The Spanish Conquistadors attacked the Aztecs because they sought to claim all the treasures and resources of the Native American empire for Spain and themselves. (I… He had heard about the powerful Aztecs who ruled much of Mexico and he went in search of them. Aztec, Nahuatl-speaking people who in the 15th and early 16th centuries ruled a large empire in what is now central and southern Mexico. The Spanish were helped by the Tlaxcala, a Mesoamerican civilisation rival of the Aztecs, and other native tribes which allied with them to defeat the Aztecs, especially in the siege of Tenochtitlan because the Spanish falsely promised them territories and a tax-free partnership in the post-conquest rule of Mexico. They saw the Spaniards as delivering them from having to supply the Aztecs with youths for their sacrifices. His successors were unable to stave off Cortes and the empire came to an end in 1521. However, there are a few inventions that people of Aztec descent can claim as their own. Firstly, Mexica is a more exact name for whom we usually call Aztecs. MILITARILY SUPERIOR OR BETTER STRATEGISTS? The gunpowder weapons, like the cannons, were mostly use as a sort of psychological weapon or to drive them out of their hideouts. Personally, I think that the Mexica are one of the most fascinating civilisations of all times. The ninth emperor, Montezuma II, was taken prisoner by Hernan Cortes and died in custody. 1) They learned about what was going on - Used communication first. Yes, Cortés did attack Tenochtitlán, but he wasn't alone.Cortés had just 1,000 Spanish soldiers, but he joined forces with 100,000 natives, mainly Tlaxcalans, tribal enemies of the Aztecs.. Surrounded by the Aztec empire, the Tlaxcala had functioned (a bit like the Taliban), as the empire’s favourite enemy, always good for sustaining the imperial cult of military valour. ( Log Out /  The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas.There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the events by Spanish conquerors, their indigenous allies, and the defeated Aztecs.It was not solely a contest between a small contingent of Spaniards defeating … • Some of the biggest advantages the Spanish had over the Aztecs are that the Spanish were able to access innovations not available in North and South America such as, large sailing ships, crossbows, cannons, guns, horses, and metal armor. After Columbus discovered the “New World”, the Spanish sent conquistadors across the Atlantic to claim land for Spain. Aztecs sacrificing to the gods: Codex Tudela, folio 76 (Click on image to enlarge) 1. So, was there a weapon that was really the key to Spanish victory against Mexica? According to Diaz, a soldier of Cortes, Montezuma sent his painters to the Spanish quarters to depict all the encampment and the Spanish army, and in the Cortes’ representation he saw a resemblance to Quintalbor, an Aztec lord. What did the Spanish think of the Aztecs? All rights reserved. The Aztecs were Native Americans who built an empire around the shores of Lake Texcoco in modern-day Mexico. References (but also for further reading) Gunpowder weapons have been largely considered as the main reason why the Spanish beat the Mexica so quickly, as you can easily check in any school textbook. -Moctezuma EM & Olguin FS 2003, Aztecs, Royal Academy of Arts, London. Very shortly after the Spanish arrival in 1519, between 5-8 million people in Mexico (about a quarter of the population) died from the disease. So, how did a well-trained group of warriors that outnumbered the Spanish could have been beaten so quickly? All the Aztecs were murdered. According to Spanish accounts, he attempted to speak to his subjects and was assailed with stones and arrows, suffering wounds from which he died three days later. After Montezuma II was killed the Aztecs elected Cuauhtemoc as their new king. answer! -Cortes, H 2001 [1519-1525], Letters from Mexico, Anthony Pagden and John Huxtable Elliott (eds. The Aztecs were severely weakened by diseases that the Spanish brought such as smallpox, influenza, and malaria. The Aztecs captured Cortes, and they didn’t kill him because they were going to sacrifice him. Despite efforts by tlatoani Moctezuma II to accommodate the Spanish Conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés, in 1521 the Aztecs were comprehensively defeated and Tenochtitlan was levelled by the Spanish, who built Mexico City on the ruins. Create your account. Spaniards were like pirates-explorers — Cortes was a great gentleman-pirate. What the Spanish thought:-. Explain at least three similarities and... What factors enabled the Spanish to conquer the... Hernan Cortes: Accomplishments, Exploration Route & the Aztecs, New Spain: Spanish Explorers and Spanish Colonies, ILTS Social Science - History (246): Test Practice and Study Guide, GED Social Studies: Civics & Government, US History, Economics, Geography & World, SAT Subject Test US History: Practice and Study Guide, TExES History 7-12 (233): Practice & Study Guide, High School World History: Homework Help Resource, NY Regents Exam - US History and Government: Help and Review, Middle School US History: Homework Help Resource, Middle School US History: Tutoring Solution, SAT Subject Test World History: Tutoring Solution, The Civil War and Reconstruction: Help and Review, 6th Grade World History: Enrichment Program, Biological and Biomedical The events after this have not been recorded or recognized. In 1519, Hernan Cortés arrived in Mexico with horses and 500 soldiers. They were totally wiped out by the Spanish colonisation in the early sixteenth century which was led by the conquistador Hernan Cortes. Cortés eventually had him executed. Then they themselves were conquered. See 3 authoritative translations of Aztecs in Spanish with example sentences and audio pronunciations. It was located in Central America, in part of modern day Mexico. 5. Spanish’s military success was due to their military superiority and also to the support of local Mesoamerican tribes. These three factors combined, along with others, to show the technological divide that existed between the Spanish and the Aztecs. Spanish brought smallpox that devastated the Aztec population The defense of Tenochtitlan was severely hindered by smallpox, a disease from which Europeans were immune. Change ), This is a text widget, which allows you to add text or HTML to your sidebar. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, a Spanish conquistador who was a soldier in the conquest of the Aztecs under Cortes described Tenochtitlan as something he was not even able to describe: “I do not know how to describe it, seeing things as we did that had never been heard of or seen before, not even dreamed about.” We are deeply grateful to and honoured by Professor Davíd Carrasco of Harvard University, who has generously recorded specially for us an introductory talk on the vexed question of just how the Aztecs/Mexica viewed the arrival of the Spanish. The Spanish were only interested in stealing the gold and converting the Indians to Christianity. That structure was deeply rooted in a widespread Mesoamerican tradition in which concepts of the cosmos, world, and nature were shared across most of the prehistoric societies in the southern … Instead, the quick collapse of the Aztec empire probably depended on other factors such as the pandemic diseases that they brought to Mexico, which can be defined as one of main causes of the quick fall of the Aztec Empire. Disease played a big part in the fall of the Aztecs. Cortes didn’t want any of that and went to fight them. Favorite Answer. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Their civilisation represented the last stage of the evolution of the Mesoamerican native civilisations, and reached its apex in the early sixteenth century, just before it was destroyed in 1521 by the Spanish invaders. You can use them to display text, links, images, HTML, or a combination of these. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. He also described the marketplaces selling precious goods, bath and shops that he personally saw during his exploration of the Central American territories. Find out more in this KS2 history quiz for Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 Cortes reported that the Aztecs had city-states that were comparable, for government and organisation, to the ones in the Italian peninsula in his time. and trans. Moreover, the perception of the Spanish and especially of Cortes as an Aztec god, appear to be reported only by Spanish sources. The Aztecs believed in a multiple-deity universe, with different gods who reigned over different aspects of Aztec society, serving and responding to Aztec specific needs. As this article tried to demonstrate, the Spanish took advantage of the weaknesses of the Mexica by allying with their enemies but also thanks to their superior weaponry, above all the Castellan sword. What were some of the biggest advantages the Spanish had over the Aztecs? It is a great tragedy that the Spanish preferred their gold in coins and bars: countless priceless golden ornaments were melted down and the cultural and artistic loss is incalculable. Mexica’s obsidian swords and other close-combat weapons were no match for the steel-made Castellan swords that were way more efficient and resistant. The Aztec Empire was in existence from 1428 until 1521, when it was defeated by the Spanish Conquistadors and their allies. There are many myths about the way the Spanish defeated them, such as that the Spanish beat them because they had gunpowder weapons, but also since they took advantage of the fact that initially they believed that Cortes was their returning god Quetzalcoatl, and also because they were militarily superior to them. The Mexica were a native civilisation of Central America and were invaded by the Spanish in the early sixteenth century. The Spanish were horrified by the idea that the Aztecs believed in deities that frequently expected blood and hearts from their worshippers, especially when these were obtained in such a brutal way. -Coe, MD & Koontz, R 2008, Mexico: from the Olmecs to the Aztecs, 6th edn, Thames & Hudson, London. Their main city was Tenochtitlan (today’s Mexico City). Cengage Learning, Stamford, Connecticut (USA). However, as many scholars demonstrated, the nature of the fights between the natives and the conquistadores was one-to-one and hand-to-hand combat, especially the siege of Tenochtitlan. So this was an advantage for him, since he was greeted instead of being seen as a menace. Services, Working Scholars® Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. As the Spanish troops went from town to town, other tribes who had been oppressed by the Aztecs were elated. The answer is yes; the Castellan sword. The Spanish were helped by the Tlaxcala, a Mesoamerican civilisation rival of the Aztecs, and other native tribes which allied with them to defeat the Aztecs, especially in the siege of Tenochtitlan because the Spanish falsely promised them territories and a tax-free partnership in the post-conquest rule of Mexico. -Stearns, PN, Gosch, SS., Grieshaber, EP, & Scardino Belzer, A 2012, Documents in World History Vol.2: The Modern Centuries: From 1500 to the Present, Pearson, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey (USA). After Cortes (the Spanish explorer, mainly famous for the conquering of the Aztec empire) had arrived in Mexico. However, it would be difficult to understand whether or not the Spanish were really mistaken for gods. The answer is, as we already saw, a sum of two main factors: Castellan swords and diseases brought by the Spanish, for which the Mexica had no antibodies nor effective cure, plus a crucial one: the winning military strategy of the Spanish, and the alliance with other local Aztec tribes. Advertisement The scale of the killings has long been a matter of controversy as the Spanish may have exaggerated the numbers killed to make the Aztecs … QUETZALCOATL MYTH The aztecs got together and decided to rebel in which they did. They also had scheduled ritual battles with their enemies called flowery wars, both to acquire prisoners for sacrifices and to train the new soldiers, plus they were way more than the Spanish conquistadores. This article will examine these points of view by trying to shed light on them, but also provide an alternative point of view on why the Mexica were defeated by the Spanish so quickly. -Evans, ST 2004, Ancient Mexico & Central America: archaeology and culture history, Thames & Hudson, London. The Aztecs had no similar animals and certainly none that they would ride. The Aztecs, however, believed the Spaniards had murdered their emperor, and Cortés’s force was nearly destroyed as it tried to sneak out of Tenochtitlán at night. © copyright 2003-2021 Study.com. What were the religious beliefs of both groups? What really happened... Or was it? ), Yale University Press, London. The Spanish seemed to have somewhat mixed feelings about the Aztecs. They were awe inspired by the Aztec magnificent capital city, Tenochtitlan... Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. The Spaniards did hate the Aztec religion and were racist as … With the death of Spanish leader Moctezuma and the defeat of their successor the conquistadors decided to take control over the Aztecs. Thus a key element in the success of the Spanish was that they found allies among the peoples subjugated by the Aztecs, not least the Tlaxcala. Moctezuma was taken prisoner and was killed by the Spaniards.