And so, Aztec art came to its height and was the epitome of culture at its time. However, nothing can last forever and all we have left from them are hundreds of year old statues. The Aztecs have left a legacy, chocolate and their magnificent empire lives on in the ghosts of their temples and their mighty art.
The year Ce Acatl (One Reed), by Aztec reckoning, marked the start of the conquest of the Aztecs, which would end in an abrupt and decisive defeat for the Aztecs. On that day, a group of 11 galleons sailing along the eastern gulf, alongside the Aztec , dropped anchor on the island of San Juan de Ulua. Hernan Cortez, their wily commander, the 550 soldiers and sailors as well as 16 horses, the first the Aztecs ever saw. These soldiers were armed with what the Aztecs called fire weapons, but were in fact Aquebuses, earlier versions of the musket. However, even with these advantages it is still hard to believe in retrospect that this small band of half a thousand men conquered, 10 million Aztecs, in two short years.
Much of the reason for the Aztec downfall was because of Cortez’s obvious talents for deception, persuasion and bluff. Hernando Cortez was born in the small town of Medellin in southwestern Spain in 1485. When he was about 18, besides his conquering of the Aztecs, he sailed for the island of Hispaniola. He was a soldier and a farmer before he sailed for Diego Velasquez to help conquer Cuba in 1511. Velasquez became the governor and Cortez was elected mayor-judge of Santiago.
When the party disembarked onto what is currently Vera Cruz, they set up camp on the dunes behind the beach. They had a friendly meeting with the native Totonac Indians, after which greetings and gifts were exchanged, and they heard about the existence of a great inland empire. The wily Cortez, ever wanting to expand, promptly dispatched a message requesting an audience with Aztec ruler Montezuma II.
In fact, according to www.mexconnect.com, “Runners had already carried word to Montezuma in Tenochitlán, the capital city set on an island in Lake Texcoco some 200 hundred miles away. They reported the arrival of fair-skinned, bearded strangers and fearsome "man-beasts" (cavalry) that had descended from "towers floating on the sea."”
Montezuma was now in a quandary about how to deal with these strangers. Ancient legend prophesised that , the Toltec-ruler god who is the image of the average Spanish would return from the east in the year Ce Acatl to reclaim his kingdom. Other strange omens over the previous decade had only heightened Montezuma’s anxiety. First, Lake Texcoco had suddenly boiled, flooding the city. Then, a great column of fire had destroyed the temple of Huitzilopochtli. Shooting stars had been seen every morning and a great column of fire had appeared in the east every night for an entire year. All of these were taken to be signs of Quetzalcoátl's imminent return, and Montezuma realised it was simply not an option to antagonise this potentially divine being and sent a cordial message and gifts to him, which he hoped would placate him but in fact heightened his greed.
Spurred on by this message and the extravagant gifts, Cortez immediately staked a claim for God and King, founding a settlement on the coast that he christened Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, in reference to the fleet's arrival on Good Friday to what he believed to be a vast land of plenty. The Spanish Conquest had begun.
Determined to conquer the American nation, the next moves Cortés made were as astute as they were bold. Cortez , after sending gifts and a message to the current leader of Spain, Carlos V, he stripped the ships of anything valuable and scuttled all the ships in his fleet except his own. This drastic measure effectively eliminated any means of desertion, and so Cortés assured the do-or-die loyalty of his men.
The next episode of the conquest was when Cortez forged an alliance with the Totonacs. Using his aforementioned cunning and intrigue, Cortez forged an alliance with these Indians at the coastal city-state Cempoala, then under Aztec power.
The first real obstacle that the Spanish came across was the small kingdom of Tlaxcala whose fierce mountain people had remained separate from the Aztecs, because Tlaxcala was engaged in a state of perpetual war, or Flower Wars.. The Tlaxcalans were suspicious of the odd strangers, believing them to be agents of Montezuma and a battle ensued, which the Spanish won. They then managed to secure an alliance with the relatively small civilisation of Tlaxcala, but the Tlaxcalans were a society of warriors and so the Spanish army was boosted by over two thousand troops, armed with numerous native weapons from the surrounding mountains, Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl. (see figure below)
The next obstacle was a dangerous interlude at a ceremonial centre, called Cholula, just smaller than the surviving Machu Picchu. (see map for position of Cholula relative to Tenochtitlan) ‘Warned by la Malinche that a plot was afoot to ambush and capture the Spaniards, Cortés outfoxed the Cholulan caciques (native chieftains), engineering a surprise attack in the city's center that left thousands dead. The Tlaxcalans joined in the fray, razing Cholula in a two-day rampage.’ The Spanish army then was boosted by a further 1000 troops and was ready to continue the march to Tenochtitlan without delay.
At last, the Spaniards approached Tenochtitlan, descending into Mexico Valley from a high mountain pass. On the third of November 1519, with Cortez in the lead, they filed across the southern causeway into Tenochtitlan, where they were received with much ceremony by the lords of Tenochtitlan and Montezuma himself, and escorted to the most luxurious quarters in the land. The wary Montezuma made great efforts to play the perfect host, preparing banquet after banquet for their enjoyment.
It is necessary to note that the Aztecs had absolutely no experience of horses or muskets. The Aztecs were so naive about such things that this is what their description of the Spanish and their train. These foreign people filled Montezuma with despair (see quote) and he was left with no choice but to appease these “messengers of Quetzalcoatl”.
“Their skin was white, as though made of chalk [Spanish]..... Their dogs are great monsters with flat ears and long tongues which hang out. ... A thing like a ball of stone flies out of their bellies and rains fire.... If the ball hits a tree, it blows away in splinters as though a magician had blown it away from inside.[Aquebuses].... Their battle dress and their arms are all made of iron.... THey are carried on the backs of stags [horses] wherever they like to go.... When Montezuma heard this report, he was seized with fright. His heart grew weak to the point of faintness....And despair came over him.” (www.sbceo.k12.ca.us)
Then, Cortez made a decisive move, and aware of the precarious situation in which he had placed his band of adventurers, Cortés took Montezuma captive, holding him in the Spaniards quarters, ransomed for eight months until Cortez was beset on another front and had to divert his attention to the coast. News had come that Spanish troops sent by the Cuban Governer Valazquez who Cortez had mutinied came to place him under arrest. Leaving his lesser troops to guard Montezuma, Cortez marched back eastward and defeated Valazquez with the additional benefit of more gunpowder, weapons and soldiers from his fleet.
However, in retrospect, leaving Tenochtitlan himself was probably a mistake. In his absence, Pedro de Alvarado, the garrison's commander, ordered an attack on the Aztecs in the midst of an important religious celebration. Enraged by the vicious slaughter on such a blessed day, rebellion ensued. In fact, when Cortez came back, he managed to persuade Montezuma to stop the hostilities by mounting the roof of his quarters and appeal for his people for peace. According to many independent sources, their response was to shower the emperor with insults, stones and arrows, inflicting physical and mental injury that soon resulted in his death, a short time later.
Several weeks later, Montezuma had been succeeded by Cuitlahuac, however the political system was in disarray and the social system was in anarchy. Nevertheless, he succeeded in motivating the Aztecs to mount a successful and complete siege on the Conquistadores. With food and water scarce, the Spaniards and the Tlaxcalans allies attempted to slip out of the city under cover of darkness on what is now known as La Noche Triste, the Sad Night. A sentry sent the alarm and the Aztecs attacked, resulting in over 500 Aztec/Tlaxcalan soldiers either killed or captured and sacrificed. Others, weighted down with the gold and silver loot they had collected, fell into the canals and drowned. A resounding defeat for the Spanish.
Damaged but not entirely disheartened, the surviving Spaniards and their allies retreated back into Tlaxcalan territory to regroup. In subsequent months they healed their wounds, trained and recovered their former zealousness.
Devising a new strategy, Cortés built a fleet for his next attack.
In the January of the final year of the conquest, Cortez and his conquistadores once again came to the heart of the Aztec empire, staging a series of raids and taking the Aztec stronghold at Texcoco, where they could launch their fleet. In May Cortez began his final assault, bearing down with all his force with carefully planned tactics. Though the Aztecs fought valiantly under the leadership of the last Aztec leader, Cuauhtemoc, they were ravaged by diseases, deprived of fresh water and food supplies after 80 days their emperor was left with no choice but yield, “surrendering August 13, 1521, only after their captured leader grasped the dagger in Cortés' belt and pleaded, "I have done all that I could to defend my people. Do with me now what you will.”” (aztechistory.com)
The aftermath of the battle was bloody and a resounding defeat for the Aztecs, and the conquistadors totally destroyed the Aztec empire, erasing the remnants of the culture totally, scorching Tenochtitlán by fire, and pillaging the temples. The remnants of an ancient civilisation gave birth to the modern Mexico City, and new succeeded old. In the words of a nameless but wise scribe, "Nothing but flowers and songs of sorrow are left here in Mexico.”
After the Spanish conquest and the new Hispanic city was built, the Spaniard’s disgust with the barbaric rites of the Aztecs gave them an excuse to force the Aztecs down to the lowest echelons of Hispanic society. The less than 10 percent of remaining Aztec citizens were forced to convert to Christianity or die. Because the conquest was so complete, only sporadic uprisings occurred until the present day. However, today there are still small communities who celebrate ancient Aztec religion and religious ceremonies, communities that survived in secret through the wave of religious crackdowns. Today still some 20 million Aztec descendants still speak Nahuatl, the Aztec Language and in the Great Temple of Huitzilopochtli, over 6,000 artefacts have been recovered.
Websites
Website 1 – Manuel Aguilar-Moreno (2006) Aztec Art [parts 1 and 2] retrieved 18/9/08 from http://www.famsi.org/research/aguilar/Aztec_Art_Part1.pdf and http://www.famsi.org/research/aguilar/Aztec_Art_Part2.pdf.
This website was extremely useful in explaining the uses of Art in the Aztec times, with the various types of art, and over 50 case studies, all created by an accredited professor for an accredited organisation. I trust this source, and would recommend it to anyone doing a similar assignment.
Website 2 - Fowler, W. R. , B.A., M.A., Ph.D. (1997-2008) "Aztec Empire," retrieved 18/9/08 from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761593151_3/Aztec_Empire.html.
In general, this is one of the most reliable internet sources and Encarta has an exceptionally good article on the Aztecs, although I only quoted this source for Aztec art, it was certainly good to research some of the other aspects of Aztec life.
Website 3 – Aztec Indians.com (2008) Aztec Art retrieved 18/9/08 from http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-art.html.
This was an interesting up to date and reliable source, albeit somewhat less than my other sources. It contains valuable and detailed information that I cross-referenced with other reliable sites and found to be correct. It was useful when I wanted to look at Art in more detail, and create my photostory and script.
Website 4 – Minnesota State University, 1992 – 2008 Spanish Conquest retrieved 18/9/08 from http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/topics/spanish_conquest.html.
I used this website sparingly, as though it is educational, from a university in America, it did not have information that was totally tailored for my needs. However, I did manage to get a quote from the site about what happened to art after the conquest.
This website was by far the most useful in my bibliography. The author has various degrees in different universities and is one of the leading experts on the subject. The article contains relevant subject matter and is an excellent detailed piece – by piece account of the Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs.
Website 6 – www.sbceo.k12.ca.us (No date) Spanish retrieved from http://www.sbceo.k12.ca.us/~vms/carlton/spanish.htm on 18/9/08.
In my opinion, this is not a reliable source, as it is not created by anybody academically acclaimed and I cannot find other sites which have the same information as this. However, what I have quoted from this site is not created by the website, an Aztec scribe created it and so I believe that the portion of the source that I used was reliable. It had good information about how the Aztecs reacted to the Spanish on their horses with “weapons of fire” and the remnants of Aztec and Incan culture today.
Books
NB: I did not quote any of the books, I only used them for research.
Book 1 – Unstead, R. J., 1980, See Inside An Aztec Town, Hutchinson & Co, London, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Johannesburg and various offices around the world.
This book had very little information for my chosen subject but had quite good information on Cortez which I rephrased and used in the second part of my assignment.
Book 2 – Boon, E. H., 1994, Mignolo, W., Writing Without Words: Alternative Literacies in Mesoamerica and the Andes, Duke University Press,
This book was interesting reading and contained a few chapters on Aztec Pictograms, which was both useful and full of sources. It helped me to understand the full impact of pictograms in a primitive civilisation.
Book 3 – Pasztory, E., 1998, Aztec Art, University of Oklahoma Press, Oklahoma City
This book was probably my most valuable asset, as though I did not quote it it formed much of the background knowledge which I created most of the first section.
