Mexica: A History Podcast
Mexica: A History Podcast
The March to Mexico (Ep 5)
In Episode 5, Cortes marched inland toward Tenochtitlan and passes through difficult terrain and battles on his way to finding a new and powerful ally.
Part 1 - Departing Cempoala
Cortes and his men depart the Totonac town of Cempoala and head into the lush highlands of the Sierra Madre.
Part 2 - Deserts, Valleys and Volcanoes
The Spanish expedition reaches the desert highlands and the men suffer from hypothermia, dehydration and hunger.
Part 3 - The Fight to Tlaxcala
Several local people, including the Otomi, attack the Spanish.
Part 4 - New Allies in Tlaxcala
Cortes makes a powerful new ally.
Part 5 - Staying in Tlaxcala
The Spanish stay in Tlaxcala for two weeks, recuperating, eating and learning of another Aztec enemy in the four cities of the Tlaxcala Federation.
Episode 5 Credits
Written, researched, performed and produced by Jeremy Lipps.
~ Music ~
Intro Coda, acoustic guitar by Valentin Sosnitskiy
Fourth Imaginary City by cryptic scenery
Daniel Birch, www.danielbirchmusic.com
Early Morning Breakup
Sustained Light
The Gates Are Locked
Away by Meydän
intro by lost dream
~ Sound Effects ~
jungle-tropical-birds-and-insects by mikeypme
marching by webbfilmsuk
walk on dirt road by mikeypme
mercado 05 by dobroide
timber tree falling by matt_beer
big bad dogs 5 by robinhood76
horse whinny by inspectorj
canadian horse running by vero marengere
horses whinnying by leandiviljoen
horse snort by bruno auzet
soft wind by florianreichelt
walk on dirt road by laurent
army marching by craigsmith
cold breeze ambiance by siyamahlobo
campfire sound by sterckxs
forest stream between mekhanizatorov settlement and akhtyrka vilage moscow region by halfofthesky
Episode 5 - March to Mexico
Last time in Episode 4: Cortes began construction on the town of Villa Rica, found new allies in the Totonacs, dealt with competing Spaniards, and established the bureaucracy to manage his power. In Tenochtitlan, Moctezuma and the Triple Alliance leaders agree to the inevitable meeting with Cortes.
The smell of iron in the blood, it’s unique. It sticks out like a cool, metallic flavor that lands on the palate somewhere between scent and taste. The strange sensation enters the nose as aerosolized blood hits the taste receptors. It stands apart from the more earthly smells of the blood. The priest of Huitzilopochtli had severed a sacrifices’s heart, and brought it inside the house at the top of the Templo Mayor. Blood from the organ was spattered on the walls and the organ left in a stone receptacle near the colorfully decorated statue of Huitzilopochtli. Moctezuma had ordered a sacrifice to seek answers and reassurance. He had many questions since these men arrived. And now, as he stood at the center of the continent’s greatest city, upon his people’s greatest temple, Moctezuma did not feel secure. There were signs, the seers had foretold of fire and destruction. Lightning had struck the Templo Mayor several years back, a bad sign the priests had said. And now these strange men arrive and lay waste to surrounding communities.
By August, 1519 it was clear to Moctezuma that Cortes was coming to Tenochtitlan. Wherever Cortes had gone, destruction and death to his opponents had come with him. The coastal Maya to their South had been gutted, their gods toppled and the priests left caring for statues of a woman and a bloodied man nailed to a cross. The Totonacs were now in open rebellion against Moctezuma and supporting the Spanish logistically and militarily. And Cortes’ urgency to meet, It was as if every gift of gold was seen as an invitation, rather than a payment to depart. Moctezuma had sent his best negotiators, he sacrificed men for answers, but the gods had none. He told Cortes to leave, he offered to pay tribute, he had sent magicians to leave curses and venomous snakes for the Spanish, none of which worked. In fact, Moctezuma had tried everything but using his massive military force to crush these few invaders. Finally, he sent his nephews to their new town of Villa Rica to invite them to his capital for the meeting Cortes so badly desired.
Part 1 - Departing Cempoala
August 16, 1519, Cortes would later record in his second letter to King Charles V, was the day they departed Cempoala for Tenochtitlan. Cortes set out on the road toward Tenochtitlan with 400 Spaniards, 15 horses, 200 Totonac temames, 40 war chiefs and perhaps as many as 2,000 Totonac warriors. In the new town of Villa Rica de la Veracruz he left 150 men to continue building and to defend their supplies and accumulated gold. With scouts riding ahead, the group set out into the lush, green foothills of the Sierra Madre toward the village of Jalapa, two day’s march from Cempoala.
Jalapa was a Totonac town, and the Spanish were treated well, housed and fed. A day's march from there was the fortified mountain village Xicochimalco, where Cortes had already ventured to drive out Mexica forces on behalf of Chief Xicomecoatl of Cempoala. Today this town is called Xico Viejo and is a small farming village. The Spanish and Totonac soldiers, as well as the assortment of Taino and Maya men and women who support the convoy, climbed up the narrow stairs to Xicomichalco. Below the village were plentiful farms growing maize and other fruits. Diaz thought he saw a type of grape growing on trellises here. They camped for a night and were again fed, but Xicomichalco was Mexica territory and this marked the end of Totonac influence. From here it was with the consent and decree of Moctezuma that the Spanish were fed and housed.
Out of Xicomichalco, the convoy climbed up into the high passes of the Sierra Madre, with altitudes over 8000 feet. The land was still lush with tall trees and dense greenery, fed by the warm, gray tropical clouds that pushed up from the coastal lowlands. All around them waterfalls cascaded down from deep ravines and the air was fat with humidity. Near the tops of the passes the air turned chill and howling winds whistled through the Mexican pine, and juniper, which grew at higher altitude. The group emerged from the winding footpaths and high passes of the Sierra Madre, onto the gentle slope of the extinct volcano then known as Naupa-Tecutepetl, or Cofre de Perote as it’s known today. The first town out of the zig-zag mountain trails was a fortress town called Ixhuacan, where they were welcomed and fed. It was the last welcome place they’d see for five days. The next phase of the march would bring great hardship.
Part 2 - Deserts and Valleys
That morning after prayer, Cortes pulled himself up upon his horse, called El Arriero, and led the convoy out of Ixhuacan, skirting the ancient volcano. Emerald trees and lush undergrowth soon gave way to rocks, gravel and hearty pinyon pines as cragly as the canyons they grew in. The Cortes convoy emerged onto a high desert plateau and for four days the group pushed on despite lacking fresh water and food. All the water they came across was too salty to drink, the lakes were saturated with ancient salt seeped from the hills, unable to flow away. Howling winds berated them with sandstorms and drove freezing rains and hail at them day and night. The conditions were so harsh that several of the Taino slaves, unaccustomed to and ill-equipped for the cold, died from exposure and malnourishment. They continued to push.
At the peak of another pass the convoy came upon some temples and platforms where there had been neatly stacked many piles of firewood. The men, after days of aching cold, set fires and gathered by the bright orange warmth. But the slave women had no masa to make tortillas, throats were still dry and their stomachs were still empty. Spirits were crashing, people were dying.
After four days in this harsh saline land, striped by ancient lava flows, Cortes and his weary soldiers descended off the plain down into a valley where they came upon the city of Xocotlan. The flat roofs of the houses and tall towers on the temples, all cut of new stone and covered in white plaster shining brightly, reminded some men of their town of Castilblanco, back home. And so they called the gleaming white town built on the rocky Tecolutla river. The scouts had notified the people of Xocotlan of Cortes’s approach and their chief, Olientetle, was there in the street to greet Cortes.
After a celebratory commotion in the streets of Xocotlan, the Spaniards were led through the town, with its numerous towers, the scent of incense and food wafted through the streets. In the main plaza it was hard to miss the tzompantli, or skull rack, strung with thousands of human skulls and long bones. They were shown to some dwellings and fed meagerly, Bernal Diaz noted. The men were starving, as meager as the meal was, it was food and they were grateful.
After the men had settled and eaten, Cortes went to speak with Olientetl. Through Aguilar and Marina, Cortes asked Olientetl if he was subject to Moctezuma. The chief began to smile, looked around the room at his headmen, and with a laugh said “Who around here is not subject to Moctezuma?” And with that the men discussed in depth Moctezuma’s forces, stationed throughout the region, and of the defensive might of Tenochtitlan. The conversation also veered toward Cortes’s favorite topics, gold, King Charles and Christianity. Cortes was gaining a fuller picture of the defensive layout of the capital city, and of the wealth and power of Moctezuma.
In his typical conversational climax Cortes shifted to the might of King Charles of Castile, and that a small offering of gold would be enough to secure his protection against Moctezuma. Again, Olientetl laughed gently, “I will not offer you any of our gold without the permission of Moctezuma, nor will I change my allegiance. But you are welcome to stay and regain your strength.”
A group arrived from neighboring valley towns, and they came to offer gifts. Four slave girls, each with a gold necklace of poor quality gold. They also brought cloth and some other gold trinkets and an invitation to visit their town. Cortes agreed to visit their town next, as it was on the way to Tlaxcala.
For now, Cortes and his men welcomed the chance to rest in such a nice town. The river that ran through the center of town was clean and fresh. The people were kind. The Spanish stayed for four days, recovering from the harsh desert. Then they set off. Olientetl was asked for, and granted, the use of 20 of his bravest warriors to Cortes and with that he set off with his multicultural force of Totonacs, Maya, Taino, Europeans and a few Africans.
Down the valley a few miles is another hillside town of beautifully built houses. From Xocotlan to Ixtacamaxtitlan the valley was continuously populated, fed by the water of the Tecolutla river. The convoy came around the valley bend and saw the heart of Ixtacamaxtitlan. The chief’s castle was walled securely and sat spectacularly above the town. The Spanish were welcomed here with more meager gifts of gold, and with two more women. The chief urged the Spanish to avoid Tlaxcala, and stay in Moctezuma’s lands.
Upon hearing this chief’s recommendation, Mamexi and other Totonac leaders were advocating for the path through Tlaxcala, who they insisted were their friends and traditional enemies of Moctezuma. So Cortes sent messengers to seek peaceful passage through Tlaxcala. For several days there was no word from the messengers. And so Cortes decided to push on to Tlaxcala.
Part 3 - Battles to Tlaxcala
The wall was tall and thick, made of stone and mortar and it spanned much of the valley floor. In the center was a gap, maybe 20 feet wide that allowed for passage, but an overlap in the two sections of the wall would force anyone to pass through a brief alley. They were six miles out of Ixtacamaxtitlan and nearing the end of the canyon where it opened onto a great farming plain dominated by Tlaxcala and the Otomi. Cortes ordered the convoy to stop and he inspected the wall. Some men banged on the stones with their swords, some thinking it well cemented, others felt it was well-fitted but loose. Many soldiers offered their advice on its purpose, few knew.
Cortes asked Olientetl’s men about its purpose. Their answer was that it was built by Tlaxcala as a defense against his people and the forces of Mexico. It marked Tlaxcala’s western border, to its east was the Valley of Mexico and their traditional enemies, the Mexica. Perhaps the wall could be manned with slingers, spearmen and archers who could take advantage of this pinch point to rain projectiles. However some men pointed out the wall didn’t span the entire canyon and could easily be flanked. Sometimes the stone doesn’t tell the whole story, it takes the people to make the sense come to life. And sometimes there are strategic military failures, too. Whatever it was, the convoy passed through uncontested to the plain beyond. Today there are no documented remnants of this wall, so the answers are gone.
The convoy began to shuffle into formation and lurch forward through the gap in the wall toward the plain below. Cortes rode ahead with five other horsemen to scout. The plain before them was painted with agriculture, spires of smoke from numerous villages rose into the air like lazy dust devils. They spotted a hill in the distance and Cortes and his men thought it might make a defensible camp for the night.
A small group of Otomi scouts was approaching, perhaps fifteen or twenty. As they neared they spotted Cortes and the other horsemen. The Otomi scouts huddled and decided it was best to head back and report what they had seen. Although they were armed with small round wooden shields, macuahuitls, or the obsidian lined clubs common to Mesoamerican infantry, they were not ready to take on six Spanish horsemen. Attached to their backs were tall wood frames decorated with feathers that symbolized their rank and affiliation.
The night before, the leader of the Otomi people in Tecoac, Tocpacxochiuh, who occupied the southeast part of the plain, had received orders from Moctezuma to welcome Cortes and to house and feed his people and horses and to clean their lodgings. Well, the Otomi chief disagreed and decided to test the Spanish. The Otomi army marched for the mouth of the valley where the Spanish were now descending. Their advance scouts had run straight into Cortes’s horsemen.
Two of Cortes’s horsemen rode ahead to detain the men but this sent them running so the Spanish horses gave chase. As they closed in on the Otomi scouts, several stopped and turned to face the oncoming charge. The warriors stood firm, raised their obsidian-lined macuahuitls up and waited for the moment to strike. Like thunder the armored horses' hooves smashed into the ground, driving them toward the Otomi soldiers with lances raised. Just as the Spaniards were about to smash the Otomies they stepped to the side and lunged heavily at the horses necks. The obsidian-lined blade cut deep into the neck of one of the horses, killing it instantly, its head dangling only by flesh. The rider Christobal de Olid went down with the horse, and the Otomies began to swarm around the fallen horse and rider. The second horse, in an attempt to rescue Olid, was also taken down but her rider managed to fight free of the Otomi warriors.
Cortes and a few other horsemen were close behind and saw what happened. They charged into the fray and were able to pull Olid and the other horsemen away, only slightly wounded. Both horses were dead. This alarmed Cortes greatly as the veneer of infallibility had been broken. The Otomies knew the horses could be killed. But there was little time to ponder the consequences as a battalion of perhaps 4,000 Otomi soldiers emerged from nearby arroyos and gorges. Horns and drums beating, warriors were shouting and whooping. Arrows and stones began falling on the small Spanish contingent. The horses charged, small skirmishes broke out all over. TheSpanish steel swords and lances had cut through the Otomies, leaving a dozen dead. A contingent of Spaniards with the main convoy heard the commotion and hurried to their aid. It was a brief, but costly encounter for the Otomi men and seeing Spanish reinforcements was enough to end the conflict. Diaz counted 17 dead warriors, but the Otomies had been carrying away the wounded and dead throughout the skirmish. Perhaps 50 or more had been killed. The Spanish, by comparison, counted only five severely wounded men, and of course the two horses killed.
That night the Spanish and their Totonac allies slept close to the battlefield, near a stream. Getting caught in a hail of darts, stones and arrows may not be fatal to an armored man, but it sure leaves a lot of cuts and bruises. In that riverbed the men used the fat of a fallen Otomi man to fill cuts and gashes in the men and horses. A scouting party found some abandoned houses nearby and noticed dogs that seemed to be returning home after the commotion of the battle. They made a fine dinner. Cortes, frustrated at the loss of the two horses, drilled the horsemen in the art of charging, again reinforcing discipline. He walked around reminding the men not to break ranks, that these few men were all they had. Cortes expected to be attacked that night and posted guards. Men slept with their weapons and the horses stayed bitted and saddled. But no attack came.
By dawn, of what some men had marked as Sept 1st, 1519, the Spanish caravan was up and ready to march. After relieving themselves, eating whatever meager food was left and saying prayer they began to move toward the plain, across which was the Tlaxcala Confederation. Tlaxcala was a group of four communities that had joined together in all efforts, but especially in the effort to resist the men from the Valley of Mexico. As one of the last holdouts against the Triple Alliance, the people of Tlaxcala had expended great human resource at remaining independent of Moctezuma and his forebears. Cortes’s Totonac ally Mamexi had urged him to pass through Tlaxcala, who were Totonac allies. The men from Xocotlan and Ixtacamaxtitlan, forty of whom were part of the caravan now, urged them to take a path through other lands friendly to Moctezuma. Cortes took the advice of Mamexi and continued on to Tlaxcala.
The Spanish pushed into Otomi farmland and began to pillage for food. The Otomi people are yet another distinct cultural group from the Maya, Mexica and Totonacs; they had their own language and history, including conflict with members of the Triple Alliance. Today the wider Otomi population, exceeding 650,000 people, ranks fifth in Mexico among indigenous groups. Once word got out about the Spanish pillaging warriors quickly began to descend on the Spanish, surrounding them. The Otomi were taunting the Cempoalan men, calling them traitors for serving the Spanish intruders. More words were hurled back and soon skirmishes broke out. Cortes called for order and sought the Otomi leaders. But the fighting was out of control, and more warriors were arriving on the scene with every passing minute. Cortes rallied his men into formation. He called on the Royal Notary, Diego de Godoy, to record what he witnessed, to pre-emptively absolve him of guilt in the eyes of the King and Lord.
Atlatl spears, arrows and stones fell on them. Braver warriors swooped in to take a swing, but these men knew the severity of Toledo steel swords, that it cut through cotton and wood armor with ease. That it spilled a man’s insides on the ground with one slice. The initial barrage of projectiles wounded several men, but they had rallied together and returned with volleys of musket and crossbow fire. After fierce fighting the Otomi warriors faded back into the corn fields and there was some quiet after what had been the fiercest fighting of the day.
Some men began to shout about going back to the coast. Diaz, on his third expedition to the New World, was content to watch these men gripe. He was intent on wealth and fortune. Cortes charged toward the panicked men and urged them to have faith in God, that he had protected them thus far. It was then the drums, horns and shouting of the full mixed force of Otomi and Tlaxcala warriors was heard approaching. The Spanish men recalled some forty thousand men in formation marching up the plateau toward them. With no choice now, the Spaniards would need all the divine protection they could summon. Father Olmedo took confession from hundreds of men, convinced of their impending doom.
Chaos erupted as both sides fired projectiles at each other. Cortes and the cavalry had been making charges when the Otomi force decided to take a horse down. They massed around a trio of horsemen whose charge had stalled in a large mass of warriors. The Otomi grabbed at the horse’s reins and main, they grabbed at the horseman’s lance. Pedro de Moron had a good mare, trained for battle. He was a good horsemen, but they chose him and succeeded in their mission. Pedro was pulled from the horse just as an Otomi macuahuitl smashed through the neck of his horse, severing the beast’s head almost entirely. They continued to hack at the horse and Moron, the obsidian tearing at his flesh as the weight of the club drove it into his bones. The other horsemen fought to keep Moron protected but they were overwhelmed.
Eventually the main force was able to stretch the line around the fallen, half-dead Moron and prevent him from being dragged off. They cut the saddle off the mare and formed ranks again. But the horse was lost to the Otomi who took pieces for trophies and food. About a dozen men were injured in the rescue of Moron.
With the lines formed again, Cortes ordered the cannons fired. The Otomi infantry, brave as they were, had no defensive strategy for cannons. Lined up in massive formations of hundreds of warriors the first few cannon shots ripped through many of them and scared many more. The typical mesoamerican battle was a formal affair with traditions to observe and different goals. While much of the focus of mesoamerican warfare was on capturing enemy warriors, European battle was far less concerned with life, the goal being utter devastation of the enemy until surrender or complete obliteration. And with cannons, never before seen by indigenous armies, the destructive power of these weapons must have seemed… insurmountable.
At this point the Spanish simply hunkered down and slashed at anyone who came near. Cortes ordered his men to conserve their gunpowder and ammo, firing only when needed. After more than two hours of skirmishes and projectiles, and dozens of Otomi casualties, the attacks lightened up and the warriors faded back into the corn fields off the road.
The Spanish decided to push for the hill they had spotted and so, slowly, the caravan moved forward through farms and villages, periodically coming under attack with showers of arrows and rocks from warriors. The soldiers looted what they could as they went. For two hours the men fought waves of Otomi as they made their way across the valley, to the hill where a tower and a few other stone houses stood. Once the Spanish had taken up position on top of the hill and in the buildings they were better able to defend themselves. By the end of the day most of the Otomi warriors had been killed, wounded or were too exhausted to fight.
These brutal skirmishes and battles had been observed by Mexica and Tlaxcala witnesses. The leaders of these places would soon know, Moctezuma in Tenochtitlan, Xicotenga the Elder and Maxixcatzin in Tlaxcala. The Otomies had thrown everything at the invaders, while only causing trivial damage to the Spanish. Cortes’s men counted 15 wounded, including Pedro de Moron, who was severely wounded after taking dozens of blows from obsidian clubs. His horse was also killed, almost all the horses were wounded. The sun set and the attacks ceased. Cortes and his men settled in on the hilltop at a place called Tehuacacingo.
In an act of vengeant terrorism, Cortes rode out under cover of darkness early the next morning and laid waste to several villages, looting and burning them to the ground. Whatever meager opposition could be mustered to counter these swift and devastating attacks was crushed. At first their hooves must have felt like an earthquake, or thunder rolling across the plain. But as they approached and the thunder grew louder one could hear the foreign voices shouting commands, then the screams of their neighbors dragged from their homes, or weeping for those who had tried to defend their homes. From village to village Cortes spread fear, burned homes, set fire to the corn, and stole lives.
As dawn began to break that September morning, Cortes and his men, covered in the blood and dust of a dawn spent pillaging, arrived in Tzompantzinco, the last major town before Tlaxcala and where Xicotenga had been camped. Wanting to turn toward peace, and intending not to scare the villagers, Cortes and his men changed their tempo and walked their horses into the still sleeping town. The men shuffled through the dusty streets, only the clanking of their chest plates and shields betraying their presence. The horse’s hooves grazed the soft soil before finding a firm grounding and lifting into the air again. They stood quietly in a square, waiting to meet the town’s elders, or whoever might come out. The purple sky brightened, the horses winnied and scratched their hooves in the dirt. The 100 foot-soldiers squatted, or leaned against walls while in the distance the smoke of destruction and death rose to the skies.
From behind a whitewashed, clay wall, two elderly priests quietly presented themselves to the horsemen. Almost crawling, they offered a humble greeting, food and peace. Cortes thanked them for their kindness. The men made excuses for why they had not come to honor Cortes and his men, and that Captain Xicotenga had ordered them not to share provisions. They sent another man to search for some women to make maize-cakes, and two women arrived and began to cook. Cortes asked the men to go to Tlaxcala and tell the council that he wanted peace. Cortes went on to demand 20 tamemes to carry the 40 or so turkeys the people had rustled up for them. After spending the day dealing with messengers and supplies Cortes and his men, with the tamemes, headed back to the hilltop camp.
Part 4 - New Allies in Tlaxcala
After lurking in the shadows of the Otomi armies and sizing up the Spanish, and after seeing the entire Otomi army crumble into the maize, and after seeing the smoke rising from the pillaged villages Cortes had destroyed, these men of the Tlaxcala Confederation were not keen to lose more soldiers to conflict. Generations of war with the Valley of Mexico had already left their ranks depleted, like a skinny street dog that refuses to go down, Tlaxcala had resisted for generations. Their choice now could undo that delicate balance.
The four elders of Tlaxcala included Xicotenga the Elder, leader of the town of Tizatlan. Xicotenga was an elderly man when Cortes arrived on the plain outside of Tlaxcala. His son Xicotenga the Younger was an eager captain of the powerful Tlaxcala armies. From Ocotelulco is Maxixcatzin, the second ranking chief among the Confederacy and a military commander. The other two cities that formed the Confederation were Tepeticpac and Quiahuitzlan.
The chiefs of these four towns met in Xicotenga’s palace in Tizatlan with many other elders, priests and military men. One man told the chamber of the military dominance displayed against the Otomi and mixed Tlaxcala armies they had sent at the Spanish. He recounted the death and carnage of the cannons, their lightning fire smashing through large swaths of men, horribly mangling them. He told that they had barely caused any harm to the Spanish, a few horses, perhaps a man or two. “The people of this valley have thrown our best at them, and now many of our allies are dead, and still these men come. It is time for a new direction, that we are best served with peace and an allegiance to them.” Many others nodded and verbally agreed. The Tlaxcala Confederation had made a decision.
Xicotenga, old and blind, spoke: “Then send word of our decision to these foreigners. Send a great gift of food and whatever treasure we can spare. And to my son, the army is to stand down,” Xicotenga said. “He has a great fire in his chest and has lost many men. These orders will not be taken easily by him. But he must obey. There is to be no more loss of Tlaxcala people. We shall see what these foreigners want.” With that a group of ambassadors and elders gathered, treasure was collected and food was prepared. Tlaxcala was to submit to King Charles, King of Castile.
Captain Xicotenga Comes in Peace
Captain General Xicotenga, the Younger, who was camped just outside Tzompantzinco, received his orders to stand down and deliver food and a message of peace to Cortes. As predicted by his father this did not sit well. He had gathered 20,000 warriors for what he saw as the final assault. After having coordinated a tiered, sustained attack on the Spanish with the Otomies, he felt he had them weakened to a point where he could finish them. The elders did not agree with him and in the interest of preserving life, they ordered him to stand down.
Displeased, angry and full of vengeance, Xicotenga the Younger found the restraint to march to Cortes’s hilltop camp and follow his father’s orders. Xicotenga, with about 50 people in his envoy, including Tlaxcalan nobles, warriors and aides, entered the camp. He also brought temames bearing food. The Tlaxcalans lit incense and greeted Cortes with great respect. Xicotenga, in his red and white cotton robe, stepped forward and explained to Cortes that they had attacked from fear, that they were fiercely protective of their freedom and had never been subject to anyone, not even Moctezuma or his forebears. He went on to explain they welcomed him in peace and requested he come stay in Tizatlan as a guest of his father. Cortes feigned anger and listed many grievances, both legitimate and petty. Ultimately peace was his goal as well, and he agreed.
In Tenochtitlan, Moctezuma still unwilling to use his military, instead sent another envoy of food, cotton garments and treasure, this time asking Cortes to name his price for an annual tribute to King Charles. The messengers were to tell Cortes to name an annual fee, that it would be paid without delay every year. And so the group of five nobles, and their entourage, took the message to Tlaxcala territory where Cortes was still camped on the hill. The Mexica Ambassadors witnessed the Spanish-Tlaxcala peace agreement and were greatly upset. In their own negotiations with Cortes they tried to frame the Tlaxcalans in the same light they saw them, as scrappy scoundrels not to be trusted. The unease of the Mexica ambassadors was like a tell to Cortes, he made it clear he was unconcerned about their issues. They urged Cortes to wait in the camp six days before leaving for Tizatlan, to give them time for a response from Moctezuma. And a message was sent to Moctezuma about an emerging peace between their great enemy Tlaxcala and these invaders.
News of the Allegiance Reaches Tenochtitlan
From Tlaxcala a Mexica runner would first pass through Cholula, an ally city to Moctezuma. Cholula was a great religious center and place of pilgrimage, at its center is a massive pyramid dedicated to Quetzalcoatl. Next the runner would pass south around the volcano Popocatepetl, up along the shores of Lake Chalco and onto the causeways that led to Tenochtitlan, reaching the capitol in less than two days.
Moctezuma had been besieged by reports of the Spanish advance. Messengers, traders, nobles and soldiers kept a steady live stream of information coming to the palace. Word of the Otomi armies collapsing had already been reported. It seemed nothing he, nor anyone else, did could slow their movement toward his capitol. His mind was filled with anxiety. These men pressed on him in a way that felt inevitable. And he sensed it brought his downfall. Moctezuma had told Cortes not to come already. This man’s persistence was frustrating to the Mexica king. In his heart, for the first time, he felt fear.
Moctezuma had hoped that Tlaxcala and the Spanish would chew each other up a bit, perhaps a weakened Tlaxcala might even emerge victorious, a win for Moctezuma. But the worst news of all had been dispatched from Cortes’s hilltop camp. The Mexica runner entered Tenochtitlan from the southern Iztapalapa Causeway. The runner pushed past temames carrying their loads on their backs, supported by head straps. He crossed the wooden bridges and canals. He passed the chinampas, where the Tenochcas farmed their corn, melons, beans and other crops. On his right a brightly painted temple to Ehecatl stood, a smaller version of the circular, stepped temple in the Sacred Precinct up ahead. The great temple began to dominate his view as clusters of houses, sweat lodges and markets filled in the urban landscape. Smoke tinged the air, the comforting smell of tortillas or tamales cooking sometimes cut through. Emerging onto the Plaza of the Flyers the runner could see Moctezuma’s palace for the first time on his right, with the wall of the sacred precinct running behind it, the southern Eagle Gate at its center opening up to the temples.
After being blessed with incense the messenger told Moctezuma that Tlaxcala had allied with Cortes, and that they had offered the full strength of their army to Cortes and Charles, King of Castile. This was like a sledgehammer blow to his stomach. The absolute worst outcome. A seemingly unstoppable, technologically advanced elite force now allied with their historic enemy. Tlaxcala had inflicted almost no damage on the Spanish and now welcomed them into their capital as friends. Were the gods abandoning him, he lamented out loud. Could anyone resist the power of these men? His agony apparent to all in the room, like an anxiety had grabbed the corners of the palace and twisted, wringing everyone inside with the tension of Moctezuma’s heart. And fear began to spread.
Part 5 - Staying in Tlaxcala
The Spanish were greeted in Tizatlan by Xicotencatl the Elder, Maxixcatzin and other leaders of the Tlaxcala Alliance. Dancers and priests came out to greet them, bless them and celebrate peace. Women and children came to gawk, as they had in Cempoala and many other small towns between. They were given the best the people of Tlaxcala could muster, including girls and women that they used for their pleasure, as well as food and treasure. After two weeks of relentless fighting and misery Cortes and his men enjoyed the hospitality offered by Xicotencatl.
The men were shown to the best buildings in the palace grounds. Food was provided and the men settled in, grateful for food and a safe place to rest. Cortes, however, was not so sure and posted sentries in doorways and high points around their quarters.
Soon they were joined by Xicotencatl and his entourage of nobles, wives and attendants. Xicotencatl the Elder was indeed an old man, hobbled by age, wrinkled by years in the sun and his hair thin and gray from the burden of leading the Tlaxcala Confederacy. With his one good eye, he peered out at the blur that was Cortes, where his body failed him the old chief’s mind was still sharp. He was displeased that his new friend Cortes would post guards as if harm may come to them. “This is a sign we are not good friends” the Lord of Tizatlan said.
“These are necessary precautions I must take at all times. Please do not be offended,” Cortes pleaded. Once the matter of security had been addressed Cortes wasted no time in discussing God, Mary, Jesus and the Catholic faith. Having told this speech many times now he knew where to hit his inflections and which words translated best, Marina similarly translated with rehearsed flare. He explained that King Charles was a great king and could be a powerful protector. He urged them to abandon their gods and take God and his faithful servant King Charles as their protectors. It was not an easy sell and Xicotencatl pushed back. And again, the voice of the Friar Juan Diaz whispered to Cortes not to push too hard, that in time their faith will come. And he listened, instead asking to convert one temple for their own Christian altar.
The next topic both sides were eager to discuss was Moctezuma and Tenochtitlan. Very quickly Xicotencatl and his men were downloading mass amounts of intelligence to Cortes and his men. Every military detail they could recall was transmitted to Cortes, from formations and tactics to the weapons they used. They discussed the layout of Tenochtitlan, its fortifications, entrances and water sources. They were giving Cortes everything he would need to choke the life out of the city. From the moment he heard about the Chapultepec Aquaduct it was held as a strategic chokehold to put the city down for good. A time honored siege tactic. But only if needed.
The Spanish force, their thousands of Cempoalan allies and a mess of stragglers, messengers, ambassadors and beggars stayed in Tizatlan for three weeks, healing, resting and conducting business. From the city of Tizatlan, in Tlaxcala, Cortes sent a message to Villa Rica. He also sent two men, Pedro de Alvarado and Bernardino de Tapia to Tenochtitlan, although they were routed to Texcoco and sent back, mostly unharmed. He also sent a man to investigate the volcano Popocatepetl, which had been seen smoking for days. Almost none of the Europeans had ever seen a live volcano. It stood out as an ominous and spectacular monument in this foreign land. Cortes and his men were about to erupt, as well.
Next time, in Episode 6: Cortes, now emboldened with his Tlaxcala and Totonac armies, takes his wrath to the people of Cholula. In one of the most violent incidents in all of American history, Cortes strikes fear into the heart of the continent.
