As Malinche never recorded any events of her life, she is known only from the memories and recollections of the people during her time. Because readers today are only able to grasp Malinche through first and secondhand accounts, her motives and beliefs might not be able to be conveyed by others. Malinche was a Nahua woman who had a huge hand in the conquest of the Aztec Empire as an interpreter for Hernan Cortes. Being a woman fluent in both Maya and Nahuatl and of a noble family, she was of significant importance to Cortes in defeating the Aztecs. Since Malinche was at the forefront as an interpreter during the conquest, there were many recorded encounters with her by both the Spanish and the natives. Although each encounter gave a slightly …show more content…
She was often described as an independent and wise woman garnering respect from all the Spaniards, even receiving the honorific title Dona. Words from conquistadors, such as, “after Our Lord God, it was she who caused New Spain to be won” and “without her we couldn’t do anything” was said at ease about Malinche (106-107) Bernal Diaz, a Spaniard who especially held Malinche in high regards, recalled clearly “the joy he felt when he suddenly caught sight of the faces of Marina and Luisa” after the battle of Tenochtitlan despite his old age (108). As she was of big help to the Spanish, they portrayed her in a positive …show more content…
Drawings a generation later of the Tlaxcala conquest omitted the brutal battle with the Spaniards, instead shown images of a peaceful alliance with the Spanish since the beginning. In many of the illustrations, Malinche was always at the forefront wearing rich clothing and jewels, receiving tribute and speaking to the Tlaxcalans. Many historians questioned the reason for the Tlaxcalans’ amenity for the Spanish, but reasoned it on the Tlaxcalans trying to appease Spanish rule. Similar to the Tenochtitlans, the Tlaxcalans’ may have altered their portrayal of Malinche and the Spanish in order to be in the Spanish’s favor. But Malinche just might be as kindhearted as the Tlaxcalans say as a boy believed to be Tlaxcalan that was under Malinche’s care, described her with warmth and
However it didn’t last long. In 1523 Cortés was named governor and captain general of New Spain. In 1528, amid Spanish fears that he was becoming too powerful, he was forced to return to Spain where the king reinstated him as captain general, but not to the position of civil governor. On his return to Mexico, his powers were significantly limited and his activities monitored. Some might argue that Hernan Cortes was a villain instead of a hero because he invaded the Aztecs and took Montezuma hostage.
Throughout the book, we get a narrative perspective of how the advanced Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was at its height and how it fell into the hands of the Spanish conquistadors. Leon-Portilla gave a different perspective of history that always tends to be silenced. Many colonized people throughout the world have had their voices silenced and ignored. However, Leon-Portilla shared a different account of the conquest of Mexico. After Leon Portilla's book was published it has received some critiques and criticisms over the
Evidence might lead one to believe that the Nahua thought the Spaniards were influenced by the god, Tezcatlipoca, who was known to coerce men into doing wicked things in order to reward those who could resist temptation. After the defeat of the Otomis, who were known as great and valiant warriors, the Tlaxcalan people allied with the Spaniards in the hopes of escaping destruction. The natives treated the Spaniards well, placing them into their palaces and giving them their daughters. After the solidification of their alliance, the Tlaxcalans requested that the conquistadors battle their enemies, the Cholulans, stating,”The Cholulans are very evil; they are our enemies.” After the defeat of the Cholulans, they continued their journey to Mexico, searching for gold and
The Spanish’s’ main goal was trying to get the Aztec people to subdue to their demands, both in a spiritual and physical conquest. During the colonizing of the Aztecs, the Spanish were trying to impose the religion that they had brought over which was Christianity and tried to get the Aztecs to stop worshipping to their Goddess. One particular scene that shows Spanish colonialism is when the Aztecs are sacrificing a young woman to the Goddess by taking out her heart, then they were caught in the act by the Spanish and Father Friar Diego. Following that scene, Topiltzin is laying in front of the Goddess statue, when it is thrown over and is destroyed and then replaced with the statue of the Virgin Mary. This specific scene displays the Spanish superiority over the Aztecs, both in the physical world and as well in the spiritual world.
The Broken Spears by Miguel Leon Portilla portrays many themes about the spanish conquest in the account of the Aztecs. However, The Seven Myth of the Spanish Conquest by Matthew Restall conveys themes harmonize with The Broken Spears concepts. In The Broken Spear the spaniards were perceived as barbaric by the Aztecs and vise versa. When the spaniards attacked during the fiesta of Toxcatl they performed a lot of bloodshed and barbaric actions.
He saw the torture the Natives received by the Spaniards. Las Casas tried to convince people to change their ways with the natives. He fought slavery and violence that was brought among harmless people. When the Spanish arrived, they encountered the Natives. The Spanish, however, seemed to ignore the fact that the Natives were gentle people.
Hernan Cortes was born on 1485 in Medellin, Spain. Medellion was neighbored by Estramuda, which was known for the large amounts of conquistadors that hailed from there (Herrick 130). Estramuda and the surrounding towns were also known for being strong supporters of the estemadura shrine which was the original inspiration for the name Guadalupe. Hernan Cortes first landed on Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) in 1504, he came with 600 men with the sole purpose of setting an establishing position in the Americas (Hamnett 59). There three
The Broken Spears, by Miguel Leon-Portilla, is an all-inclusive and compelling account of the Spanish conquest, told by the Aztecs also known as the conquered. Leon Portilla’s choice of events depicted in this book collides together giving the reader a broad view of the Spanish conquest. This book gives a history of emotional and spiritual human experiences, allowing the readers to comprehend, and relate to the Aztecs as they went through terror and faced their fears. This book provides an extensive amount of details concerning lack of leadership, bias and technological hardship that led to the Aztec defeat. After reading this book the reader will start to understand how and why the Aztecs suffered .
Moctezuma (1466-1520), was the ninth emperor of Mexico from 1502 to 1520. The Aztec Empire, which Moctezuma ruled until 1520, was taken over by Guetemoc after he was killed by his own men. The fall of the Aztec Empire was caused by Hernan Cortes, a Spaniard who invaded Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Empire, in the year 1519. This letter will include reasons as to why Moctezuma is considered to be a traitor and coward by his own people for betraying them in a time when they needed a strong leader. Hernan Cortes was one of the most famous conquistadors in Spanish history.
He received intelligence that many tribes feared and resented the ruler Montezuma. Cortes took advantage and made alliances with rival tribes and convinced them to march with him to Tenochtitlan. November 1519, Cortes and his men reached the capital city and were greeted with a procession and gifts from the Emperor. Montezuma believed Cortes to be the return of the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl, who was prophesied to conquer his people and bring about peace. Other historians claim that Montezuma welcomed Cortes to the city from a position of strength and the gifts offered were a demonstration of power.
Undoubtedly, interpretations of history are reflective of the multifaceted contexts of the historians who write it - that includes profession, audience and heritage. The complexity of context affects history in an unpredictable manner, particularly in the case of the Aztec Empire; and often the effect of context on a history is only noticeable when the context is known - that is to say that the markings of context are only really evident once the context it is known to the responder, and therefore that the value of historical writings should be derived from the difference between accounts, that is the uniqueness of differing opinion, or a more holistic consideration of elements like media, purpose, than the commonality (primarily a modern,
In this paper, the epic journey and expedition of Cabeza de Vaca would be discussed that why is his tale significant to understand the Spanish invasion of the Americas, what communication difficulties did he faced and what were the main aspects of his journey and our learning’s about native societies. 1. Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (c.1490-c.1560) was born in Jeréz de la Frontera, Spain, to a respectable family; his initial profession was in the military. It was from San Lúcar de Barrameda that Cabeza de Vaca was to start his first venture in 1527 and, he was delegated second in charge of an expedition headed up by Panfilo de Narváez, who needed to assert the domain from Florida to Mexico for Spain. . Cabeza de Vaca's family had a long history of renowned support of Spanish eminence.
In 1519, Hernándo Cortés, a Spanish Conquistador ventured into Tenochtitlan, the capital of Aztec empire, searching for gold and glory. He set out to conquer the empire and to capture the Aztecs in order to achieve his ambitions. Moctezuma, the highly respected leader of the mighty Aztec Empire, came confronting with Hernán Cortés, the leader of a small band of professional European soldiers from a huge island that lay six day’s sail to the east. In “Malintzin’s Choices: An Indian Women in the Conquest of Mexico” and “Mexico and the Spanish Conquest”, Camilla Townsend and Ross Hassig respectively present one histories in their own interpretations of the conquest of Mexico.
In the book it mentions that the Maya knew not to go against the Spanish Masters because their military was much stronger than the Mayan warriors. There were very much loss with the Mayan Empire because of the conquest itself. Moreover the Mayans were captured as slaves and sold by the Spaniards for trade and economic purposes. As the Mayan Empire fell there were other tribal groups that would want to seek alliance with the Spaniards.
The Spanish were able to colonize Mexico without much resistance.” After the smallpox epidemic, the Aztecs were even more vulnerable. The Spanish exploration and conquering of Tenochtitlan was to gain power for the Spanish empire, but the city’s people were somewhat considered rebellious, and consequently, Cortes needed to conquer/kill the people first. By taking down the people of the city, Cortes was exposed to the city’s great treasures for his reward of gold; he retrieved all the gold he could, and travelled back to Spain where he was labelled a hero for his acts of