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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page book review that examines Victors and Vanquished by historian Stuart B. Schwartz, which features historical documents that present both sides of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, the observations of Spaniards, but also the observations of Nahua (Aztec) witnesses as recorded by Fray Bernardino de Sahagun in the Florentine Codex. This discourse points to a number of pertinent factors as being crucial to the early Spanish victory. No other sources cited.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khvvmex.rtf
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also the observations of Nahua (Aztec) witnesses as recorded by Fray Bernardino de Sahagun in the Florentine Codex. This discourse points to a number of pertinent factors as being crucial
to the early Spanish victory. It seems in explicable to the modern perspective that a small number of Spanish invaders could overcome a complex and established civilization with thousands
of warriors in just a few years. However, Schwartzs examination of contemporary texts shows that the Spanish victory was due to a number of factors and that one of the
most significant of these factors had to do with Nahua legend. This Aztec legend predicted the return of Quetzalcoatl, a fair-skinned, bearded serpent god. On meeting Cortes, the Aztec emperor,
who is referred to as Moteuccoma, in Sahaguns Codex, pictures himself as Cortes agent and "vassal" (Schwartz 132). He welcomed Cortes and said, "...you have come to sit on your
seat of authority, which I have kept a while for you where I have been in charge for you" (Schwartz 132). This clearly suggests that the Aztec leader believed the
Spanish conquistador to be the returned god. However, Schwartz points out that the authenticity of this "concession of authority" speech to Cortes has been called into question in view
of possible later interpretations of the "historical record after the conquest" (Schwartz 129). Also, other scholars assert that this speech should be considered in light of what was considered to
be "polite political discourse" in the Nahua culture (Schwartz 129). Nevertheless, the perception that Cortes was somehow connected to the gods put the Aztecs at a serious disadvantage as this
perception prepared the Aztecs emotionally for defeat. As this supposition implies, historical texts indicate that the Nahua tried to interpret the presence of the Spanish in terms that made
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