Hello, and welcome to Western Sieve episode two hundred and thirty nine. Heyst
Klan. Last time, Cortez threw his orders from Velasquez out the window.
Maybe not literally, since there weren't any buildings in Veta Cruz that had any
windows yet, but at least figuratively. From this point on, Cortez is
gambling on himself. He is hoping that whatever comes next his expedition is going
to be so spectacularly successful that it will justify his decision to reject the Governor's
authority. For that to work, two things need to happen. First,
the expedition he dispatched to Spain to lobby the King needs to be successful.
There is, however, nothing he can do about that now. Second,
he needs to get to technosh Declan and somehow convince Montezuma to become a vassal
of the Spanish crown. He needs to add a huge swath of territory to
Spain's ever expanding New World Empire. Ideally, he needs to find gold,
a lot of gold. Cortez, quite frankly and to be blunt, needs
enough gold to buy himself back into the Crown's good graces. But to make
all that work. First, he needs to get to technosh Declan. Cortes
and his quote unquote holy company set out for Technoshti klan on Or about August
eighth, fifteen nineteen. The total fighting force numbered around three hundred. Of
those, forty were crossbowmen and twenty hit arquebuses primitive firearms. Most of the
company or some kind of armor, generally just padded cotton, but whatever they
had, they kept it on them all the time, even to sleep.
Along with the conquistadors went eight hundred touch knacks. Generally, these indigenous peoples
acted as porters, carrying the equipment, food, immunitions. Most importantly,
as I've discussed previously, Cortes took horses, fifteen of them. Throughout the
journey, Cortes slept little. There was much to do, and nearly everywhere
the threat of death was a constant companion. While his boast quote I shall
not rest until I have seen Montezuma and observe the quality of this land and
quote was certainly an overstatement, I think we can say he rarely slept in.
Cortez's message to his men before setting out might not have inspired the most
confidence. Quote to conquer the land or die. End quote was the promise
he made to his men. I doubt, though, that every man shared
his commitment to do or to die. Most would have been happy to grab
a sack of gold and sail back to Spain. The distance from Kimplan to
Mexico Technoshtiklan, as the Crow flies, is two hundred and fifty miles.
The route is varied. The first stretch is flat, hot, tropical,
humid, and fertile. In the sixteenth century it would have been heavily forested,
dotted with well cultivated plantation of corn. Then beyond Jalapa, the land
rises sharply to about six thousand feet the climate becomes temperate. This region is
towered over by two mountains, those known to the ancient Mexicans as now Campatello
and Stelepatel. The first of these is over thirteen thousand feet high, the
second eighteen thousand feet. The next stage of the journey is over a cold,
bleak plain. It was at that time dominated by a salt lake and
a third mountain. Between that plain and the city of Tenoshti Klan there lies
a further chain of high mountains. There are volcanoes, some of which are
named things like quote Smoking Mountain or quote Mountain of the White Woman. Some
of these tower up to eighteen thousand feet. The pass between these mountains just
under teen thousand, and the land then falls away to the great Lake of
Technoshticlon and the central Valley of Mexico, whose height above the sea is seven
thousand, four hundred feet. The route to reach Technoshticlon was obviously unknown to
Cortez. Throughout the trek, he would be dependent on his Mexican guides.
Some early sources claimed these guides deliberately tried to lead Cortez to his death.
Whether this was expressly true, certainly his guides took Cortez and a risky,
an unlikely route. The plan was to move Jelapa and then plus Scala,
but in the sixteenth century there were several massive salt lakes in this region that
would have acted as a major impediment to say the least. The whole region
through which Cortez had to travel was mostly under the control of the Mexica,
but the region was uneasy to say the least. The region around the city
of Cholula had played a pretty big role in the Mexica rise to power as
allies, but since then they operated much more like subservient vassals than partners in
the same enterprise. Cortes Toltanak guides thought that going through Cholula was the best
way, since it might result to more indigenous allies joining the cause. This
was important because, as his guides bluntly told Cortes, if he continued traveling
to technoshy Klong without more allies, he and his entire company would surely be
slaughtered. Not exactly the vote of confidence you want to hear from your guide.
Nonetheless, I should point out that these guides went with Cortes of their
own accord, so they had some confidence in the mission. Cortes was traveling
in the late summer, so it would have rained every afternoon. This made
the paths muddy and made it almost impossible for the party to rest. Montezuma
received word of Cortes's movement as soon as his party left come Poland for Jellappa.
The news threw Montezuma into another bout of depression. He did have a
little bit of cause for optimism at this point, though thus far, Cortez
continued to present himself as an ambassador didn't seem like he was an enemy despite
his instincts. Therefore, the Mexica Emperor consulted with his astrologers prayed to his
gods, who did not take any military action. By August the sixteenth,
Cortes had reached Jellappa. Today, this city is only about thirty miles northwest
from Vera Cruz. From Jellappa, the comquistadors continued to proceed up the mountains
towards the central valley. Everywhere they went for the moment, Montezuma sent instructions
that they should be greeted as friends, and so they. The path that
Cortez took was later given the name Nombre Dius. The path remains easily traceable
today. Eventually the mountain path flattened and widened out, but this wasn't a
relief because, as I mentioned earlier, this area beyond the initial stretch of
mountains is dominated by a series of massive salt lakes, so there was really
no fresh water the region. In fact, while a vassal state of Tennoshti
Klan did not produce any food for tribute, Cortez sought to avoid this barren
zone by going to the north, which was rough, but he saw it
as less risky. Finally, on August the twenty fourth, Cortez and his
party reached the town of Zlata. At this point, Cortez was about one
hundred miles from the sea. The chief of Zlata received Quartez with courtesy and
respect, as Montezuma had instructed him to do. He provided the conquistadors with
supplies of food. Cortes then asked this chief if he was a vassal of
Montezuma. The chief looked surprised. He responded, quote, was there anyone
who was not a vassal of Montezuma? And quote? Cortes told him that
there were many people in the world who were not vassals of the Mexica Montezuma.
In fact, he didn't know it, but he was about to become
the vassal of a much more powerful king. Maybe you've heard of him,
Charles the fifth of Spain. The chief then asked about horses and guns.
Cortes told him that the horses could catch anyone they ran after, and that
the guns could kill anyone at a distance. The conquistadors wanted to this,
the chief could only shrug and admit quote well, it must be gods then
end quote from Zlata. Cortes sent four messengers on to Tlascala with offers of
friendship. The messengers were to say that he was coming in the name of
Charles the Fifth and that he would be happy to assist the Tlascala in their
struggle against the Mexico. After these men left, Cortes stayed in Lata for
several days, resting and preparing for the journey to come. Cortes waited a
few days for the messengers, but when they did not return, he continued
on his way. He set off down into the valley with his men in
several thousand Tutanak warriors. As they reached the bottom of the mountain, Cortes
was surprised to find a ten foot tall wall that stretched from mountain to mountain.
This represented the boundary between plux Scala and Mexico. The wall itself could
not have done much for actual defense. It was more symbolic and spoke volumes
about the mutual distrust between the two peoples. Cortes continued along the wall until
he found a gait. At this point he was at the head of the
bulk of his forces, with a few horsemen. There, they met a
contingent of the flux Skalan army. The army scattered as soon as the horses
were close, but Cortes's men gave chase. Cortes shouted after the fleeing Indians,
claiming he didn't want to harm them, he wanted to be their friends.
Yet reasonably, they continued to run. Eventually, some of the tluck
Scalans turned to fight. Armed with obsidian swords, they slew two of the
horses. Cortes collected his remaining wounded and held them back. They needed to
wait for the rest of the army. Cortes buried the horses carefully because he
did not want his enemies to know that the horses were not some mythical creatures.
But at this point the cats out of the bag and the tluck Scala
at least no that they were mortal. The reality remained that Cortez had been
able to score a victory over a much more numerically superior force. The victory
of a handful of horsemen against a large number of natives wasn't simply the achievement
of the horses and their riders. It was also a consequence of Indian tactics,
and it's important to note that's going to play a huge role in the
battles to come. The Natives had a tradition of head on combat. In
this sort of style, only the front rank is able to fight. When
that front rank is cut down, the next just kind of steps up,
and so on and so forth. If your opponent in this sort of situation
has the stamina and maintain themselves, then it's very easy for a handful of
people to dispatch hundreds or even thousands. It also makes artillery extremely effective.
Now, killing from a distance seemed dishonorable to the tlok Skalans. It will
to the Mexica, but such niceties were lost on the Europeans. They didn't
care at all how the person died, just that they did. And the
other crucial factor to keep in mind here is the Tlokskolands, like the Maya,
like the Mexica, aren't interested in killing on the battlefield, and this
is going to be a major problem and disadvantage that they're going to be at
this entire time. What they're trying to do is take victims for sacrifice,
so they want to wound. This was a fatal limitation They had an incredible
sharp implements made out of obsidian, so they could have dispatched the Spaniards and
Europeans had they wanted, But because they held themselves back, it would be
their undoing. Now this was the first real battle that Cortez had fought since
the Yucatan. The loss of the two horses was significance, but more significant
was the realization that he might have to fight at all. But Totanax had
led Cortes to believe that Tlaxcala would make a willing ally. Now it seemed
like that might not be the case. Still, without any other choice,
the konquistadors continued on their course. That night, they slept out in the
open, about twenty miles from the city of Tlaxcala. The city itself was
small but densely populated. The total population of Tlexkala, as in the region,
was probably around one hundred and fifty thousand people. Flexkala was less a
kingdom and more of a collection of towns allied against the Mexica. Once upon
a time, the Tlexkala had been a powerful merchants. However, in the
early fifteenth century they came into inflict with the Mexica, who restricted their trading
activities. Still, they were a proud people who convinced themselves that they were
free, while in reality they were on a political island surrounded by Mexica.
Several times they had held out against Mexican armies many times their size. For
his part, Montezuma claimed he could conquer Tlexcala whenever he wanted. He let
them maintain their semblance of independence so that his people did not forget the need
to be ever ready for war. Tlexcala wasn't the only semi independent region within
the Mexican Empire, but it was certainly the most important, at least from
a military standpoint. When Cortes's messengers had arrived in Tlexcala, they had been
ushered in to see a sort of council of elders. These ben listened to
what the messengers had to say and then dismissed them to debate the best course
of action. Chief was in favor of accepting the Conquistador's overtures of peace,
thinking that the Conquistadors might be gods after all. The merchants likewise supported an
alliance with the newcomers, hoping that they might restore their mercantile fortunes. The
military commanders, however, did not want to take the chance. They argued
that Cortez and his crew should be treated like marauders and destroyed. On September
the first, fifteen nineteen, Cortez advanced towards Tlexkala. Eventually he came upon
another force of Tlex Colons soldiers. Cortes rode out to read the requermiento,
but said soldiers unleashed a volley of arrows and spears and battle ensued. At
first, the Spanish seemed to push the Tlex Colon army back with ease into
a ravine, but this was a trap. The Tlex Collins had the ravine
surrounded and as soon as the conquista doors entered, they could fire upon the
Spaniards from three sides. Eventually, the conquistadors were able to force their way
out of the ravine. Their weapons and their horses helped, but this time
Cortes's Toussanak allies deserved most of the credit. Cortes then built a camp,
only to receive several messengers from Plex Colla. They told him that tomorrow the
council would deliver their complete decision as to what they were going to do with
him. Obviously, Cortez and his men passed a sleepless night, constantly suspecting
a night attack, but in the morning, to their surprise, the Tlex
Collins sent a huge amount of food rather than an army. Sadly, this
was not a peace offering. The idea was that the Telex Collins were sending
them food to sort of fatten them up in advance. Quote. Once they
are filled up with food, let us attack, and then we shall eat
them. And in that way they will pay us for the turkeys and cakes.
We shall then learn why as they came here. If Montezuma is responsible
for sending them, let him set them free. If they have come of
their own foolhardiness, let them pay and quote. The Tlex Collins assembled their
army on a plane in front of the Kunquistadors position on the hill. They
were so numerous that they seemed quote large enough to eclipse the sun. A
battle then took place. Cortes later claimed that he faced an outrageously specific number
of indigenous warriors one hundred forty nine thousand. Certainly, he was outnumbered,
and it seemed like the unquistadors came pretty close to total defeat that day.
Quote only the simple use of steel swords saved, recalled one Spaniard. There
was more to it than that. All the European advantages played into their hands.
The cannons, even if they missed, caused massive shock and confusion amongst
the ranks of Tlex Colin men. Those same warriors didn't have a clue what
to do about the horses and the dogs. Moreover, the Telex Colin generals
were jealous of each other and did not coordinate their efforts, and finally the
Europeans realized that they needed to fire their aqua buses and crossbows slowly. For
each shot that landed, ten different Clex Colon warriors fell back in fear.
The battle ended in a draw, with each side pulling back Cortes to the
hill the Telex Collins to the plane. The following day, Cortes embarked on
another punitive expedition, this time burning towns, one of them with a population
of over three thousand many. Once more, his motives seemed to have simply
been to shock the local people by fear into surrender. He then returned to
his camp on the hilltop, just in time since the Tlex Collins were mounting
another attack. The second day's battle was much like the first, with the
same inconclusive results. About this time, Cortes received the visit of more emissaries
from Montezuma, this time five or six chiefs accompanied by servants the Emperor.
Montezuma, they reported, rejoiced at the great victory of the Europeans over the
Tlex Collins. He was also delighted that Cortes was now so close to his
city. He sent presents of thousands of pesos worth of gold, some cotton
clothes, and several good featherwork pieces. Montezuma also passed on the message that
he would be delighted to become a vassal of the Spanish king. Cortes was
simply to say how much tribute he thought was appropriate. Montezuma promised to pay
that every year in either cloth, gold, silver, or jade. But
there was one problem. Montezuma begged Cortez not to come to Mexico. It
was not that the Emperor would not have been delighted to see these visitors,
but as Montezuma explained, the road was bad. It lay through rough land,
and furthermore, his city just didn't have the provisions. He just didn't
want the conquistadors to suffer the same emissaries also toward Cortes not to trust the
Tlex Collins under any circumstances. Cortes replied that he was determined to go to
the city at Tlex Colla. Frankly, privately, he was very happy to
find that the Mexico were on such bad terms with the Tlex Collins. He
often quoted quote every kingdom divided against itself, we brought to desolation end quote
famous quotation. The Tlex Collins then held another general meeting. After all these
inconclusive battles, now there was a dispute. A couple of the generals wanted
to continue the fight. Several other generals believed that the conquis Stores were would
be powerful military allies, that they should go ahead and form an alliance with
them. In the end, the council decided to launch one final attack that
night. Cortes anticipated a night attack and didn't give the Telex Collins the chance,
attacking at dusk. This time, the battle ended in a decisive European
victory. The Tlex Collins were positively terrified at the sight of the horses and
the sound of the guns. They barely held their ground, running back to
their city. Shortly after the battle commenced. Cortes could now advance right up
to the city of clex Kala, and he needed an end to the action
to be honest. Though somewhat miraculously, very few conquisadors had died in action,
many had died of wounds or succumbed to disease forty five according to some
sources. Cortez ultimately did not deny these figures. The men were cold.
Also, there was little food, and several were ill. People began to
wonder what would be the outcome of all this fighting. If the telex Collins,
by the way, could fight so well, then how in the world
would the Europeans fair against what would be surely a much more formidable Mexican army.
And also, nobody knew what was going on back in Vera Cruz.
Cortes's plans were obscure. Sure he had a lot of confidence, but beyond
that, there wasn't really a game plan. The people who had left behind
families in places like Cuba, expecting to get rich quick. We're probably starting
to wonder whether or not this was all worth it. But Cortes was a
person who had just an overwhelming amount of chrisma, and I think it's crucial
to understand that in this story, time and time again it seems like the
odds were totally against him, but by sheer bravado he pushes through. He
told his men bluntly at this point that God was on their side. They
didn't have to worry about anything. Neither had Alexander the Great nor Caesar.
He said to mention all the heroes that could have come before them or afterwards,
had ever ventured to throw such a small force as Cortes's against such a
large population as evidently existed in Mexico. This was sort of the Saint Crispin's
Day speech. This was the you know, everyone is going to remember us
for how powerful that we're going to be. And you know, once again
it worked. He was able to calm down his men. He just needed
something to happen to prove to them that all of this bravado, all of
this gusto, was going to pay off in the end. And luckily for
Cortes, he didn't need to wait long for time to prove him right.
One of the Tuxcalan chiefs, who initially opposed piece with Cortes, showed up
at his court begging for forgiveness. He told Cortes that they didn't have any
gold or silver, but they wanted to be friends. Nonetheless, Cortes did
think about this for a little bit. The Mexica emissaries were still on hand,
and they warned him moreover and once again not to trust the Tuxcalans,
that this was a trap, that they were going to kill him. But
as I mentioned, Cortes's men were hungry and he were sick. Many were
wounded. He couldn't continue on the present course of action without additional allies,
and so ultimately he decided to accept the invitation of the Tlexcalans. He rode
into the city, dismounted from his horse and made a deep bow, embracing
the most important elder. He didn't just accept their invitation tend to the town.
He went with them. The Tlexcalans proved to be dependable. They carried
in the Spaniards all their munitions or their guns, everything, and what followed
was nothing but feasting and celebration. Cortez and his men entered Plexcala on September
eighteenth, fifteen nineteen. The Europeans were lodged by the lords of Flexcala in
some quote very pretty houses and palaces end quote. Cortes and his men would
spend twenty days there. Now By and large, the complaints of those who
wanted to go home receded once they realized again the Europeans had faced a massive
army and again hadn't, at least during the battle, suffered any casualties.
The chiefs gave Cortes some information about the remainder of the approach to technosht Klan.
While he and his men were over halfway there, they still needed to
cross the mountains before reaching the central valley. This was helpful, but not
crucial. What was crucial was that Cortes managed to stitch together the terms of
a lasting alliance with klak Skala. Without their help, Cortes could not dream
of conquering Tshtklan. With their help, Suddenly it seemed possible. And this
is such an important point, and it's a refrain I'm going to come back
to throughout the story. Most history books, if you read a relatively short
description of Cortes's west of Mexico, especially anything that's written from his point of
view, massively downplays the role that Native American indigenous people who allied themselves with
the Europeans played. That was where the bulk of the numbers were going to
come from in terms of the force that's ultimately going to take down the Mexico.
Sure, smallpox is going to play a big part in this too,
and I'll talk about that in two or three episodes down the road, But
for now, just understand that if Cortes doesn't strike these alliances, conquering Mexico
is not a possibility now. Throughout his stay in plex Gala, Montezuma continued
to send ambassadors. Cortez continued to treat with them as friends, and his
goal remained quote to reach Tenotklan without fighting end quote. The tlex Collins told
Cortez to take the route through Vexo Sinko because the people there were more friendly
to Tlexkala. Montezuma's ambassadors continues to suggest the Conquisadors travel through Cholula because those
people were Mexican allies. Ultimately, Cortez decided he would go through Cholula,
but he split the difference a bit, agreeing to the offer of new porters
and warriors from Plexkala to accompany him. Probably his reason for going to Cholula
was strategic. It was a powerful city and he didn't want to leave it
between himself and the sea. After all, Cortes needed an escape route just
in case. But the tlex collins continued to warn Quartz the Cholulans, they
said were conspiring against the Europeans. They were going to block all the exits
and hurl stones down from above the moment that Cortez and his men were inside
the city, killing him and his man. It was twenty five miles from
Plexcala to Chalula. Quarte has left on October the twelfth, accompanied by a
sizable contingent of Tlexcalan warriors. This force might have been as large as several
thousand. The lords of Tlexkala warned Cortez he would need every last one because
if he met the Mexica in battle, he needed to kill every single one
of them. Quote, leaving no one alive, neither the young lest they
bear arms again, nor the old lest they give good advice. End quote.
The following day, Cortez reached the outskirts of Cholula and several messengers came
forward, bearing food in various gifts. They feared. They told the expedition
that Cortez had been told many negative lies about Cholula. You shouldn't believe any
of it now. Chalula itself was thousands of years old. It's pyramid housing
the temple to the god Taluk can still be seen. It was taller than
the pyramid to Noshti Klan, making Cholula one of the most important religious sites
in all of Mesoamerica. Estimates as to the population vary, Some are as
high as two hundred thousand, which are probably too high, but certainly it
was the most populous site outside of Tenosh Declan itself. No sooner had Quartels
arrived than he was beset by more messengers sent by Montezuma. They begged him
not to go to tenosh Deklan for a variety of reasons. Everything from Montezuma
would die of fear if Cortez came to Montezuma evidently had a zoo of ferocious
animals who had this nasty habit of escaping and would tear the Europeans apart if
they came upon them. Okay, after listening to these I'm going to say
threats, Cortez met with several high priests from Cholula to try and ascertain just
what the heck was going on. After he bribed them and subjected them to
some torture, they spilled the proverbial beans. Ahead on the road to Tanushti
Klan was an army two hundred thousand strong. The plan was for the Chululans
to capture the Europeans and deliver them up to the Mexica. This army was
I guess, sort of a Plan B, because of course, the goal
was not to kill the conquistors in combat. The goal was to capture them
so they could be sacrificed. Cortes held a discussion with his captains and they
came to a decision and a plan that would have made caesare Borgia smile.
They called together all the lords of Cholula to the courtyard to the Temple of
quexicoattle There Cortes confronted them about this planned ambush. Evidently, they admitted to
it, but insisted that everything had been Montezuma's idea. That they had been
merely acting on orders. At some point, Cortes gave the signal and an
arquebus shot out. At this the rest of the Europeans, plus their Tlex
Colon and Totanak allies, stormed in. Over the course of several hours,
they massacred everyone inside. Cortes later said that they killed three thousand people that
day. Certainly, the spoils afterwards were considerable. Evidently, though not all
the Chululand leaders died that day. Afterwards, Cortes brought the remaining leaders before
him and laid into them again for their treachery. They blamed Montezuma again and
swore to serve him faithfully from then on. Cortez pardoned them in the hope
that he could make allies out of the Chululands going forward. Now, oddly,
here's just a little asterix of all the atrocities that Cortes would commit over
his time in Mexico. This event, at least in Europe, was seen
as the worst at the time. Historians today remained divided over the whole affair.
Some say there was never any plot to ambush the Europeans and that Cortez
essentially just made it up as a justification to murder everyone. Others say the
planned ambush was very real. Still, others argue Cortez only planned on killing
a few Chululand leaders, but the whole thing got out of hand. Regardless,
Montezuma sent messengers the next day apologizing for the whole thing. He blamed
the Cholulans for everything, claiming that he didn't have anything to do with it.
Montezuma told Cortez that if he did come to Tenushtiklan, he would be
happy to see him come right now. Meanwhile, Montezuma busied himself with ways
to prevent such an exigency from ever coming to fruition the Empire of Mexico.
Tenoshti Klan it is only fifty miles from Cholula. The two cities are both
about seven and a half thousand feet above sea level, but between them there
is one last mountain chain and several volcanoes. Several paths run across these mountains.
One path is more than just a pass It's definitely the most difficult track
that you can make. It's a track that passes through lost villages beyond Cholula
before reaching at just under thirteen thousand feet, a place which is now known
as the Pass of Cortez, for it was by this route that the Conquisadors
made their first approach to Techno Clan. Cortez chose this route not because it
was easy, but because it was the one he thought least to be expected
and therefore the least likely to be blocked by the Mexican Cortez left Cholula around
the first of November fifteen nineteen. The Totanas decided to return home at this
point, which reduced the number of auxiliary forces somewhat, but not significantly.
Cortez still had around one thousand telex scollands, and every source suggests that Cortes
and his remaining allies were very confident as they left Cholula and made the final
push for ten Loshtiklang. From Cholula, Cortes march to Kaplan, a substantial
town in and of itself. They told Cortez shortly as he reached the town
that he was going to approach two different paths. One way would be blocked
up by felled trees, the other appeared clear. They needed to move the
trees and proceed down the blocked path. The Mexica planned an ambush down the
unblocked and cleared path, so the next day Cortez continued his march ten miles
into the mounts. He was now several thousand feet above sea level. After
resting overnight, they set out again in November the second and quickly came upon
the fork in the road that had been mentioned. This is the thing that
the people of a Plan had warned him about, and sure enough, one
of the two paths was blocked by felled trees. Cortes turned to his Mexican
emissaries and asked him why were the two roads and why was one blocked?
These gentlemen, fearful of their lives that they should eventually reach Tegnoshti Klan explained
that the blocked path had been left so to dissuade people from going along it,
because it was a windy path, less erect and with bad stretches.
Cortes insisted on going by that path and ordered the Telex colons to move the
trees and other obstacles which had been laid across it. They made short work
of things, and Cortes's army continued down that path. After resting for the
night. The Europeans continued. The following day, the weather was a little
bit better than it had been previously. Now, for the first time ever,
the Europeans were able to look down from the mountains into the central valley
of Mexico. Now just inside this new territory owned by Chalka, the Europeans
were met by another delegation from Montezuma. This delegation was led by a nobleman
who had been instructed by Montezuma to dress as the emperor and pretend to be
him. Montezuma seems to have thought that maybe the Europeans would be happy to
withdraw once they had, as they supposed, seen him. He was followed
by magicians whom Montezuma had previously believed to make the whole thing go away.
He also brought a variety of presents gold streamers, quetzal feathers, golden necklaces.
Now the Europeans, of course, were more than happy to receive the
gold. One recording of their reaction reads his follow quote. When they were
given the gifts, they appeared to smile, to rejoice exceedingly like monkeys.
They seized upon the gold. It was as if they were satisfied, sated,
and gladdened. For in truth, they thirsted mightily for gold. They
stuffed themselves with it, and starved and lusted for it Like pigs. They
went about moving the gold streamer back and forth and showed it to one another,
all the while babbling what they said was gibberish. End quote. Now
the Europeans were at first really impressed by this nobleman, and they had asked
their Tlexcalan allies, is this Montezuma. The tlex Scalans told them no,
it was not. They then asked this gentleman the same question. He replied,
confusingly, quote, yes, I am your servant. I am Montezuma.
End quote. The Europeans reportedly laughed, and Cortez apparently said, quote,
go home. Why do you allie to us whom you take us to
be. You can mock us, nor make a stupid nor flatter us,
nor become our eyes, nor trick us, nor misdirect our gaze, nor
turn us back, nor destroy us, nor dazzle us, nor cast mud
in our eyes. You are not heat and at least according to the indigenous
sources. Cortes continued, quote, now, Montezuma cannot hide from us.
He cannot take refuge from us. Where, after all, can he go?
Is he perhaps a bird that he can fly away? Or can he
burrow under the earth? Is there somewhere a mountain pierced by a hole which
he can enter? We shall see him, We shall not fail to look
him in the face. We shall hear what he has to say. End
quote. So, needless to say, the delegation didn't stop Cortez, and
so Montezuma back into Nosti Klan again met with his Supreme Council. There was
further discussion as to whether they should welcome the Europeans. Most of the major
lords were against it. Montezuma seems to have, at least for the moment,
decided once and for all that they should prevent the Europeans from entering his
sea. He told the men assembled quote, we must not hide, nor
flee, nor show cowardice. And let us not imagine that the Mexican glory
is going to perish here. We are now resolved to die in the defense
of Technostclan endquote. Now, all the while, Cortes continued to advance towards
Technosht Clan. On November the fifth, Cortes reached the city of Chalco.
This was a small town on the edge of the Great Lake system. This
was the first time how the Europeans had seen the massive lake that dominated the
central valley. While Cortes stopped, Montezuma again met with his lords. Montezuma
now seems to have gotten forlorn and fatalistic. Again, he told two of
his lords as follows, quote, Oh, mighty lords, it is fitting
that the three of us should be here to receive the gods, And therefore
I wish to find solace with you, and also to bid you farewell.
How little did we enjoy the realms which were bequeathed to us by our ancestors,
they mighty kings and lords, as they were left this world in peace
and harmony. But what was coming to us? How do we deserve this
fate? How did we offend the gods? Who are these men who have
come? Whence have they really come? Who showed them the way? There
is only one remedy. We must make our hearts strong to bear what is
about to happen, for they are at our gates end quote Montezuma. For
all this continued to try to stave off the moment of their arrival, and
maybe he thought the end of the world. While Cortez was at Chalco,
the Emperor sent another delegation. This was headed by four Mexican chiefs, who,
as usual, brought more gold and more cloth. The Emperor, they
said, was very sorry not to have come to Greek Cortes himself, but
unfortunately he was sick. They, at the other hand, were at the
European's disposal. Montezuma was concerned at the hardships which they had endured in coming
to see him. He had already sent to Cortes much gold and jade for
this distant Christian king and for the gods in whom he knew the Christians believed.
He now once more begged Cortes not to come to Technoso Declan. There
really was no food for them. The road to it was atrocious. The
best way of coming was by canoe, and that was dangerous. In fact,
all the people inside Technos Declan were protesting against the idea of having the
Europeans stay. If Cortes would just turn around, if he would just go
home, these lords said, Montezuma promised that he would deliver him regular tributes
of gold every year, deposited wherever Cortez specified, Cortez, for his part,
offering his usual presence of useless glass beads, so that he was surprised
that Montezuma could be so consistent. Now that he and his army had traveled
so far and were almost insight of Technos Declan, how in the world could
they possibly turn around? How could they return? He was going to continue,
and so the following day Cortes reached Ishtallapa, the last city before Technos
Declan. It had a population of around fifteen thousand and was only five miles
now from the capital city. The next day, the eighth of November,
Cortes started along the main causeway to technosh Declan in elaborate order, with four
horsemen in traditional European armor out front than his standard bearer, than a contingent
of infantry withdrawn swords, and a few more horsemen, and finally himself.
The great broad causeway led Europeans to their destination at last. It was so
wide that, according to Cortes, eight horsemen could ride along it abreast.
European expedition, of course, made an immense impression the Mexico were much impressed
by the steel swords and lances, both of which flash brightly, to say
nothing of the horses and the dogs. The crossbowmen and arquebusiers were seen to
be wielding their weapons and making as if to test them. Behind Cortes,
his Indian allies made noises as if preparing for war, shrieking, hitting their
mouths with their hands, whistling and shouting. But if the lake dwellers were
fascinated, Cortez and his men also were in total awe. In front of
them. LA's city as large as anyone in the party had ever seen,
though Naples in Constantinople, with over two hundred thousand people each, were close.
But the vast majority of people in Cortes's expedition would never have seen either
one of those cities. Most had never seen a city any bigger than Seville
in the Old World. Only the cities in China, which of course no
member of the expedition would have known about, would have greatly exceeded the capital
of Mexico in size. The Europeans were also impressed by the vast number of
canoes which they saw in the lake, many of them large, some carrying
up to sixty people, and all hollowed out of tree trunks. Many were
paddled close to the causeway to allow their owners to have a good look at
the visitors. The Konquist Doors thought that the numerous stucco covered pyramids with their
temples on the top platforms for display of the shrines of the gods on the
islands, as well as technosty Klan were, in the words of one quote,
castled fortresses, splendid monuments, royal dwelling places, glorious heights. How
marvelous it was to gaze upon them, all stuccoed, carved and crowned with
various different types of Merlin's, painted with animals, covered with stone figures end
quote. But Cortes and the other members of the expedition couldn't help but notice
one other aspect of the architecture of Technos Declan. As they walked along the
causeway, they would have noticed a series of wooden planks or drawbridges which could
have been pulled up. The purpose of these planks was to allow canoes to
pass from one side of the lake to the other, but there was another
they realized, more nefarious purpose. The planks could be taken away, effectively
sealing the city from outside attack, or in the converse, sealing those within.
No doubt, Cortes and his men shared a nervous glance as they rode
across. About a mile and a half short of the main gate, the
causeway ended and the houses of the city began. This was the traditional place
for greeting returning heroes. There a crowd of richly dressed Mexicans came out to
meet the Europeans. They performed a lengthy traditional greeting and then went on together
to Technoso Declan. Montezuma, despite everything, had decided to meet Cortes.
Whatever he might believed about the man he was about to meet. The Mexican
tradition of hospitality. One out Montezuma came forward on a litter with a canopy
of green feathers and so much gold and silver embroidery it sparkled in the sun.
The litter itself was carried by noblemen. Other noblemen busied themselves sweeping the
ground in front. A man walked before the emperor, carrying his stick to
mark his authority. Montezuma himself probably wore an embroidered cloak with a green feathered
headdress and on his feet gold decorated sandals. The litter was decorated with flowers,
cacao blossoms, wreaths, garlands, and golden neckbands. The emperor was
well prepared with presents. His welcome was given by another group of lords assembled
in two columns down the street. After all this was done, Montezuma descended
from the litter. Cortes dismounted from his horse. Cortez moved and made to
embrace him quote in a Spanish fashion, probably a hug, but Montezuma's attendant
stepped in. In the end, the two men simply shook hands. According
to Cortes and other Spanish witnesses, the greeting was very formal. Cortez apparently
said something like art thou he art thou Montezuma, to which Montezuma simply replied,
yes, I am he. After the formal greeting was over, Cortez
and his men proceeded into technochet Klan. There they would be housed in one
of the royal palaces, and Montezuma told him that he would be back later
on to see how things were going. Now. Montezuma did in fact return
later to the place that Cortez was staying. He then made a speech that
Cortez would later report back to Charles the Fifth and which has been a matter
of controversy ever since. Montezuma began with a repetition of the words of welcome,
as usual on all formal occasions. Quote our lord, you must be
tired, you've experienced fatigue, but you have arrived at your city. End
quote. What Montezuma said next remains a matter of controversy. It's important to
kind of interrupt this narrative to discuss the sources. So ten months later Cortez
was going to write down everything that he thought happened and sent a letter to
Charles the Fifth. He said that on that day Montezuma recognized in his speech
in November fifteen nineteen that in fact, the Europeans were long lost gods or
leaders whose return he had both expected and feared. Cortez reported that Montezuma admitted
that the Mexica were in the beginning foreigners and had been led to the Valley
of Mexico by a lord. That they had been vassals too. Then,
Cortez went on because Montezuma, according to him, described how quote, the
Lord brought us the Mexica to technosh Declan, and then went away to his
native land. After a long time, he returned found the people whom he
had married locally and had children, and had built towns on which to live.
When he wished to lead them onward, they were reluctant, and he
did not even wish to recognize them as leader end quote. So he went
away again, quoting now again, And we have always held that those who
descended from him would one day come back and take us as vassals. So
in essence, Montezuma was recognizing Charles the Fifth through Cortez as his vassal,
believing them to be God's. But we'll talk about that more in a second.
Montezuma was said by Cortes again to have added quote, So be assured
that we will obey you and hold you as our lord in the stead of
that great Lord. In that there will be no mistake or deception of any
kind. And in all the land which I hold my power, you can
command as you will, for you will be obeyed. And since you are
in your native country and in your own house, enjoy yourself and rest from
the labor of your battles. So that's Cortez's account. Several other conquistadors wrote
of the affair a bit differently in their accounts. Bernard Diaz, for example,
who also wrote in the fifteen fifties in Guatemala and Spain, recorded the
speech quite shortly. Montezuma, he said, this is Diaz insisted that quote
now that he had us with him, he was at our service, and
he would give us all that he possessed, and that it was surely true
that we were those whom his ancestors had spoken of when they talked of men
who would come from where the sun rose to rule over the territory end quote.
Father Aguilar, another eyewitness, who wrote in Elscritio this is back in
Spain in the fifteen sixties, went further than Cortez in describing how Montezuma acted.
He's said that Montezuma announced himself before a notary no less to be King
of Castile's vassal, declared that he would serve him as he would his own
lord, that the Europeans were welcome, that they had come home, and
that his ancestors had always said that armed bearded men would one day come out
of the sunrise who were not to be fought against, since they were the
future lords of the earth. Father. Aguilar added that Mountezuma quote believed us
to be immortals and called us dueles that his God's end quote. Aguilar,
however, was probably confusing this occasion with another one in January fifteen twenty that
I will talk about in an upcoming episode. To some extent, this speech
is confirmed by Mexico sources. The so called Cronica X, written in Natal
in the fifteen thirties, recounts the speech and does include the elements of submission.
Certainly Cortez was ruthless and devious, but it is unlikely that he would
have just fabricated this speech out of whole cloth. Had he done so,
he surely would have been denounced by other members of the expedition in the blaming
and in fighting that was going to follow. It is worth noting that in
his letters back to Spain, Cortes never directly mentions that Montezuma believed he was
a physical God. For my part, I think the submission speech was helpful
for Cortez, but it didn't change anything, had Montezuma rejected Spain's authority.
It's not as though Cortez would have just shrugged, turned to his men and
said, oh well, boys, guess it's back to Spain. All at
home, Cortez replied, through Marina, of course, his translator quote quote,
have confidence, Montezuma, I fear nothing. We love you greatly.
Our heart today is well satisfied. We will see you in your face.
We hear you. We have wished for a long time to see you,
to hear you, to speak in person now. Interestingly, the Mexican Emperor
and his nobility were probably just as surprised with the fact that Cortez was using
a female interpreter, a young female interpreter, as the fact that a bunch
of Europeans had just shown up. They would have been informed, of course,
about the existence of Medina from their agents, but they would have never
seen her or heard her at her work. As with the spokesman on the
coast, they would have been amazed since she was a woman. They would
have never seen a woman interpreter before. All that being said, the date
was November eighth, fifteen nineteen, and Cortes was finally inten lush declan.
If you're interested in more content, check out the link to the website in
the show notes. If you'd like the whole story of Western Sieve all over
again, except especially in the beginning, better audio quality and more detail,
check out the free link to Western Sieve two point zero in the show notes.
And if you'd like add free versions of the show, check out the
Patreon page. You can get them for a dollar a month until next time.