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Rachel Pata
History 110-03
September 10, 2014
In the year 1518 Spanish ships began to explore the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico in hopes
of finding riches throughout the newly discovered land. One day the Spanish landed along the
shore of Veracruz, a country that had recently been discovered by the Spaniards. When the
Spanish landed on the shore they were approached by ambassadors of the Aztec tribe that had
been sent by Montezuma, the Aztec king. After their encounter with the Aztecs, Bernal Diaz, one
of the men aboard Hernan Cortes’ ship, recalled his account of what it was like to be in the Aztec
city of Technochitlan. On the other end, a member of the Aztec tribe recalled his encounters with
the Spaniards through the text “The Broken Spears.” Based on the two accounts we are able to
see that the Spaniards viewed the Aztecs as a civilized community, as pagans, and as obedient
while the Aztecs view the Spaniards as greedy, curious, and arrogant.
When the Spanish came over to explore the coast along the Gulf of Mexico they were not
expecting to find very many civilizations, let alone a group as highly civilized and organized as
the Aztecs were. When the Spaniards landed along the shore they were caught off guard as they
“were unexpectedly confronted with ambassadors from Montezuma” who greeted them and
invited them to their city, Technochitlan.1 Not only were the Spanish surprised about being
greeted in the way that they were, they were also surprised at how organized “and so well
regulated and arranged,” the Aztec market place was even though it was full of people.2 When
the Spanish first encountered the Aztecs they thought, just as anyone would, that the people they
would encounter would be savages and run a dysfunctional community. The Aztecs proved the
1
2
Bernal Diaz, “The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico,” 361.
Bernal Diaz, “The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico,” 363.
Rachel Pata
History 110-03
September 10, 2014
Spaniards standards wrong through their civilized greeting and through the use of their highly
sophisticated market place.
Although the Spanish were impressed that the Aztecs had an extremely complex and
structured society, they were unimpressed with the Aztec’s religion because they viewed it as
a religion where the devil was being worshiped. Throughout their visit to Technochitlan, the
Spanish were shown all around the city and were even shown the inside of King
Montezuma’s palace. On the inside of the palace, Montezuma had many statues of the gods
that he and his people worshiped and made sacrifices to. When Cortes saw these statues he
spoke with Montezuma saying that he did “not understand how such a great Prince and wise
man as [he was, had] not come to the conclusion, in [his] mind, that these idols of [his were]
not gods, but evil things that are called devils.”3 Cortes and the rest of the Spanish did not
understand how the Aztecs worshiped multiple gods because Spain was a country with a
monotheistic religion. The idea of worshiping more than one god was a foreign concept to
them and caused them great stress which in response jaded their view of the Aztecs as a
whole. Due to the Aztec’s polytheistic religion, the Spanish began to view them in a way that
lacked the respect that they originally had for them.
The Spaniards knew that the Aztecs lived an extremely civilized life after being in
Technochitlan after a short period of time, but after being there for an extended period of
time the Spaniards were able to see how obedient of a people the Aztecs were as a whole
both towards each other and towards their king, Montezuma. Throughout their whole visit to
Technochitlan the Spaniards relied on the Aztecs to provide them with food, water, and
3
Bernal Diaz, “The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico,” 364.
Rachel Pata
History 110-03
September 10, 2014
shelter, even after they captured and locked up Montezuma. The Aztecs “shied away as if the
Spaniards were wild beasts… Yet they did not abandon the Spaniards to hunger and thirst”
regardless of the fact that their king had just been captured by these people.4 The Aztecs were
so obedient towards their king and so loyal towards their people that they fed and housed the
very people that could have killed them all. Even when Montezuma was locked up and told
the citizens that “the Spaniards [needed their] help,” they dropped what they were doing and
they helped the Spaniards in any way that they could.4 Loyalty and obedience to this extent
towards not only the king, but towards each other, surprised the Spanish greatly.
The Spaniards had their opinionated views about the Aztecs and the Aztecs definitely had
their opinionated views about the Spaniards too. The Aztecs viewed the Spaniards as greedy
because of their actions in the Aztec city of Technochitlan. When the Spaniards came over
from Spain to explore the coasts along the Gulf of Mexico they were looking for riches in the
New World, as well as exploring the newly found land. After the Aztecs had been in the city
of Technochitlan for a little while they captured Montezuma and began to search for his
riches.5 As soon as the Spaniards had the opportunity, they demanded that Montezuma show
them where all of the city’s treasures were.6 When they saw all of the treasures “the
Spaniards immediately stripped the feathers from the gold shields and ensigns” and “melted
the gold down into ingots” destroying all of the beautiful treasures that the Aztecs had made.6
The Spanish were even so blunt as to “[gather] all the gold into a great mound and set fire to
everything else, regardless of its value” destroying other countless Aztec treasures.6 The
4
“The Broken Spears,” 72.
Bernal Diaz, “The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico,” 364.
6
“The Broken Spears,” 71.
5
Rachel Pata
History 110-03
September 10, 2014
Spaniard’s greedy intentions caused the destruction of large amounts of beautiful pieces of
Aztec art and treasures and the Aztecs all knew this. The Spaniards obvious focus on
treasures caused the Aztecs to view them as a greedy people.
As the Aztecs showed the Spaniards around Technochitlan they began to notice
that the Spaniards were very curious about their society and everything that they did. As
they were walking around “the Spaniards examined everything that they saw” as if they
were young children trying to soak everything in for the first time.7 Throughout their tour
of Technochitlan “they dismounted from their horses, and mounted them again, and
dismounted again, so as not to miss anything of interest,” especially new or foreign things
or concepts that they could potentially bring back with them to Spain.7 The entire time
that they explored Technochitlan the Spaniards did nothing but take in everything that
they saw as if they were sponges absorbing water. The Spaniards constant curiosity about
all of Technochitlan showed the Aztecs firsthand how curious of a people they were.
It did not take the Aztecs very long to figure out that the Spaniards were greedy
and curious, but it did take them a little bit of time to figure out that they were arrogant.
Throughout their time in Technochitlan, the Spaniards observed the Aztec lifestyle and
compared it to the lifestyle of those in Spain. One of the major differences between the
Aztec lifestyle and the Spanish lifestyle is the religion. The Spanish had a monotheistic
religion while the Aztecs had a polytheistic religion. The Spaniards felt like they were
superior towards the Aztecs because of their religion. Cortes was even bold enough to tell
Montezuma that “the fear in which [the] Idols hold” in him and in his people show
7
“The Broken Spears,” 70.
Rachel Pata
History 110-03
September 10, 2014
deception from the devil.5 Hernan Cortes’ arrogance and lack of acceptance towards the
Aztecs essentially led to the Aztecs thinking that all of the Spanish were arrogant towards
those who do not think like them.
Due to the encounters between the Aztecs and the Spaniards both sides were left
with questionable judgments about the other party. The Spaniards left Technochitlan
thinking that the Aztecs were a civilized, well organized, and devil worshipping group
while the Aztecs were left in Technochitlan thinking that the Spanish were a greedy,
curious, and arrogant group of people. The interactions between the Aztecs and the
Spanish essentially set the standards for how most exploration of new countries and of
newly found groups of people would take place. In the future, other European explorers
would feel similarly as they encountered other Native American peoples.