Inside Language, Literacy, and Content [Level D]

Not Good Guests

Just days after arriving in Tenochtitlán, Cortés kidnapped Moctezuma and made him a Spanish prisoner. King Moctezuma still officially ruled Mexico, but he was forced to follow the Spaniards’ orders.

Meanwhile, the Spanish grabbed as much gold as they could. They robbed Moctezuma’s treasury, and plucked golden statues from temples. They melted down the statues and made gold bars, which were easier to ship home.

The Spaniards melted Aztec treasures to make coins like these.

Gold Aztec treasure

Spanish coins

Montezuma II (1466–1520) watching a comet, 1579. Vellum, Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, Spain, The Bridgeman Art Library.

Did the Aztec Know the Spanish Were Coming?

After the fall of the Aztec Empire, a friar named Bernardino de Sahagún listened to the Aztec stories. He wrote these stories in a book called The Florentine Codex. According to his account, the Aztec saw and heard things which they believed were signs that something bad was going to happen.

Bad Luck Signs Before the Spanish Arrived

• A flame went across the sky each night for almost a year. The Aztec feared this flame would hurt the sun, so that it would not rise anymore.
• Lake Texcoco began to boil one afternoon, even though there was no wind or extra heat. Many houses flooded near the lake.
• An unseen wailing woman was heard at night. She warned people that they were all going to die.