquest against the Aztecs. Moving further west along the coast, on April 21, 1519, the Spaniards disembarked and established the fortified settlement of Veracruz. It became the main stronghold and transshipment base of the upcoming campaign.
Cortez and his companions in general terms already imagined the situation in the local area. In most of Mexico, from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, there is a vast Aztec state, in fact, a union of three cities: Texcoco, Tlacopana and Tenochtitlan. Real power was concentrated in Tenochtitlan and was in the hands of the supreme ruler, or emperor, as the Spaniards called him. The Aztecs imposed an annual tribute on a large number of different cities - they did not interfere in internal affairs, demanding from local authorities only timely payments and the provision of military contingents in case of hostilities. There was an impressive opposition to the existing order of things in the face of the large and powerful city of Tlaxcala, whose population reached almost 300 thousand people. The rulers of Tlaxcala were the old enemies of Tenochtitlan and waged an ongoing war with him. The emperor of the Aztecs at the time of the appearance of Cortez was Montezuma II, the ninth ruler. He was known as an experienced and skillful warrior and a talented administrator.
Soon after the Spaniards had fortified themselves in Veracruz, a delegation led by the local Aztec governor arrived. He was received benevolently, staging a whole performance, which was also a demonstration of military power. The people of Cortez showed the horsemen to the shocked aborigines, their weapons and, as a final chord, gave an artillery salute. The head of the conquistadors was kind and conveyed the gifts to Montezuma through the governor. Among them, the gilded Spanish helmet especially stood out.
Meanwhile, Cortez's squad began to make their way inland. The companions of this campaign were the heat, mosquitoes and the famine that soon began - the provisions brought from Cuba fell into disrepair. A week after the governor's visit, a new delegation arrived from the Aztecs with great gifts, including gold and expensive jewelry. Montezuma, through his messengers, thanked Cortez, but categorically refused to conduct any negotiations with the aliens and insistently asked them to turn back. Most of the Spanish detachment supported this idea, considering the loot received sufficient, and the hardships experienced in the campaign - too heavy. However, Cortez, who put everything at stake in this undertaking, strongly insisted on continuing the campaign. In the end, the argument that there was still a lot of loot ahead played a role, and the campaign continued. Gradually, Cortez and his companions realized that they had to deal not with the wild tribes of Cuba and Hispaniola, but with a numerous and well-armed enemy by Indian standards. The most reasonable in this situation was to take advantage of the discord among the Indians and the fact that part of the population expressed dissatisfaction with the Aztecs, and get allies among the locals.
As they moved deeper into Mexico, the Spaniards faced the warriors of the city of Tlaxcala, Tenochtitlan's most powerful and stubborn rival. Initially, the Tlaxcaltecs mistakenly mistook the whites for the allies of the Aztecs and attacked them. This attack was repulsed, but the Spaniards highly appreciated the fighting qualities of the warriors of this tribe. Having clarified the situation, the leaders of Tlaxcala offered their help to Cortes, providing porters and warriors for his detachment. Subsequently, the Spaniards were supported by other tribes. None of these native princelings, apparently, did not even suspect that after the destruction of the Aztecs, their turn would come, and the seemingly friendly whites would not even leave a memory of their Indian allies.
The behavior of Montezuma caused embarrassment among his entourage - the further Cortez's detachment advanced, the more the Aztec ruler lost his presence of mind and his inherent will. Perhaps the legend about the god Quetzalcoatl, who was supposed to return one day, and which Cortez allegedly used for his own purposes, played a role here. Or maybe Montezuma was influenced by the highly exaggerated stories about the weapons of the white aliens and their horses. Time after time the Aztec ruler sent his messengers with rich gifts to the conquistadors, insistently demanding that they turn back and not go to Tenochtitlan. However, such events had the opposite effect. The whites' appetites only grew, as did their desire to keep going.
Montezuma continued to surprise his subjects with indecision. On the one hand, not without his knowledge, an ambush was organized on the Spaniards in the city of Cholula, only at the last moment revealed by the companion of Cortes, Donna Marina. On the other hand, the Aztec ruler easily disowned the rulers of Cholula, who were executed by aliens, explaining the incident with a slight misunderstanding. Possessing large military forces, many times superior to the detachment of the Spaniards and their allies, Montezuma nevertheless did not budge, but continued to send gifts, each time more and more luxurious than the previous ones, and asked the aliens to turn back. Cortez was relentless, and at the beginning of November 1519 his detachment saw the capital of the Aztecs, Tenochtitlan, in front of them.
Cortez in Tenochtitlan, or the Night of Sorrow
A detachment of Europeans and their allies freely entered the city, located on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, through one of the dams connecting Tenochtitlan to the coast. At the entrance they were met by Montezuma himself and his closest dignitaries in expensive and elegant clothes. Observant soldiers, to their delight, noticed a large amount of gold jewelry on the "savages". The city amazed the Europeans with its size and livability. It had wide streets and vast squares - the capital of the Aztecs was in sharp contrast to many European cities. The area around Tenochtitlan was densely populated, and other equally magnificent and large cities were located nearby. And in the midst of all these man-made riches was Cortez with several hundred warriors, exhausted by the road through the jungle.
17th century Spanish depiction of Tenochtitlan.
There could be no question of conquering this huge and rich country with such meager forces, and the leader of the conquistadors behaved intelligently, prudently and sophisticated. He began to "process" Montezuma, gradually subordinating the will of the Aztec ruler to his. The detachment settled in a vast building, almost in the center of Tenochtitlan, and Cortez managed to persuade Montezuma, as a sign of his favor to the aliens, to go there to live. Using the disturbances of the Indians and their attack on the garrison of Veracruz, Cortez succeeded in extraditing the guilty leaders and burning them at the stake. For added acuity, Montezuma himself was shackled.
The enterprising hidalgo began to rule the country on his behalf and, first of all, demanded tribute in gold from the rulers subject to Tenochtitlan. The volume of production taken was simply colossal. For ease of transportation, the Spaniards poured most of the jewelry and jewelry into gold bars. The illiterate soldiers from Castile and Andalusia did not know such numbers to calculate the monetary equivalent of the seized treasures. However, they still had to be taken out of the city, whose hospitality aroused more and more fears.
In the meantime, disturbing news came from the coast. The Governor of Cuba, Senor Velazquez, continued to worry about the fate of the escaped Cortez and his people, so he sent his confidant, Panfilo de Narvaez, in 18 ships, accompanied by a detachment of 1,500 soldiers, with the order to deliver Cortez "dead or alive." Leaving a small garrison in Tenochtitlan to guard Montezuma, as well as the sick and wounded, Cortez rushed to Veracruz, with about 260 Spaniards and 200 Indian warriors armed with pikes. He was going to solve the problem with the newcomers by cunning and force. To begin with, several officers were sent to Narvaes, on whom they prudently hung a lot of gold jewelry. Narvaez was a diligent campaigner and rejected all attempts to reach an agreement, but his subordinates, seeing tremendous opportunities and prospects in the outfits of parliamentarians, made the proper conclusions. Under cover of night, Cortez's men attacked Narvaez's detachment. They managed to quietly remove the sentries and capture the cannons. Their opponents fought reluctantly and without due enthusiasm, willingly going over to the side of Cortez. Narvaes himself lost his eye in the battle and was captured. His army actually joined the ranks of the conquistadors - Cortez ordered the return of weapons and personal belongings to them, having won them over with gifts.
During a showdown between the Spaniards, a messenger arrived from Tenochtitlan with the frightening news that an uprising had begun in the capital of the Aztecs. Soon the whole country rose up against the newcomers. Cortez was ready for such a development of events. Now his army consisted of 1,300 soldiers, 100 horsemen, 150 arquebusiers. The Tlaxcaltecs, who remained his reliable allies, added more than 2 thousand elite warriors to this number. Rapidly advancing, the allies on June 24, 1520 approached Tenochtitlan. And then the reasons for the uprising became known: during the traditional festival for the Indians in honor of the god of war Whizlipochtli, the Spaniards, led by the commander of the garrison, Pedro de Alvarado, wanted to appropriate the rich gold jewelry worn by the priests. As a result of the quarrel, many local residents and priests were killed and robbed. This overflowed the patience of the Aztecs, and they took up arms.
It is wrong to imagine the state education of the Aztecs as the paradise of the New World, and its population as trusting and good-natured inhabitants of a fabulous country. The rule of the Aztecs was cruel and merciless, their religious cult included regular and numerous human sacrifices. However, the white aliens, mistaken at first for the messengers of the gods, turned out to be in fact no less cruel than the Aztecs, and their greed and thirst for gold knew no limits. In addition, they brought with them a hitherto unknown disease that began to ravage the country. As it turned out, one of the black slaves from the ships of Narvaez was sick with smallpox, which the Indians had no idea about.
Possessing larger forces than at the beginning of the campaign, Cortez easily entered Tenochtitlan and released the Alvarado garrison. However, soon the Indians blocked the invaders in the buildings they occupied, and also blocked the supply of food. The attacks continued almost daily, and the Spaniards began to suffer significant losses, to which hunger was added. While under siege, Cortez again decided to resort to the help of his noble prisoner: he persuaded Montezuma to appear before his subjects and convince them to stop fighting. The ruler of the Aztecs went out in ceremonial attire on the roof of the building and began to admonish the inhabitants and soldiers to stop the assault and allow the aliens to leave the city. His speech was greeted with a shower of stones and arrows. After receiving a mortal wound, Montezuma died after a while. Together with him, attempts to negotiate peacefully with the Indians ended.
The forces of the besiegers increased, the position of the besieged in the imperial palace worsened. Not only food supplies were running out, but also gunpowder supplies. In early July, Cortez makes the difficult decision to break out of the city. Of all the looted treasures, he allocated the royal share to be transported, while the rest was allowed to take as much gold as they could. Experienced warriors grabbed the precious stones, while the new recruits, former soldiers of Narvaez, burdened themselves with a large amount of yellow metal. Subsequently, this played a deadly joke with them.
At dead midnight, having loaded the luggage on the Indians and a few horses, Cortez's detachment went to the breakthrough. However, the noise of the marching column was heard by the sentries, and soon it was attacked by numerous forces. The portable bridge, assembled for the convenience of crossing the canals, capsized, and many of the retreating were in the water. The severity of the newly acquired wealth dragged its new owners down, and many simply drowned. In the confusion, the Aztecs managed to take a number of prisoners. With great difficulty, the Spaniards and their allies reached the shore of Lake Texcoco. That night, which later received the poetic name "Night of Sorrow", they suffered heavy losses.
In the following days, the conquistadors underwent further attacks and eventually retreated to the allied Tlaxcala. On the night of sorrow and in the following days, Cortez lost almost 900 Spaniards and about 1.5 thousand Indian allies. The captured were sacrificed, as were several horses. With the allies, Cortez managed to put his battered army in order and begin to carry out revenge.
The siege and death of Tenochtitlan
The leader of the conquistadors, despite the difficult situation and losses, with all his energy began to prepare the seizure of the capital of the Aztecs. By persuasion, promises, gifts, he was able to win over a number of Indian tribes to his side. His comrades-in-arms were able to intercept several ships with reinforcements and supplies sent by the governor of Cuba to help the detachment of Narvaez, whose fate he had no idea. Realizing that attacking Tenochtitlan only from land would be expensive and unproductive, Cortez ordered the shipmaster Martin Lopez, who was in his army, to build 13 small collapsible brigantines for operations on Lake Texcoco.
The Aztecs were also preparing for battle. After the death of Montezuma, supreme power passed to his brother, Cuitlahuac, but he soon died of smallpox, and his nephew, the talented and courageous commander Kuautemok, took command. He made great efforts to strengthen the city and increase the fighting efficiency of the still large Aztec army.
On December 28, 1521, Cortez's troops set out on a campaign against Tenochtitlan. At his disposal were about 600 Spaniards (of whom 40 horsemen and about 80 arquebusiers and crossbowmen) and more than 15 thousand warriors of the allied Indian tribes. Having reached the city of Texcoco, loyal to the Aztecs, not far from the lake of the same name, Cortez decided to equip his headquarters here. Here it was planned to carry out the assembly of the river ships built by the Spaniards, for which it was required to dig a canal into Lake Texcoco. This laborious operation took only a few months - the Spaniards had an abundance of labor. Cortez sent a message to Cuautemoc, offering him peace and power over his state in exchange for an oath to the Spanish king. Knowing how the overly gullible uncle ended, the young ruler solemnly vowed that any Spaniard captured would be sacrificed without fail. It was not possible to agree, and soon hostilities resumed.
On April 28, 1521, the Spaniards brought their first three ships into the lake, each carrying a cannon. On May 22, Spanish and Indian troops blocked all three dams connecting Tenochtitlan to the coast. Thus began the three-month siege of the city. The allies were greatly assisted by the prudently built brigantines, regularly shelling the positions of the Aztecs. The launched assault attacks, in spite of the initial success achieved, did not lead to the desired results - attempts to gain a foothold in city quarters repeatedly failed. Kuautemok managed to well fortify his capital.
Yet the strategic position of the Aztecs deteriorated. Seeing their unenviable condition, the former allies began to go over to the side of the enemy. Tenochtitlan was completely blocked, and the supply of food to it was stopped. To top it off, on the orders of Cortes, the aqueduct supplying the island with drinking water, which the besieged had to extract from wells, was destroyed. One of the attacks of the Spaniards ended with the encirclement and defeat of the assault column - 60 prisoners were solemnly sacrificed at the top of the Great Temple, towering in the center of the city. This tactical defeat of the enemy encouraged the defenders and raised doubts among the allies of the conquistadors.
Then Cortez decided to change tactics - instead of frontal attacks and attempts to break through to the city center, he began to systematically gnaw through the defense. The captured buildings were destroyed, and the city's canals were filled up. Thus, more free space was obtained, convenient for the actions of artillery and cavalry. Another attempt at negotiations was rejected with contempt by Cuautemok, and on August 13, the Allies launched a general assault. The forces of the defenders by this time were undermined by hunger and progressive diseases, and yet they offered serious resistance.
There is conflicting information about the last hours of Tenochtitlan. So, according to one of the legends, the last center of resistance was at the top of the Great Temple, where, after a merciless battle, the Spaniards managed to hoist the royal banner. From one of the brigantines, four large pies were seen trying to cross the lake - the ship chased after them and captured them. On one of the pies was Kuautemok, who offered himself hostage in exchange for the inviolability of his loved ones and companions. He was sent to Cortez, who greeted the captive ruler with emphasized politeness. In the city itself, the massacre continued, which began to subside only in the evening. Then the winners "graciously" allowed the surviving residents to leave their city, turned into ruins. Cuautemoc was subsequently interrogated and tortured in the hope of obtaining information about the gold - the Spaniards took a much more modest booty than they expected. Without saying anything, the last ruler of the Aztecs was executed, along with him the secret of the gold hidden by his order died. This did not save the Aztecs from colonization. As, incidentally, Indian gold subsequently not only did not save the Spanish colonial empire from collapse, but also became one of the reasons for the decline of Spain.
