Cortes Conquers the Aztecs

Nothing but flowers and songs of sorrow

are left in Mexico and Tlatelolco,

where once we saw warriors and wise men.

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We know it is true

that we must perish [die],

for we are mortal men.

You, the Giver of Life,

you have ordained [ordered] it.

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We wander here and there

in our desolate [unhappy] poverty.

We are mortal men.

We have seen bloodshed and pain

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where once we saw beauty and valor [bravery].

We are crushed to the ground,

we lie in ruins.

There is nothing but grief and suffering

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in Mexico and Tlatelolco,

where once we saw beauty and valor.

Have you grown weary [tired] of your servants?

Are you angry with your servants,

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O Giver of Life?

When some of the Indian lords inside the city began to see the danger they were in, and the scarcity [lack] of supplies and lack of water, they decided to escape by night. One in particular was Ixtlilxochitl, captain of Texcoco and brother of Cuaunacuxtli the lord of Texococo. He appeared before Captain Cortés and offered himself and his allies, promising to aid him and the Christians in the war against his fellow people, and since he was very valiant [brave], this
was a great blow to the Mexicans. It must also have hurt them when on another night the lord who ruled Xochimilco and Cuitlahuac came over to our side, because his people, with their canoes, fought most cruelly against the Mexicans and contributed largely to their destruction. In addition to this, when the Christians were exhausted from war, God saw fit to send the Indians smallpox, and there was a great pestilence [plague] in the city because there were
so many people there, especially women, and they had nothing more to eat. We soldiers could scarcely [hardly] get about the streets because of the Indians who were sick from hunger, pestilence and smallpox. Also for these reasons they began to slacken in their fighting. Moreover, as they gradually retreated to some fortified [secured] houses on the water, we held the advantage, and our allies were able to devote themselves to leveling houses and buildings, which made it possible for us to take the whole city, since we could run our horses on level ground.

The Mexicans, almost vanquished [defeated], withdrew to their fortresses on the water, and since a great number of women were left among them, they armed them all and stationed them on the rooftops. The Spaniards were alarmed at seeing so many of the enemy again, whooping and shouting at them, and when they began killing them and saw they were women, there was dismay [sadness] on both sides.

Captain Hernando Cortés, and Alderete the first royal treasurer, and the scrivener [scribe] who was named Orduña, and several other gentlemen, reached the fortified house where Cuauhtemoc [the last Aztec emperor] had already taken refuge [shelter]. Cuauhtemoc, youthful lord of about eighteen years of age, was a person of great valor and courage. They sent word to him saying that since there was no place further to which he could retreat, he should surrender, and that the king would pardon him and grant him many privileges. He replied with great conceit and little shame: “I do not care to give myself up, for I prefer to see you all killed.” And so at night we retired to our camp.

Before leaving the camp, I had ordered that Gonzalo de Sandoval should proceed with the brigantines [ships] to the place where the Indians had fortified themselves in houses, thus holding them surrounded, but not attacking them until he should observe that we began to fight; in such manner that, holding them thus surrounded, they had no place to go except amongst the dead, and on the roofs which were left them. For this cause, they neither had, nor procured [obtained], arrows, nor darts, nor stones, with which to hurt us. Our friends accompanied us, armed with swords and shields, and such was the slaughter done that day on water and on land, that with prisoners taken they numbered in all more than forty thousand men; and such were the shrieks and the weeping of the women and children that there was none whose heart did not break; and we had more trouble in preventing our allies from killing and inflicting tortures than we had in fighting with the Indians, for no such inhuman cruelty as the natives of these parts practice was ever seen amongst any people. Our allies obtained very great plunder, which we could not prevent, because we were about nine hundred Spaniards, and they more than one hundred and fifty thousand men, and no attention or diligence [carefulness] was sufficient to prevent them from robbing, although we did everything possible to stop it. One of the reasons why I refused to go to extremes in those previous days was that, by taking them by assault [force], they would probably throw what they had into the lake, and if they did not do so our allies would steal everything they found; and, for this reason, I feared that but a small part of the great wealth existing in the city, as shown by what I had before obtained for Your Highness, would be secured for Your Majesty. As it was already late, and we could no longer endure [stand] the stench of the dead which had lain for many days in those streets (the most pestilential [plague-like] thing in the world), we returned to our camps. [...]

When day had dawned, I had our whole force prepared, and the large field pieces brought out; and I had, the day before, ordered Pedro de Alvarado to await me in the square of the market-place, and not to begin fighting until I arrived. All being assembled, and the brigantines ready for action, behind the houses on the water, where the enemy were gathered, I ordered that, on hearing a musket-shot, the land force should enter the small part which was still to be captured, and force the enemy towards the water where the brigantines would be awaiting them; and I cautioned them particularly to look after Quatamucin [Cuauhtemoc, the Aztec emperor], and to endeavour [try] to take him alive, because then the war would stop. [...] After a short time, they returned with one of the highest chiefs of all of them, who was called Ciguacoacin, captain and governor of them all, whose counsel followed in everything concerning the war. I showed a very good disposition [mood] towards him, so that he might be reassured and have no fears, and finally he told me that the sovereign [king/ruler] would in no way appear before me, and that he rather preferred to die where he was, and that he himself was much grieved [pained] at this decision but that I could do as I pleased. Recognising by this his determination, I told him to return to his own people, and that he and they might prepare themselves, as I was determined to attack them, and finish destroying them; and so it happened. More than five hours had passed in these parleyings [discussions], and the inhabitants of the city were all treading [walking] on the dead, others in the water were swimming, and others drowning themselves in the large lake where the canoes were collected. Such was the plight [trouble] in which they were, that no understanding could conceive [imagine] how they could endure [bear] it; and an infinite number of men, women, and children kept coming towards us, who, in their haste [hurry], pushed one another back into the water and were drowned amidst the multitude [great number] of dead. It appears they had perished [died] to the number of more than fifty thousand, from the saltwater which they drank, or from starvation, and pestilence. [...] thus, in the streets they occupied, were found heaps of dead, so that nobody could step without trampling them. As the people of the city came towards us, I ordered Spaniards to be stationed in all the streets, to prevent our allies from killing those unhappy creatures, who were beyond number; and I also ordered the captains of our allies not to allow in any way those fugitives [escapees] to be killed, but, as they were so many, it was not possible to prevent it that day, so more than fifteen thousand persons were massacred. [...]

It pleased God that the captain of a brigantine, called García Holguín, overtook a canoe in which there were some distinguished people, and, as he had two or three cross-bowmen in the prow [front] of the brigantine, and was crossing in front of the canoe, they signaled to him not to shoot because their sovereign was there. The canoe was quickly captured, and they took Quatamucin, and the lord of Tacuba, and the other chiefs who were with him; and the said captain, García Holguín, immediately brought the said sovereign of the city and the other chief prisoners to the terrace where I was [...] he approached me and said to me in his language that he had done all that on his part he was bound to do to defend himself and his people, until he was reduced to that state, and that I might now do with him as I chose; and placing his hand on a dagger [sword] which I wore he bade [asked] me stab him with it and kill him. I encouraged him, and told him not to be afraid; and this lord having been made prisoner, the war immediately ceased [stopped], which God Our Lord was pleased to bring to its end on this day [...] which was the 13th of August in the year 1521. So that from the day when we laid the siege to the city, which was the 30th of May of the said year, until it was taken, seventy-five days passed, in which Your Majesty may perceive the hardships, dangers, and cruelties, which these, your vassals [subjects], suffered, and in which they so exposed themselves that their deeds will bear testimony of them. In all these seventy-five days of the siege, none passed without more or less fighting.

The Spaniards See the Objects of Gold

Then Motecuhzoma dispatched various chiefs. Tzihuacpopocatzin was at their head, and he took with him a great many of his representatives. they went out to meet the Spaniards in the vicinity of Popocatepetl and lztactepetl, there in the Eagle Pass.

They gave the "gods" ensigns of gold, and ensigns of quetzal feathers, and golden necklaces. And when they were given these presents, the Spaniards burst into smiles; their eyes shone with pleasure; they were delighted by them. They picked up the gold and fingered it like monkeys; they seemed to be transported by joy, as if their hearts were illumined and made new.

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The truth is that they longed and lusted for gold. Their bodies swelled with greed, and their hunger was ravenous; they hungered like pigs for that gold. They snatched at the golden ensigns, waved them from side to side and examined every inch of them. They were like one who speaks a barbarous tongue: everything they said was in a barbarous tongue. […]

Motecuhoma's Despair

When the envoys arrived in the city, they told Motecuhzoma what had happened and what they had seen. Motecuhzoma listened to their report and then bowed his head without speaking a word. For a long time he remained thus, with his head bent down. And when he spoke at last, it was only to say: "What help is there now, my friends? Is there a mountain for us to climb? Should we run away? We are Mexicanos: would this bring any glory to the Mexican nation?

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"Pity the old men, and the old women, and the innocent little children. How can they save themselves? But there is no help. What can we do? Is there nothing left us?

"We will be judged and punished. And however it may be, and whenever it may be, we can do nothing but wait." […]

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The Statue of Huitzilopochtli

On the evening before the fiesta of Toxcatl, the celebrants began to model a statue of Huitzilopochtli. They gave it such a human appearance that it seemed the body of a living man. Yet they made the statue with nothing but-a paste made of the ground seeds of the chicalote, which they shaped over an armature of sticks.

When the statue was finished, they dressed it in rich feathers, and they painted crossbars over and under its eyes. They also clipped on its earrings of turquoise mosaic; these were in the shape of serpents, with gold rings hanging from them. Its nose plug, in the shape of an arrow, was made of gold and was inlaid with fine stones.

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They placed the magic headdress of hummingbird feathers on its head. They also adorned it with an anecuyotl, which was a belt made of feathers, with a cone at the back. Then they hung around its neck an ornament of yellow parrot feathers, fringed like the locks of a young boy. Over this they put, its nettle-leaf cape, which was painted black and decorated with five clusters of eagle feathers.

Next they wrapped it in its cloak, which was painted with skulls and bones, and over this they fastened its vest. The vest was painted with dismembered human parts: skulls, ears, hearts, intestines, torsos, breasts, hands and feet. They also put on its maxtlatl, or loincloth, which was decorated with images of dissevered limbs and fringed with amate paper. This maxtatl was painted with vertical stripes of bright blue.

They fastened a red paper flag at its shoulder and placed on its head what looked like a sacrificial flint knife. This too was made of red paper; it seemed to have been steeped in blood.

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The statue carried a tehuehuelli, a bamboo shield decorated with four clusters of fine eagle feathers. The pendant of this shield was blood-red, like the knife and the shoulder flag. The statue also carried four arrows.

Finally, they put the wristbands on its arms. These bands, made of coyote skin, were fringed with paper cut into little strips. […]

The Spaniards Attack the Celebrants

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At this moment in the fiesta, when the dance was loveliest and when song was linked to song, the Spaniards were seized with an urge to kill the celebrants. They all ran forward, armed as if for battle. They closed the entrances and passageways, all the gates of the patio: the Eagle Gate in the lesser palace, the Gate of the Canestalk and the Gate of the serpent of mirrors.

They posted guards so that no one could escape, and then rushed into the Sacred Patio to slaughter the celebrants. They came on foot, carrying their swords and their wooden or metal shields.

They ran in among the dancers, forcing their way to the place where the drums were played. They attacked the man who was drumming and cut off his arms. Then they cut off his head, and it rolled across the floor.

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They attacked all the celebrants, stabbing them, spearing them, striking them with their swords. They attacked some of them from behind, and these fell instantly to the ground with their entrails hanging out. Others they beheaded: they cut off their heads, or split their heads to pieces.

They struck others in the shoulders, and their arms were torn from their bodies. They wounded some in the thigh and some in the calf. They slashed others in the abdomen, and their entrails all spilled to the ground. Some attempted to run away, but their intestines dragged as they ran; they seemed to tangle their feet in their own entrails. No matter how they tried to save themselves, they could find no escape.

Some attempted to force their way out, but the Spaniards murdered them at the gates. Others climbed the walls, but they could not save themselves. Those who ran into the communal houses were safe there for a while; so were those who lay down among the victims and pretended to be dead. But if they stood up again, the Spaniards saw them and killed them.

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The blood of the warriors flowed like water and gathered into pools. The pools widened, and the stench of blood and entrails filled the air. The Spaniards ran into the communal houses to kill those who were hiding. They ran everywhere and searched everywhere; they invaded every room, hunting and killing.

The Aztecs Retaliate

When the news of this massacre was heard outside the Sacred Patio, a great cry went up: "Mexicanos, come running! Bring your spears and shields! The strangers have murdered our warriors!"

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This cry was answered with a roar of grief and anger: the people shouted and wailed and beat their palms against their mouths. The captains assembled at once, as if the hour had been determined in advance. They all carried their spears and shields.

Then the battle began. The Aztecs attacked with javelins and arrows, even with the light spears that are used for hunting birds. They hurled their javelins with all their strength, and the cloud of missiles spread out over the Spaniards like a yellow cloak.

The Spaniards immediately took refuge in the palace. They began to shoot at the Mexicans with their iron arrows and to fire their cannons and arquebuses. And they shackled Motecuhzoma in chains.