Week 8: Monday, March 13
A contemporary Spanish representation of Cortes' conquest of Mexico.
On Blackboard, I have included two excerpts from Bernal Diaz's Conquest of New Spain (it appears as one document on Blackboard). Unfortunately, I posted the first excerpt second and the second excerpt first. Please read them in reverse order—that is, read the second one first and the first one second (confusing, eh?).
The first account (pp. 103-109) details Cortes' first two encounters with the Tlaxcalans. These were the first battles the Spanish fought against the people of Mexico so neither side had much experience of the other. After suffering a defeat, the Tlaxcalans joined the Spanish against the Aztecs.
The second account (pp. 167-177) takes place much later in the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The scene was now Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Aztecs which eventually became the site of present-day Mexico City. The Spanish had installed themselves in city and kept the Aztec emperor Moctzemua as a sort of hostage in his own palace. The Spanish realized they had antagonized the local inhabitants and concluded that it might be a good idea to retreat from the city. The people of Tenochtitlan, however, sought prevent the Spanish from leaving. Diaz's account describes what happened when the Spanish tried to evacuate the town. Twice they were turned back after suffering heavy losses. On the third attempt, in what became known as "La Noche Triste" ("the sad night"), Cortes and some of his men finally escaped, but only after most of the Spanish force had been killed or captured. As you read, it pays to remember that Tenochtitlan was situated in the middle of a very large lake and only connected to land by a series of long bridges or causeways.
1) According to the textbook, what factors allowed European armies to triumph over those in the rest of the world in the pre-industrial era (that is, before about 1830)?
2) What factors accounted specifically for the British conquest of India?
3) According to Bernal Diaz, what gave the Spanish confidence that their crazy venture in Mexico could actually succeed?
4) What kinds of weapons did the Tlaxcalans use in their first battles with the Spanish? How did they seem to fight?
5) After the first encounter with the Tlaxcalans, what instructions were given to the Spanish soldiers in anticipation of future battles?
6) The fighting that took place in Tenochtitlan was far more brutal and vicious than what had occurred earlier. By this point, the Aztecs had far more experience with Spanish tactics than the Tlaxclans had earlier. Moreover, the Aztecs had adapted. What appear to have been Aztec tactics at Tenochtitlan, and how did they seem to differ from the way the Tlaxcalans had fought? How did the cityscape give the Aztecs an advantage in this series of battles?
Other Questions
1) From what you have read, what did the battles between the Tlaxcalans and the Spanish actually look like? If you had to describe these fights in the same manner as John Keegan described Agincourt, what would you say was actually going on? In other words, who was doing what, and how were they fighting? We will talk about this question at length in class, so please think about it carefully.
2) What factors or weapons appear to have given the Spanish an edge over their far more numerous Central American foes?
A contemporary Spanish depiction of Tenochtitlan.
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Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle, 2006.