The Broken Spears is a book written by Miguel Leon-Portilla that gives accounts of the fall of the Aztec Empire to the Spanish in the early 16th century. The book is much different from others written about the defeat of the empire because it was written from the vantage point of the Aztecs rather then the Spanish. Portilla describes in-depth many different reasons why the Spanish were successful in the defeat of such a strong Empire. Portilla starts out by giving a thorough background of the culture and religious beliefs. The reader can draw many theories on how this carried over to the Aztecs way of thinking and fighting. In addition to the religion and culture, Portilla shows the technology advantages the Spanish had over the Aztecs. He also goes on to describe the poor leadership of Motecuhzoma. Motecuhzoma will be portrayed as a coward. Portilla also writes about the strategy that worked rather well for the Spanish as they made alliances with the Tlaxcalatecas and other cities. He finally talks about plague that wiped out much of the Aztecs. This may have been the greatest factor in the fall of the Aztecs Empire. All of these factors combined effectively show how the Spaniards prevailed over this great Aztec Empire of the 15th and early 16th century. The religion and culture of the Aztecs played a role in the way the way they thought and fought. They worshiped the war-god Huitzilopochtli. He was identified with the sun and was called "the Giver of life" and "the Preserver of Life" (xxxix). The religion carried some ridiculous rituals such as human sacrifice along with using magicians and wizards to cast spells. In war conditions, human sacrifice played a big role because the Aztecs would not fight to kill,... ... middle of paper ... ... The plague was brought over by the Spanish who where immune to the disease, but the Aztecs weren't so lucky. Many where killed over the course of seventy days, including the new King Cuitlahucs (92). Obviously this had a dramatic impact because they lost their leader. Those that remained where very weak with a milder form of the disease (93). Obviously this affected their strength to fight. "The Broken Spears" by Miguel Leon-Portilla gives a different perspective on the defeat of the Aztecs. Through reasons such as religion and culture beliefs, the Spanish technological advancement, and their strategy of gaining alliances in the new land contributed to the defeat of the Aztecs. The two factors that played the biggest roles were the poor leadership of Motechuhzoma and the timing of the plague. Those two factors were indeed what brought down this great Empire.
Ultimately I believe that the clash between Cortez and the Aztecs was indeed inevitable. The Spanish like all humans suffered from a need to explore and dominate. It is human nature to wonder what lies in wait throughout the world. The Spanish were seeking to discover new lands. When they came across the overwhelmingly interesting civilization that is the Aztecs, their lust for power as well as the news of Cortez’s men being slain at Totonacs it left them no choice to but to conquer these people and claim their belongings as their own.
Aztecs were tribe. In Chronicler’s Account talked about Spaniards with Aztecs from 1519 to 1521.When the Spaniards arrived in Tenochtitlan, and they bought horses, guns and also smallpox that killed a lot of people there. A Text from the Chronicler’s Account saids “ at about the time that the Spaniards had fled from Mexico….there came a great sickness, a pestilence, the smallpox. It …. spread over the people with great destruction of men.” The Aztec chronicler was trying to be objective in what happened at that time. Aztec Chronicler wrote about struggled in
“The Conquest of New Spain” is the first hand account of Bernal Diaz (translated by J.M. Cohen) who writes about his personal accounts of the conquest of Mexico by himself and other conquistadors beginning in 1517. Unlike other authors who wrote about their first hand accounts, Diaz offers a more positive outlook of the conquest and the conquistadors motives as they moved through mainland Mexico. The beginning chapters go into detail about the expeditions of some Spanish conquistadors such as Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de Grijalva and Hernando Cotes. This book, though, focuses mainly on Diaz’s travels with Hernando Cortes. Bernal Diaz’s uses the idea of the “Just War Theory” as his argument for why the conquests were justifiable
Bowden’s idea of why this happened focused mainly on the old misunderstood traditions of the tribes living in Mexico. He shows how the friars, churches and icons took the blunt of the revolts force. Bowden points out the religious differences and similarities be...
In the forward in Broken Spears, written by J. Jorge Klor de Alva, he helps to promote the reason as to why León-Portilla wanted to publish the book And so, Klor de Alva clearly, states at the beginning of the book, “As is well known but quickly forgotten, the victors ordinarily write history. The losers are usually silenced or, if this is impossible, they are dismissed as liars, censored for being traitors, or left to circulate harmlessly in the confined spaces of the defeated. Bringing marginalized perspectives to light is, therefore, a revolutionary act of some importance,”(Foward, 1st ¶) Meaning that he has an understanding point of what Verdesio has been saying. He acknowledges that the unfortunate truth of only the victors write history, which does not bode well for Klor de Alva and even more so, León-Portilla, henceforth having the book published in English as well. León-Portilla must have figured out that texts that are not in the privileged language would not have been regarded in any form or way as valuable and so, León-Portilla and his translator must have worked rigorously to have the entire book translated with two years. With that consideration it brings into perspective; how valuable he deems the book that it must be translated fast to take it to the world of history, and bring “justice” to a real
The Aztecs were defeated by the Spanish after a riot that put the city-state in a state of confusion
The Aztec Empire was the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdom of all time. They dominated the valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Aztecs were an advanced and successful civilization that built beautiful, sophisticated cities, temples, and pyramids. They also created a culture full of creativity with mythological and religious traditions. Aztecs lead a structured and evocative life that let their society to become a very superior civilization. The Aztec’s communication skills were very well developed for their time; through religious beliefs, government involvement, and family life they lived a full and productive life. Until in 1519 when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, and defeated the Aztecs.
The aspects of the Aztec’s culture; class structure, warfare, family life, religious practices, and agriculture, were all important. The Aztecs were the ruling empire in central america and accomplished many things.They were a thriving empire until the Spanish came and invaded. The Aztecs ruled because of most of their culture.
It is often assumed that when Cortes first arrived in the Americas, he was able to quickly dismantle the Aztec empire with little support outside the army he brought from Spain. But to put it simply, this idea is a myth that perpetuates a very eurocentric interpretation of history. In reality there were a number of factors that lead to the swift Spanish conquering of the Aztec Empire, but the general idea of what happened can be summed up like this: The spanish conquest of the Aztecs was not a result of overwhelming spanish technological and tactical superiority, but a result of a culmination of factors, namely, Aztec blunders, disease, and native rebellions.
... (Schweikart 5-6). The Aztecs’ greed for sacrificial hostages turned these Indian neighbors against them (Kingfisher 196-197). The Aztecs were defeated, partially because they had been weakened by smallpox, but also because the Spanish fought together as a single force, while Aztecs fought as individuals (Schweikart 6-7).
The Aztecs took over surrounding areas to expand their empire. They did this by using brute force and other methods. The Aztecs used a wide variety of weapons made of wood such as spears and lances, these weapons put terror into their neighbours and the Spanish harnessed their hate to use against them in the near future. One of the most vital things in the Aztec empire was the Aztec Warriors also known as Jaguar Warriors. Boys in the empire would have received good education, no matter what they wanted to succeed in their future carrier. Once at the age of 17, the boy becomes a man meaning they are able to go to war. To be able to become an Aztec Warrior, men would have captures prisons for future human sacrifices.
The fear the Spanish unleashed to the Natives was immense. The armor the Spaniard’s whore terrified everyone who saw them. The loud clamor they made as they marched also installed fear into the Natives heads.
E Quickly, in a single motion, two seized him by either arm, forcing him backward, while e two others pulled his legs from under him and flopped him, chest upward, over the e blood stained stone. A fifth priest held his head. Pinned, unable to twist away, he stared e at a sixth priest dressed in scarlet robes with red painted body. In his hand, he held the e sacrificial knife. A foot long blade of flint sharpened to a razor edge.” The Aztecs need for human sacrifices led them to frequently conquer and capture their neighbors for use e in religious rituals, angering the neighboring tribes. This set the stage for Cortes to form e alliances with the neighboring tribes in order to take control of the riches of the Aztec
Being known as the milestone victory, the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs by Hernán Cortez in 1521 was critical for the development of America and led to many opportunities for the Spanish monarch. Consequently, the conquest of the Aztec Empire has been the historical subject of many debates.
Victors and Vanquished by Stuart Schwartz attempts to explore differing perspectives of the conquest of Mexico as the historical narratives are from both the outlook of the Spanish conquistadors as well as the Nahua peoples. In these primary sources, there was a fundamental focus on the encounters between the Spaniards and the Mexica. The first source is an excerpt from The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a Spanish conquistador, who participated as a foot solider in the conquest of Mexico with Hernán Cortés. Although Díaz del Castillo was a witness of the conquest, he wrote his account of what he had witnessed decades after the Spanish victory, in 1521. In his account, Díaz del Castillo concentrated on the ways in which the Spanish viewed the Nahua peoples. The second source is taken from the Florentine Codex and is one which was collected twenty