Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the Aztec capital, Montezuma was captured, but even as Cortes's men roamed the
city, word reached Cortes that an expedition had arrived on the coast to relieve him of com-
mand and take him captive. Cortes returned to the coast, leaving his lieutenant in charge.
Cortes captured the leader of the expedition and returned to the Aztec capital to find that an
Aztec uprising was underway. Montezuma was stoned and killed by the Aztecs, and Cortes
and his men fled for their lives on June 30, 1520, “the Night of Sorrow.” Resolute, Cor-
tes regrouped on the coast and marched inland once again. After a three-month siege, he
stormed the Aztec capital and killed the new emperor.
The Aztec treasure that he shipped to Spain was worthy of Amadis de Gaula: 700
pounds of freshwater pearls and several hundred pounds of gold dust and gold ingots.
The story of Cortes as conquistador was now part of Latin America's culture and, some
would say, its outlook on life. The house that Cortes shared with Malinche still stands at 57
Higuera Street, Mexico City. Even today the house evokes strong emotions among Mex-
icans. Feminists protest its presence as a symbol of Mexican masculine expectations: that
men may be unfaithful while women are expected to serve their husbands with unwaver-
ing, complete fidelity. Octavia Paz, the Mexican writer and Nobel laureate, sees Cortes and
Malinche as symbols (and progenitors) of gendered behavior in Mexico: the swaggering
male, quick to take offense, and the submissive woman, patiently sitting in the shadow of a
dominant man.
WHAT WAS THE ENCOUNTER AT CAJAMARCA?
Cortes was the first of mainland Latin America's conquerors. His success ignited an explo-
sion of other invasions and rampages. Francisco Pizarro was born sometime around 1476
in Trujillo, a town in the midst of rocky, impoverished farmland. Pizarro's poverty (and il-
literacy) spurred him to adventure in the Americas. In 1513 he fought alongside Balboa on
the disastrous expedition across Panama and the discovery of the Pacific Ocean (190 had
set out, but only sixty returned.) And he watched Balboa's execution on charges that he had
failed to bring back gold.
But in Panama Pizarro had heard of a place on the Pacific coast rich in gold, said to be
worshipped by Indians as “Tears of the Sun.” Pizarro led two expeditions down the Pacific
coast in search of the Golden Tears and returned to Spain to seek permission to conquer
and govern those lands of gold. In 1531, with the king's warrant, four half-brothers, and
an army of sixty-two cavalrymen and 106 foot soldiers, Pizarro's army wound its way into
northern Peru. By torturing Indian captives, Pizarro learned that the Inca Emperor would
be making his way to the warm springs of Cajamarca. And it was at Cajamarca that Pizarro
crushed an Inca army of 80,000 without a single Spanish death.
The Inca Emperor had earlier been told of the strange visitors. He had, in fact, arranged
to meet with them at Cajamarca for a peaceful encounter. Pizarro, of course, had other
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