Apr 12 2008
The far-flung empire’s proconsul
Montezuma’s instructions to his ambassador on the eve of the Spanish invasion, 1519:
“Tell [Cortés] to allow me to end my days here. Then he can have my kingdom. And if by chance he does not like the food which you have given him, and if he is desirous of eating you, allow yourself to be eaten. I assure you I will look after your wife, your children, your relations…”
Since my US passport is to expire before SolMate brings us back home, I need to travel to Cabo San Lucas for a visit to the American consular office, which means a haircut and a new passport photo.
If I get a chance I will go to a small restaurant and eat Mexican food – similar in some respects to the food that was served to the sociopath conquistador, Hernán Cortés
This is me outside the bus station just prior to making the application.
The first time I was in Cabo San Lucas was about 35 years ago, and of course things have changed greatly. Then it was an outpost tourist destination; the transformation is now complete. While technically still Mexican, Cabo’s indigenous culture has largely been comandeered to service the needs of los turistas Americanos.
Of which I am one.
The bus trip to Cabo San Lucas from La Paz takes about 3 hours (más o menos) and affords me the time to continue reading from a remarkable book I received from Wendy for my 60th birthday: Conquest, by Lord Hugh Thomas, an account of the spectacular trainwreck that befell Mexico when Hernán Cortés destroyed the Aztec empire in 1520.
(If you click on the book title above it will take you to a brief review in Foreign Affairs Magazine from 1993. “Lord Thomas once again rises triumphantly to the historical occasion,” the reviewer enthuses. “Anyone who enjoys great history should not miss this book.”)
Almost every page is filled with revelations (Cortés the Conquistador was very fond of the Aztec diet that continues today – corn tortillas and beans – but was put off with the human blood that was sometimes sprinkled over it as a gesture of respect to the Europeans, who were mistaken as invading gods by some Aztecs, including their emperor, Montezuma II).
As mundane as diet may be (excepting the ketchup-like condiment Montezuma ordered for the Europeans), it is intimately linked to how Cortés perceived the Aztecs. Thomas believes that even though Cortés acknowledged that he had encountered a sophisticated civilization – stupendous architecture, mathematics, flawless jewelry – the widespread evidence of human sacrifice afforded him the pretext for seeing the Aztecs as barbarians and therefore as a source of slaves.
Lord Thomas (brief bio in Wikipedia) clearly documents how little troubled Cortés was about the human rights of the Mexica (what the Aztecs called themselves) – but here is something I did not know, before reading this book: back in Spain the issue became heated, with some courageous Catholic friars insisting that a monstrous crime against humanity was taking place in the New World.
“Are they not men?” argued one of the most passionate of these progressive friars in defense of the Mexica. “Do they not have rational souls? Are you not obliged to love them as you do yourselves? On what authority have you waged a detestable war against these peoples?”
Despite the passage of an act of law signed by the King Ferdinand of Spain that was supposed to protect Indians who had voluntarily converted to Christianity, of course it never really amounted to anything. The Conquistadoras were required to read a “Miranda”-like statement to their vanquished, informing them their land now belonged to the King of Spain; but since it was delivered in either Spanish or Latin, it was more like a sick joke than anything meaningful.
Even before Cortés reached the Aztec capital, Montezuma’s spies reported back every horror they had witnessed: the foreigners’ terrifying cannons, their dogs of war, their insatiable appetite for gold.
Montezuma was reported to have said to his emissaries, “Tell [Cortés] to allow me to end my days here. Then he can enjoy what is his…my kingdom. And if by chance he does not like the food which you have given him, and if he is desirous of eating you, allow yourself to be eaten. I assure you I will look after your wife, your children, your relations…”
The Mexica perished in great numbers and were enslaved despite the efforts of a few courageous friars.
Golden objects wrought into amazing pieces of religious articles were melted on the spot into ingots.
But darn – their tortillas and frijoles were muy sabroso (very delicious) and the Mexican scenery to die for.
The turistas would begin to discover this much later. A nice modest home on the beach in Cabo San Lucas goes for a couple of million US dollars.
The more I read about the history of Mexico the more I am in awe of the generosity and graciousness of its people. While reading the Hugh Thomas book en route to Cabo San Lucas I was struck by the cautious respect that Montezuma’s emissaries accorded to Cortés. They were sent to suss out what sort of man Cortés was. They mostly wanted him and his raiders to leave, and they asked him nicely to do so.
When he refused, they fed him tortillas and beans. And after that, they surrendered their country and started dying from unknown diseases.
