Free ebooks ==> http://www.Ebook777.com
Cortés learned that he also faced a threat from
his abandoned patron, Diego Velásquez. The
spurned governor had sent 900 men com-
manded by Pánfilo de Narváez from Cuba
with orders to arrest Cortés. When Cortés
heard of Narváez’s landing, he immediately
marched to the coast, defeated Narváez, and
convinced most of his forces to join the expe-
dition in Tenochtitlán.
En route, Cortés learned that the captain
left in command at Tenochtitlán, Pedro de
Alvarado, had given a catastrophic order. The
most important of Aztec festivals, the fiesta of
Toxcatl, took place during Cortés’s absence. As
Aztec nobles danced in honor of the war god
and sun god Huitzilpochtli, Alvarado and his
men sealed exits to the ceremonial chamber
and attacked the celebrants, slaughtering
hundreds of them. When enraged Aztec citi-
zens hurried to the site of the killing, Alvarado
retreated to the royal palace and chained
Moctezuma, who urged his people to stop
attacking the Spaniards and return to their
homes. The Aztec populace, however, had lost
their respect for Moctezuma during his humil-
iating confinement and ignored his pleas not
to besiege the Spaniards.
The streets were empty when Cortés
returned to Tenochtitlán. His success thus far
had depended on military discipline when-
ever he was outnumbered. He was furious
with Alvarado, who explained that the mas-
sacre was designed to warn the Aztec against
any future treachery. As Cortés lambasted his
captain for this feeble explanation, Aztec
forces encircled the palace.
The ensuing battle lasted for four days.
Moctezuma died during the fighting, either
the victim of stones thrown by an angry Aztec
crowd or murdered by Cortés’s order. The
Spanish and their Indian allies finally tried to
flee the city under the cover of a rainstorm on
the night of June 30, 1520. By the time Cortés
fought his way to safety in Tlaxcalan territory,
his losses during the retreat—known to this
day in Mexico as the Noche Triste (Sorrowful
Night)—numbered 450 Spaniards, 4,000 Indi-
ans, and all of the treasure they had looted
from Aztec palaces.THE CONQUERORS
RETURN
The Aztec began to repair their city and
resumed their way of life after the departure of
the Spaniards. Yet Tenochtitlán was soon rav-
aged by smallpox, which had been unknown
in Mexico before the arrival of the Narváez
force (an African slave dying from the disease
was among Narváez’s force and is considered
to have transported the disease from Haiti or
Cuba). Cortés regrouped his forces and
returned to Lake Texcoco the following spring.
The Spaniards built ships equipped with can-
nons for a naval assault, blocked Tenochti-
tlán’s causeways, and began a bloody siege
that lasted 80 days. At first Aztec soldiers suc-
cessfully beat back the Spanish and their
Indian allies. Smallpox, however, killed thou-
sands of the starving, confined inhabitants.
When Tenochtitlán was eventually surren-
dered on August 13, 1521, by Aztec leader
Cuauhtémoc, more than half of the city’s
300,000 defenders were dead. Refugees leav-
ing the city were searched for treasure by the
Spaniards, who angrily demanded the gold
lost in the chaos of Noche Triste.
Almost none of the pilfered Aztec gold was
recovered, but Cortés was closer to possessing
the larger prize of Mexico itself. After word
reached Spain of his victory, he was officially
appointed Captain General of New Spain on
October 15, 1522. The magnitude of Cortés’s
destruction of the Aztec Empire also reverber-
ated throughout Mexico. Rulers of many Mex-
ican states formed alliances with Cortés by(^60) B Discovery of the Americas, 1492–1800
http://www.Ebook777.com