At the time of the Aztec Conquest Pedro de Alvarado was a young Captain appointed by Cortes. He went on to conquer much of Central America and became one of the most well known Conquistadors. Before his participation in the Mexican campaign he had been on the Grijalva expedition to Mexico and helped destroy the native population of Cuba.
Actions with the Cortes Expedition:
Joined expedition in Trinidad with his brothers.
In Cuba, led the men overland to Havana.
Chosen as Commander of Expeditions in Vera Cruz.
Returned from Grijalba expedition with word of gold, riches.
Was put in charge of force at Cempoala after Cortés left to deal with Spanish arrivals.
Given daughter of Xicotencatl in Tlaxcala, Dona Luisa.
Was sent to Tenochtitlan, but was turned back either due to illness or Moctezuma’s orders. Was described by Mexica to Moctezuma as handsome and given the name Tonatio, or son of the sun.
Horse – Sorrel Mare, well trained.
Was selected to go visit Moctezuma on Day 2 in Tenichtitlan (Diaz p 221)
Went to seize Moctezuma in his quarters (Diaz 245)
Given daughter of Xicotencatl in Tlaxcala, Dona Luisa.
Was sent to Tenochtitlan, but was turned back either due to illness or Moctezuma’s orders. Was described by Mexica to Moctezuma as handsome and given the name Tonatio, or son of the sun.
Horse – Sorrel Mare, well trained.
Was selected to go visit Moctezuma on Day 2 in Tenichtitlan (Diaz p 221)
Went to seize Moctezuma in his quarters (Diaz 245)
As Cortes moved closer to the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan, he passed through Cholula. This town of about 30,000 (de las Casas) was a sort of religious capital in the region, comparable to Mecca or Jerusalem. The people of Cholula were allied with Moctezuma and were enemies of Tlaxcala where Cortes had been received. The Spanish account paints Cortes in a desperate situation, pinned in an enemy city and reacting defensively. Other accounts, both indigenous and European, tend to call it a massacre.
The Massacre at Cholula as depicted on the Lienzo de Tlaxcala.
The Cortes Narrative
After brief negotiations that Cortes felt were short of his esteem, he marched on Cholula with 1,000 Tlaxcala warriors (Cortes, 2nd Letter). Cortes was met with much fanfare and was admitted to Cholula. According to Spanish accounts and those of the Tlaxcala storytellers, Moctezuma and the leaders of Cholula had cooked up a scheme to trap the Spanish in the city and destroy them. Cortes’s Cempoalan allies noted trenches dug, and rock piles on rooftops and they reportedly saw women and children being led out of the city. In another account La Malinche, the indigenous female translator, was approached by a Tlaxcala woman who, in an offer of sanctuary, confided in her the plot to kill the Spanish.
Convinced of the oncoming assault, Cortes called a meeting of all the men of matter in the Cholula region. Once they had gathered he explained their treachery to them and ordered a musket fired. This was the sign for the Spanish and their allies to begin the assault on the Cholulans. Cortes claims 3,000 were killed in a two-hour slaughter.
Cortes and Diaz explain it was a natural pre-emptive strike against an obviously hostile force. The Tlaxcala stories also justify their actions, including the mutilation and murder of one of their messengers before the attack. It seems a logical place for Moctezuma’s allies to make a stand if you were going to try and expel these invaders once and for all.
La Matanza de Cholula, Felix Parra, 1877.
The majority of the Tlaxcala army had waited outside the city and once the battle had begun entered Cholula. The Tlaxcala force fought through the streets toward the Spanish, who had already begun slaughtering people. For almost two days the Tlaxcala army pillaged and burned Cholula until even Cortes was taken by pity for the people of Cholula. He ordered the pillaging to end and demanded all the captives taken by the Tlaxcalans be returned.
Cortes was a cunning and brutal leader and he either anticipated the attack or simply intended to send a brutal message. And it seems to have worked as word spread far and wide of the destruction of the Cholula nobility by the invaders.
Other Accounts
Other accounts are not so clear on a sneak attack by the Cholulans and refer to it as an outright massacre. The Conquistador turned Mercedarian friar Francisco de Aguilar said the people killed were water-bearers and temames. Diego Duran also noted they were bringing supplies and highlights the incident as a dark point he must write about. The historian and early civil rights advocate Bartolome de las Casas called it a staged “massacre” and a “punishment” by Cortes to spread terror. Las Casas also said it was mostly temames, the most humble and respected worker in Mesoamerica, who made up the bulk of the victims.
The Florentine Codex describes the massacre as planned by the Spanish, but notes there was no Cholulan scheme, saying they were unarmed and were “treacherously and deceitfully slain.”
Within a few days the Spanish had moved out of Cholula toward Tenochtitlan, news of their terror well ahead of them. Cortes ordered the people of Cholula to resume their lives as before. Which they did, but forever tainted by the destruction brought by the Spanish.
Estimates from various accounts range from 2000 to 6000 victims with not a single Spanish casualty.
The Battle of Cintla, fought between Cortes’s Spanish and Maya in mid-March, 1519, is significant for several reasons. Most notably this is the first cavalry battle fought on the mainland of the Americas. It also was the first major conflict for Cortes, and a decisive victory over the Chontal Maya of Tabasco.
Cortes, after several days of fighting with local Chontal Maya, orders his horses brought ashore and dressed for the first time. The next day, which Diaz says is “Lady Day,” Cortes orders 13 cavalrymen, artillery and an infantry force to advance to a place called Cintla. Leading the main infantry was Diego de Ordaz , with between 300 and 400 men, including foot soldiers, crossbowmen and musketeers. The artillery was under the command of a man named Mesa.
Map from The Battle and Ruins of Cintla, by Daniel G. Brinton.
On the march inland they came across the Maya force ready for battle (Diaz p. 75). In full battle dress, drums blaring, arrows and stones began to come at the Spanish. Diaz says immediately almost 70 Spanish were wounded and one killed. It seems the Maya abandoned hand to hand efforts and were most interested in raining projectiles against the steel blades. But this seems to have been quite ineffective, historically.
Cortes and the cavalry were delayed in arriving, possibly as long as two hours, as Diaz notes the delay was worrisome. But soon enough Cortes arrived and flanked the Maya force from behind. At that the infantry under Diego de Ordaz charged and the Maya forces quickly fell into disarray and fled.
Casualty counts vary, but for the Spanish, it appears, two Spaniards were killed, and the wounded ranged between 20 and 70. Dead for the Chontal Maya is estimated between 200 and 800.
After the battle Cortes established a cross and a town called Santa Maria de la Victoria, which stood for a few years before being abandoned. The regional chief Tabscoob also granted 20 slave women to Cortes, one of which was the famous Malinali, or La Malinche.
Today nothing remains of the battle, the town of Cintla nor the establishment of La Victoria. Only one thorough archeological effort has been conducted, by Dr. Berendt in 1869. He reports finding mounds, stairways and Maya pottery depicting Spanish men. His findings were included in the paper linked below.
Coat of Arms awarded to Hernán Cortés by Charles V
Hernán Cortés was a Spanish Conquistador who took part in the conquest of the New World. Most famous for the destruction of the Aztec Empire in Mexico. Cortés also took part in violent campaigns against the Indigenous peoples of Cuba and Haiti.
Born in 1485 in the small town of Medellin, Spain in a harsh quarter of the country called Extremadura, which means furthest hard place, or outermost hard place. And it is that, a hard place that spat out some of the most brutal men in history, including Cortés and his relative Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of the Inca.
Through his own bold and shrewd decision making, Cortés managed to exploit, fight, escape and charm his way through Mexico to the capital of the Empire, Tenochtitlan. After tense negotiations Cortés attained control of the emperor Moctezuma, until revolt led to a harrowing escape for Cortés and his men. Eventually, the Spanish laid siege to the already ruined city and disease continued to work the Indigenous population. Cortés had won and began to rebuild Tenochtitlan into a European-style city called Mexico City.
Parents: Martin Cortés de Monroy and Dona Catalina Pizzaro Altamirano – Families known for piety and wholesomeness, money was not around much for nobility (Gomara).
BIRTH: Low level nobility on both sides. Came from a family of conquistadores, including Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of the Inca.
As an infant he was apparently sickly, described by Gomara as often being on the point of dying. His wet nurse apparently stepped up her pray game and saved him, in the end earning him the patronage of St Peter.
Age 14, 1501(?): Cortes went to Salamanca to learn grammar (Gom). According to MacNutt he attended the University of Salamanca. Didn’t exactly work out, spent two years there and returned for unclear reasons (MacNutt says 1501). Either money, or didn’t care for it. Parents were not pleased. His parents had expected him to go into law, the most noble and profitable career. Gomara describes him as exceedingly clever and intelligent.
Age 16ish he was to go with his relative Nicolas de Ovando to Hispaniola but he was hurt. Gomara says he was on a garden wall visiting a woman when it collapsed, MacNutt is same. A jealous husband attacked him. In addition Gomara says he had fever and couldn’t go with Ovando. Supposedly bounced around Southern Coast, Cadiz, Palos…
Age 17 He sets out for Italy but doesn’t make it out of Spain. Wanders idly and finally returns to Medellin determined to go to the Indies. His parents bless him, give him the money and he sets out.
Indies
In 1504 (1494?), at age 19 (Gom, p. 9), he was in Hispaniola. Because of his ties to Ovando he was granted an encomienda, or land and slave rights. Gomara reports he joined Diego Velazquez in putting down rebellions in nearby provinces inspired by Anacoana’s rebellion.
Ovando gave Cortes some Indian slaves from “Daiguaio” and appointed him Notary of Azua.
After five years he managed to earn more land in Cuba for his part in conquest with Diego Velazquez. Settled in Baracoa, Cuba where he raised sheep.
1511 Cortes is made clerk to the treasurer, responsible for the royal fifth of treasure collected. He was later appointed magistrate of Santiago by Velazquez (source).
Moctezuma Xocoyotzin had been raised to be head of the Aztec Empire and leader of the Mexica people. He had likely graduated from the Calmecac military academy and was an accomplished military leader, having proven himself as a commander. He was a faithful and knowledgeable religious man who took much weight in the signs and spirits.
His physical appearance was described by Diaz as slender and handsome, with straight dark hair to his ears with a slight black beard and slightly darker skin than the Spanish.
During his reign he expanded the Empire to the South and West and made reforms to the social class. In the end he sat atop a valley full of people tired of Mexica rule. Cortes used this animus to form allegiances and support networks that he leveraged against Moctezuma and the Mexica leaders in Tenochtitlan. Whether killed by the Spanish, or by a shower of stones and arrows from rebellious Tenochs, his death meant little for the end was already upon them.
Facts: Ninth Tlatoani of Tenochtitlan, and head of the Aztec Empire and the Triple Alliance w/ Texcoco and Tlacopan.
Name means “one who frowns in anger,” scowl?
Born 1466ish
Took the throne in 1502.
52 or 53 at time of conquest
Two main wives (Diaz). Many children, one wife was Tlapalizquixochtzin and the other Teotlalco, both princesses from Ecatepec.
