16 Dec 2009
The Aztec Empire was the leading power in Mesoamerica. Before the Spanish conquest, the Aztec Empire played the dominant role in Central American and it was the most advanced civilization in the region which could compete only with Incas in South America. By the time of Cortez’s conquest, the Aztec Empire was the main, if not to say the only well-developed civilization which had substantial financial and material resources, which could help the empire to protect its territory from the foreign invasion. By this time, the would-be powerful Maya city-states had declined and could not resist to the foreign invasion. In such a situation, the Aztec Empire was the main native power which could resists to conquistadors.
However, the Aztec Empire failed to oppose to the Spanish invasion. Paradoxically, Aztecs did not view Spaniards as their enemies or as potential rivals in the struggle for the superiority in the region. Paradoxically, they believed Spaniards being white deities sent to Aztecs by their gods to bring happiness and prosperity to their land. In such a context, their almost divine worshiping of Spaniards and great respect they demonstrated to strangers made the empire vulnerable to fast and relatively easy invasion.
In fact, Aztecs was not really prepared to the war on Spaniards. It was not only their technological and tactical backwardness that made them unable to resist to the invasion, but it is also their respect of Spaniards as supernatural beings who Aztecs believed had no evil intentions. In such a situation, the only thing Cortez and his army had to do was to come, to see and to win the Aztec Empire, though the win was gained by means of thousands of Aztecs slaughtered in the massacre, during the invasion of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. Hence, Cortez invasion was grounded on military, technological and tactical superiority of the Spanish army, on the one hand, and naivety of Aztecs, who were deceived by their own religious beliefs and legends and they were even more deceived by Spaniards who were treated almost as deities in the Aztec Empire.
Susan D. Gillespie, in her book “The Aztec Kings”, attempted to research the history and the evolution of the Aztec Empire. The author pays a particular attention to the social structure of the Aztec Empire, economic and political development of the empire. She develops an innovative discussion of political inheritance, with relevant information on Quetzalcoatl. She closely associates the religious beliefs of Aztecs with their political system, where the ruler of the country and his power were sanctioned by Aztecs’ deities. The book shows that the Aztec Empire had the monarchic power which was inherited by a new ruler after the death of the previous one. The existence of hereditary principle was typical for empires and European civilization. At the same time, the author lays emphasis on the fact that the Aztec Empire tended to the authoritarian rule, sanctioned by religious beliefs of Aztecs.
This book provides very important information on the political system of the Aztec Empire and Aztecs’ religious beliefs, which backed up the power of the ruling elite. In such a way, it is obvious that the ruling elite used legends and religion of Aztecs to maintain its power. Paradoxically, legends and religious beliefs of Aztecs played tricks on rulers of the empire when Spaniards arrived for the looked like professed deity which was supposed to bring prosperity and happiness to Aztecs. In such a way, Quetzkoatl texts practically sanctioned the invasion of Aztecs by Spaniards or, at any rate, made Aztecs vulnerable to such invasion. At the same time, the book gives insights on the political system which proved to be imperfect and unable to resist to Spanish invasion, though it allowed Aztecs’ kings to develop a strong empire.
Pierre Honore, in his book, “In Quest of the White God”, develops further the research of religious beliefs of the Aztec Empire and its impact on the invasion of the empire by Spaniards. The author shows that Aztecs had one particularly important belief or more precisely a legend about a white deity that once came to their land and promised to return and the legend play a really tragic trick on the fate of the nations. So, Aztecs believed in Quetzalkoatl who was supposed to come and help local people to overcome their problems and to bring happiness. Using such legends Spaniards pretended to be sent by Gods and as the result the civilizations were conquered and finally destroyed. A few more words should be said about the religions of the Aztec Empire. The Aztec civilization was polytheistic and there existed a pantheon of gods though as a rule they had at least one main God. It means that as many other civilizations they tended to extrapolate human relations in the divine domain. Eventually, the quest of the white god resulted in the invasion of the Aztec Empire by Spaniards.
Obviously, the book is very useful in regard to understanding religious beliefs and their impact on the Cortez’s invasion of the Aztec Empire. On the other hand, the book has a considerable drawback since it pays little attention to social, economic and technological factors which apparently influenced the outcome of the struggle of Aztecs against Spaniards.
Thomas Hugh, in his book “Conquest: Cortez, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico” reveals the historical panorama of Cortez’s invasion and the Aztec Empire. The author analyzes primary sources to depict in details the Cortez’s campaign. The author pays a particular attention to the social setting in which the invasion occurred. In such a way, the author depicts in details the life of Spaniards as well as Aztecs to show the reasons of the invasion and its effects on the life of both Spaniards and Aztecs. At the same time, the author extrapolates the narration on the personal level focusing on personal stories which he took from primary sources and used in his book. Remarkably, he attempts to compare Cortez and Montezuma as leaders of Spaniards and Aztecs respectively. In such a way, he shows the gap between skillful and experienced Cortez and young and inexperienced Montezuma.
The focus of the author on detailed depiction of the historical background and personal narrations related to the epoch. On the other hand, the book lacks detailed historical analysis of the facts and stories the author depicts in his book. In other words, the book seems based on personal stories rather than on detailed historical analysis of the invasion.
Benjamin Keen, in his book “The Aztec Image in Western Thought”, explores the perception of Aztecs by Spaniards and westerners at large. The book provides an important narration for understanding the relationship of Quetzalcoatl texts to the politics of their authors. At the same time, the author depicts traditions of the Aztec Empire and stresses that rules and principles of the empire were based on Aztecs beliefs and traditions. For instance, the author argues that Aztecs gave a certain degree of liberty to invaded nations. By the way, Aztecs often used representatives of invaded nations as human sacrifices in their religious rituals. The Aztec’s civilization is considered to be an empire. Finally, it also is quite noteworthy that Aztecs had well developed trade and commerce and they had a class of merchants.
In such a way, the book offers a westerners’ view on the Aztec Empire and its fundamental principles. On the other hand, the position of Aztecs and their views on Spaniards are poorly discussed.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that the aforementioned books provide important information on the history of the Aztec Empire and its invasion by Cortez. It is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the books focus on both Aztecs and Spaniards, their reasons and policies, including cultural background, which proved to be as significant as technological and military superiority of Spaniards in Cortez’s invasion.
Works Cited:
Gillespie, Susan D. The Aztec Kings. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1989.
Honore, Pierre. In Quest of the White God. New York: Putnam, 1994.
Hugh, T. Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995.
Keen, Benjamin. The Aztec Image in Western Thought. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1971.
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