Sad Night of Hernán Cortés

The Spanish conquest of America It was a period marked by some of the most violent and bloodthirsty moments in all of American history. Massacre was common between the original inhabitants of the area and the Spanish who wanted to take power in the whole place. To learn about one of the cruelest and bloodiest moments of this entire period, in this lesson by a Teacher we are going to offer a Summary of the Sad Night of Cortés.

in 1519 Hernan Cortes he arrived in the Mexican zone to start the conquest of Mexico. He was sent by the Spanish government to discover that unknown land and convert to Christianity; at the same time, he was conquering the entire region for the king of Spain.

For months Cortes was taking towns and regions from the Mexican area. And, while some peoples fought against them, others allied with Cortés, so the conquest of the region was carried out both violently and peacefully (depending on the treatment between the Spaniards and the Mesoamericans).

Throughout these months, Cortés was compiling information about the city of

Tenochtitlan, being the largest city in the entire region and where power was centralized in the hands of the Mexicas or Aztecs. On his way to the region, also got allies, since many peoples in the area considered the Aztecs as violent dictators and were looking for a way to overthrow them. Among the allies were the Totonac and the Tlaxcalans, the latter being the ones who had the greatest influence on Cortés, possessing twice as many troops as the Spanish and accompanying them in all their battles.

November 8, 1519 Cortés and his men entered the city of Tenochtitlan, where the Emperor Moctezuma II he along with all the nobility of the city, many of whom were warriors. It is said that, after entering the city, Cortés got off his horse and tried to hug the emperor, but was stopped because the Mexica emperor was untouchable. Therefore, the Spanish conqueror placed a necklace of daisies around Moctezuma's neck and Moctezuma responded by having a necklace of snails placed around Cortés's neck.

Cortes was honored and staying in a palace that was in the center of the city, being respected by Moctezuma as an equal. During the first days, the Spaniards asked the emperor to build a Christian chapel, but when Moctezuma refused this construction, it was decided to build it in Cortés's accommodation.

Shortly after the arrival of the Spaniards in Tenochtitlan, there was problems between the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican peoples, since some towns decided to stop giving tributes to the Aztecs considering that they were now vassals of the Spanish. The Aztecs attacked these towns, in skirmishes in which some Spaniards died.

After learning of this, Cortes had Moctezuma arrested. and forced him to hand over the cause of the skirmish, murdering that man, but keeping Moctezuma prisoner.

Cortés's campaign did not cover only the area of ​​Tenochtitlan. Therefore, being notified of problems in the north, he had to leave, leaving Pedro de Alvarado as substitute and asking him to keep Moctezuma prisoner.

Alvarado feared a possible attack by the Mexica, since the surrounding towns had warned them of how violent they were: and the Spanish knew that, being much more numerous, an attack on their part would finish off the Spanish. Alvarado ignored Cortés's orders before leaving, deciding that the best way to finish off the Aztecs was to attack first and by surprise.

Alvarado knew that the Aztec nobles were in the Great Temple celebrating the religious ritual of that month. The Spanish attacked the Temple, massacring all the leaders of the city of Tenochtitlan, in what is called the Massacre of Tóxcatl or the Massacre of the Great Temple.

When Cortés returned he tried to reassure the Aztecs, but the massacre had increased the tension and now the Mexicas just wanted to kill the Spaniards. In a final attempt to stop the tension, Cortés asked Moctezuma to tell the people about him and reassure them, but the Mexicas attacked the emperor with arrows and stones considering that he had allied himself with the assassins Spanish people.

Due to this attack, the emperor died and Cortés was left alone with his men without hostages.

To continue with this summary of the Noche Triste de Cortés, we must talk about the moment in which heThe Spaniards were attacked by the Mexica.

After the death of Moctezuma, the priests chose as new emperor to Cuitláhuac, much more bellicose than his predecessor, deploying troops to attack the Spanish and end their conquest.

For almost a week, the Spaniards and Mexica clashed until Cortés realized that without food they would not be able to survive for long, so they decided to flee the city at night. But they were spotted by an old Mexican woman, who gave the alarm to the Mexica soldiers and, in a short time, heThe Spanish were surrounded by thousands of Aztec soldiers. That night in which so many Spaniards died is known as the Sad Night.

Few Spaniards made it out alive, including Cortés and Alvarado, losing nearly a thousand men in the attack. After the massacre provoked by the Aztecs, the Spanish would attack again shortly after, starting the conquest of Tenochtitlan as revenge for the Noche Triste.