The Legacy of Mesoamerica History and Culture of a Native American Civilization, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 4 MESOAMERICA AND SPAIN: THE CONQUEST 169

Figure 4.4 Two of Tlaxcala’s four

principal lords declare their alliance with

Cortés. The scrolls in front of the faces

represent speech. Florentine Codex,Book

12, folio 21v.

ners, waving them from side to side, showing them to each other. They seemed to bab-

ble; what they said to each other was in a babbling tongue. (Lockhart 1993:96, 98)

Bernal Díaz del Castillo, one of Cortés’ companions, later penned a lengthy ac-
count of his experiences. When he and his fellows caught their first glimpse of the
Basin of Mexico, they thought it looked like something out of Spain’s popular ro-
mances of chivalry:

... when we saw so many cities and villages built in the water and other great towns on
dry land, and that straight and level Causeway going towards Mexico, we were amazed and
said that it was like the enchantments they tell of in the legend of Amadis, on account of
the great towers and cues [temples] and buildings rising from the water, and all built of
masonry. And some of our soldiers even asked whether the things that we saw were not a
dream. (Díaz del Castillo 1956:190–191)

On November 8, 1519, Cortés and his party entered the great city of Tenochti-
tlan, and Cortés and Motecuhzoma met face-to-face (Figure 4.5). Motecuhzoma wel-
comed the Spaniards, treating them as honored guests and allowing them to reside
in the imperial palace of his father, Axayacatl. Despite the later accounts that depict
him as extremely fearful, it is unlikely that at this point he felt insecure: At a word
from him, his armies could have conquered the Spaniards and Tlaxcalans or driven
them out of the city.

Florence,

Medicea Laurenziana, Sahagun, 1979.

prohibited.

Reproduced with permission of MiBACT.

Further reproduction by any means is

The Biblioteca