Lecture 15: 1521 Tenochtitlán—Aztecs vs. Conquistadors

1521 Tenochtitlán—Aztecs vs. Conquistadors ...............................

Lecture 15

T

he conquests of Mesoamerica and South America are among the most

astonishing military stories of all time. For example, in one battle

fought at the Inca capital of Cuzco, 190 Spaniards defeated an army

of 40,000 Inca warriors with a loss of only one man. Similarly, in two years,

Cortés, with fewer than 1,000 Spaniards, utterly destroyed the Aztec Empire.

The subjugation of the Americas by Europe is one of the more controversial

episodes in history. The conquistadors have alternately been lauded as brave

men succeeding against all odds and condemned as rapacious invaders

responsible for an appalling genocide. On the surface, these episodes seem

to be dramatic demonstrations of European military superiority. How could

these unlikely victories have transpired?

The Aztecs

x In 1500, the Aztecs were at the height of their power, yet only a

few hundred years earlier, they had been a wandering tribe with no

homeland, looked down on by nearly all other groups. In 1325, they

settled on a swampy island in the middle of Lake Texcoco because

of a divine prophecy that instructed them to make their home

where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus eating a snake. The

Nahuatl name for the nopal cactus was tenocha, and the city was

dubbed Tenochtitlán.

x The Aztec society was both militant and theocratic, with priests

and religion playing central roles. The Aztec pantheon of gods was

a frightening collection, most of whom demanded regular human

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using their own blood, and only regular offerings of human blood

would enable it to continue.

x To meet the gods’ insatiable demand for blood, Aztec warfare

eventually became focused not so much on killing enemies in battle