Cultural Differences In Aztec Culture Essay
Cultural Difference and Identity Formation
Fall 2012 / 1400 Ad to Present/WCIV 10200 5 EF October 29, 2012
In a Aztec account of the conquest of Mexico it is very clear that Hernan Cortés’s way of Empire building and culture conquest in my opinion was by deceiving Montezuma. He had Montezuma believing he had come in peace although his entrance said otherwise. His style emphasized Military traditions along with the accompanying courage of his warriors.
Based on “The Florentine Codex” an excerpt from Victors and Vanquished It is clear that they were all dressed and equipped for war the second they stepped foot on Mexico. “They girded themselves, trying their battle gear lightly on …show more content…
themselves and then on their horses. Then they arranged themselves in rows, files, ranks. Four horsemen came ahead, going first, staying ahead, and leading. They kept turning about as they went. Facing people, looking this way and that, looking sideways, gazing in between the houses and examing things and looking up at the roofs. The second contingent and file were horses carrying people, each with his cotton cuirass, his leather shield, his iron lance, and his iron sword hanging down the horse’s neck. The third file were those with iron crossbows, the crossbowmen. As they came, the iron crossbows lay in their arms. They came along testing them, brandishing them. The fourth file were like horsemen, their outfits were the same as has been said. The fifth group were those with harquebuses, the harquebusiers, shouldering their harquebuses; some held them at level. And when they went into the great palace, the residence of the ruler, they repeatedly shot off their harquebuses. And last, bringing up the rear went the war leader (Cortés).”
When he was approached by Montezuma, Montezuma said a few kind words and according to Sahagún's manuscript, Montezuma personally dressed Cortés with flowers from his own gardens, the highest honor he could give. Cortés’s response was “Tell Montezuma that we are his friends. There is nothing to fear. We have wanted to see him for a very long time and now we have seen his face and heard his words. Tell him that we love him well and that our hearts are contented”. Then he said “We have come to your house in Mexico as friends. There is nothing to fear” All this was said as the Spaniards gasped Montezuma’s hands and patted his back to show their affection. Many assume Cortes did not understand the significance of the gesture. In turn, Cortés attempted to embrace the Emperor but was restrained by a courtier. The noble - Don Pedro de Alvarado known as The Sun commanded that Montezuma and Itzcohuatzin (The military chief of Tlatelolco) be made prisoners. They also murdered the king of Nauhtla, Cohualpopocatzin, by wounding him and then burning him alive. They became very ruthless in the way they tried to take control and gain power over Mexico. They did this during their celebration. The people wanted to celebrate in honor of Cortez, their God. On day two of their God’s fiesta they started eliminating people, starting with the celebrants who were the musicians, dancers’ singers and even the spectators.
The Spaniards even killed those that were working to make their lives better, those that were carrying water, bringing fodder for the horses, or grinding meals, or sweeping. Those that were unarmored were put out, in other words the innocent and helpless. The sun had disloyally murdered all the people from Tenochtitlan and that was the beginning of the war. In Bartolome de las Casas: A short Account of the Destruction of the Indies it is apparent that the Spanish form of empire building and cultural conquest was through Christianity. Well According to Las Casas it was more like they disguised their initial intent (control) and wanted the natives to perceive that they were descendendants from the heavens and have come to show them a new way of life. The America’s were discovered in 1492, and the first Christian settlements was established by the Spanish the following year. They first settled in the large and fertile island of Hispaniola. This coast was swarming with people, the reason why it was their first target. The people from this area were described to be as open and innocent as can be imagined. They were very simple, unassuming, long suffering, unassertive and submissive.
They were without malice or cleverness. They were utterly faithful and obedient to both their own native lords and to the Spaniards. They harbored no grudges, did not seek to settle old scores and of course the notion of revenge and hatred was foreign to them. As was stated “They are among the least robust of human beings: their delicate constitutions make them unable to withstand hard work or suffering and render them liable to succumb to almost any illness, no matter how mild. Even the common people are no tougher than princes or than other Europeans born with a silver spoon in their mouths and who spend their lives shielded from the rigors of the outside world. They are also among the poorest people on the face of the earth; they own next to nothing and have no urge to acquire material possessions. As a result they are neither ambitious nor greedy, and are totally uninterested in worldly power. Their diet is every bit as poor and as monotonous, in quantity and in kind, as that enjoyed by the Desert Fathers. Most of them go naked, save for a loincloth to cover their modesty; at best they may wrap themselves in a piece of cotton material a yard or two squares. Most sleep on matting, although a few possess a kind of hanging net. They are innocent and pure in mind and have a lively intelligence, all of which makes them particularly receptive to learning and understanding the truths of our Catholic faith and to being instructed in virtue; indeed, God has invested them with fewer impediments in this regard than any other people on earth. They thought, once they begin to learn of the Christian faith they become so keen to know more, to receive the Sacraments, and to worship God, that the missionaries who instruct them do truly have to be men of exceptional patience and forbearance”. As you can see they went after the “weaker ones” the ones that wouldn’t put up a fight. It was evident to them that these are the ones that needed to be besieged. They became the Spaniards prey. The Spanish started torturing the natives in ways unimaginable. De Las Casas didn’t specify how they inflicted pain on the Natives but he did state that the common ways mainly employed by the Spaniards who pretended to be Christian and who have gone there to uproot those pitiful nations and wipe them off the earth is by unjustly waging cruel and bloody wars. Then, they would murder anyone and everyone who has shown the slightest sign of resistance, or even of wishing to escape the torment to which they have been subjected to. Spaniards usually spare only the women and children, who are subjected to the hardest and bitterest servitude ever suffered by man or beast and they enslaved any survivors. He stated “When the Spanish first voyaged here, the indigenous population of the island of Hispaniola stood at some three million; today only two hundred survive”. Their reason for killing and destroying such an countless number of souls is that the “Christians” have an ultimate aim, that which was to acquire gold and to enlarge themselves with riches in a very brief time and thus rise to a high estate disproportionate to their merits. It should be kept in mind that their insatiable greed and ambition, the greatest ever seen in the world, is the cause of their villainies. And as mentioned previously, those lands are so rich and blessed, the native people so humble and patient, so easy to subject, that our Spaniards have no more consideration for them than beasts. It was very unfortunate that all those people deceased with no knowledge of God and without the benefit of the Sacraments. Both author made it clear that their believes on cultural differences and toleration were very similar. They get what they want regardless how it may affect others. They will stop at nothing to gain power, without being provoked, just simply because they can.
I believe Cultural otherness played a big part in the destruction of the Indies and the conquest of Mexico. For starters the fact that the people were so humble and pure made a huge impact on their “success”. (I say success because the Spaniards accomplished their goal.) They were by nature the most patient and harmonious people. They didn’t hold any grudges, nor were they quarrelsome. If they were the rebellious kind they definitely could have taken the Spaniards out. The Spaniards were outnumbered by many thousands.
Over all I have learned that reg
Fall 2012 / 1400 Ad to Present/WCIV 10200 5 EF October 29, 2012
In a Aztec account of the conquest of Mexico it is very clear that Hernan Cortés’s way of Empire building and culture conquest in my opinion was by deceiving Montezuma. He had Montezuma believing he had come in peace although his entrance said otherwise. His style emphasized Military traditions along with the accompanying courage of his warriors.
Based on “The Florentine Codex” an excerpt from Victors and Vanquished It is clear that they were all dressed and equipped for war the second they stepped foot on Mexico. “They girded themselves, trying their battle gear lightly on …show more content…
themselves and then on their horses. Then they arranged themselves in rows, files, ranks. Four horsemen came ahead, going first, staying ahead, and leading. They kept turning about as they went. Facing people, looking this way and that, looking sideways, gazing in between the houses and examing things and looking up at the roofs. The second contingent and file were horses carrying people, each with his cotton cuirass, his leather shield, his iron lance, and his iron sword hanging down the horse’s neck. The third file were those with iron crossbows, the crossbowmen. As they came, the iron crossbows lay in their arms. They came along testing them, brandishing them. The fourth file were like horsemen, their outfits were the same as has been said. The fifth group were those with harquebuses, the harquebusiers, shouldering their harquebuses; some held them at level. And when they went into the great palace, the residence of the ruler, they repeatedly shot off their harquebuses. And last, bringing up the rear went the war leader (Cortés).”
When he was approached by Montezuma, Montezuma said a few kind words and according to Sahagún's manuscript, Montezuma personally dressed Cortés with flowers from his own gardens, the highest honor he could give. Cortés’s response was “Tell Montezuma that we are his friends. There is nothing to fear. We have wanted to see him for a very long time and now we have seen his face and heard his words. Tell him that we love him well and that our hearts are contented”. Then he said “We have come to your house in Mexico as friends. There is nothing to fear” All this was said as the Spaniards gasped Montezuma’s hands and patted his back to show their affection. Many assume Cortes did not understand the significance of the gesture. In turn, Cortés attempted to embrace the Emperor but was restrained by a courtier. The noble - Don Pedro de Alvarado known as The Sun commanded that Montezuma and Itzcohuatzin (The military chief of Tlatelolco) be made prisoners. They also murdered the king of Nauhtla, Cohualpopocatzin, by wounding him and then burning him alive. They became very ruthless in the way they tried to take control and gain power over Mexico. They did this during their celebration. The people wanted to celebrate in honor of Cortez, their God. On day two of their God’s fiesta they started eliminating people, starting with the celebrants who were the musicians, dancers’ singers and even the spectators.
The Spaniards even killed those that were working to make their lives better, those that were carrying water, bringing fodder for the horses, or grinding meals, or sweeping. Those that were unarmored were put out, in other words the innocent and helpless. The sun had disloyally murdered all the people from Tenochtitlan and that was the beginning of the war. In Bartolome de las Casas: A short Account of the Destruction of the Indies it is apparent that the Spanish form of empire building and cultural conquest was through Christianity. Well According to Las Casas it was more like they disguised their initial intent (control) and wanted the natives to perceive that they were descendendants from the heavens and have come to show them a new way of life. The America’s were discovered in 1492, and the first Christian settlements was established by the Spanish the following year. They first settled in the large and fertile island of Hispaniola. This coast was swarming with people, the reason why it was their first target. The people from this area were described to be as open and innocent as can be imagined. They were very simple, unassuming, long suffering, unassertive and submissive.
They were without malice or cleverness. They were utterly faithful and obedient to both their own native lords and to the Spaniards. They harbored no grudges, did not seek to settle old scores and of course the notion of revenge and hatred was foreign to them. As was stated “They are among the least robust of human beings: their delicate constitutions make them unable to withstand hard work or suffering and render them liable to succumb to almost any illness, no matter how mild. Even the common people are no tougher than princes or than other Europeans born with a silver spoon in their mouths and who spend their lives shielded from the rigors of the outside world. They are also among the poorest people on the face of the earth; they own next to nothing and have no urge to acquire material possessions. As a result they are neither ambitious nor greedy, and are totally uninterested in worldly power. Their diet is every bit as poor and as monotonous, in quantity and in kind, as that enjoyed by the Desert Fathers. Most of them go naked, save for a loincloth to cover their modesty; at best they may wrap themselves in a piece of cotton material a yard or two squares. Most sleep on matting, although a few possess a kind of hanging net. They are innocent and pure in mind and have a lively intelligence, all of which makes them particularly receptive to learning and understanding the truths of our Catholic faith and to being instructed in virtue; indeed, God has invested them with fewer impediments in this regard than any other people on earth. They thought, once they begin to learn of the Christian faith they become so keen to know more, to receive the Sacraments, and to worship God, that the missionaries who instruct them do truly have to be men of exceptional patience and forbearance”. As you can see they went after the “weaker ones” the ones that wouldn’t put up a fight. It was evident to them that these are the ones that needed to be besieged. They became the Spaniards prey. The Spanish started torturing the natives in ways unimaginable. De Las Casas didn’t specify how they inflicted pain on the Natives but he did state that the common ways mainly employed by the Spaniards who pretended to be Christian and who have gone there to uproot those pitiful nations and wipe them off the earth is by unjustly waging cruel and bloody wars. Then, they would murder anyone and everyone who has shown the slightest sign of resistance, or even of wishing to escape the torment to which they have been subjected to. Spaniards usually spare only the women and children, who are subjected to the hardest and bitterest servitude ever suffered by man or beast and they enslaved any survivors. He stated “When the Spanish first voyaged here, the indigenous population of the island of Hispaniola stood at some three million; today only two hundred survive”. Their reason for killing and destroying such an countless number of souls is that the “Christians” have an ultimate aim, that which was to acquire gold and to enlarge themselves with riches in a very brief time and thus rise to a high estate disproportionate to their merits. It should be kept in mind that their insatiable greed and ambition, the greatest ever seen in the world, is the cause of their villainies. And as mentioned previously, those lands are so rich and blessed, the native people so humble and patient, so easy to subject, that our Spaniards have no more consideration for them than beasts. It was very unfortunate that all those people deceased with no knowledge of God and without the benefit of the Sacraments. Both author made it clear that their believes on cultural differences and toleration were very similar. They get what they want regardless how it may affect others. They will stop at nothing to gain power, without being provoked, just simply because they can.
I believe Cultural otherness played a big part in the destruction of the Indies and the conquest of Mexico. For starters the fact that the people were so humble and pure made a huge impact on their “success”. (I say success because the Spaniards accomplished their goal.) They were by nature the most patient and harmonious people. They didn’t hold any grudges, nor were they quarrelsome. If they were the rebellious kind they definitely could have taken the Spaniards out. The Spaniards were outnumbered by many thousands.
Over all I have learned that reg