| CHAPTER I.—Discoveries of Cordova and Grijalva—Cortéz
appointed by Velasquez—Biographical
notice of Cortéz—Cortéz Captain General of the Armada—Equipment
of the Expedition—Quarrel of Velasquez—Firmness of Cortéz—Expedition
departs under Cortéz, | [13] |
| CHAPTER II.—Olmeda preaches to the Indians—Aguilar
and Mariana—interpreters—Cortéz
lands—interview with the Aztecs—Diplomacy—Montezuma's presents—Montezuma
refuses to receive Cortéz, | [22] |
| CHAPTER III.—Cortéz founds La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz—Fleet destroyed—March
to Mexico—Conquest of Tlascala—Cholula—Slaughter in Cholula—Valley
of Mexico—Cortéz enters the Valley—Gigantic Causeway—Lake of Tezcoco—Reception
by Montezuma—Spaniards enter the capital, | [28] |
| CHAPTER IV.—Description of the City of Tenochtitlan—Montezuma's way of
life—Market-place—Cortéz at the Great Temple—Description of it—
Place of Sacrifice—Sanctuaries—Huitzilopotchtli—Tezcatlipoca—Danger
of Cortéz—Montezuma
seized—Montezuma a prisoner—his submissiveness—Arrival of Narvaez—Cortéz's
diplomacy—Cortéz overcomes Narvaez, and recruits his forces, | [35] |
| CHAPTER V.—Cortéz returns to the Capital—Causes of the revolt against the
Spaniards—Cortéz condemns Alvarado—his conduct to Montezuma—Battle in the
city—Montezuma mediates—Fight on the Great Temple or Teocalli—Retreat of
the Spaniards—Noche Triste—Flight of the Spaniards to Tacuba, | [44] |
| CHAPTER VI.—Retreat to Otumba—Cortéz is encountered by a new army of Aztecs
and auxiliaries—Victory of the Spaniards at Otumba—Proposed re-alliance of
Aztecs and Tlascalans—Forays of Cortéz—reduction of the eastern regions—Cortéz
proposes the reconquest—sends off the disaffected—Cortéz settles the Tlascalan succession, | [50] |
| CHAPTER VII.—Death of Cuitlahua—he is succeeded by Guatemozin—Aztecs
learn the proposed reconquest—Cortéz's forces for this enterprise—Cortéz at Tezcoco—his
plans and acts—Military expeditions of Cortéz in the Valley—Operations
at Chalco and Cuernavaca—Xochimilco—return to Tacuba—Cortéz returns to
Tezcoco and is reinforced, | [56] |
| CHAPTER VIII.—Cortéz returns—conspiracy among his men detected—Execution
of Villafaña—Brigantines launched—Xicotencatl's treason and execution—Disposition
of forces to attack the city—Siege and assaults on the city—Fight and reverses
of the Spaniards—Sacrifice of captives—Flight of allies—Contest renewed—
Starvation, | [62] |
| CHAPTER IX.—Aztec prediction—it is not verified—Cortéz reinforced by fresh
arrivals—Famine in the city—Cortéz levels the city to its foundation—Condition
of the capital—Attack renewed—Capture of Guatemozin—Surrender of the city—Frightful
condition of the city, | [70] |
| CHAPTER X.—Duty of a historian—Motives of the Conquest—Character and
deeds of Cortéz—Materials of the Conquest—Adventurers—Priests—Indian allies—Historical
aspects of the Conquest, | [75] |
|
CHAPTER XI.—Discontent at not finding gold—Torture of Guatemozin—Results
of the fall of the capital—Mission from Michoacan—Rebuilding of the capital—Letters
to the King—Intrigues against Cortéz—Fonseca—Narvaez—Tapia—Charles
V. protects Cortéz and confirms his acts, | [80] |
| CHAPTER XII.—Cortéz commissioned by the Emperor—Velasquez—his death—Mexico
rebuilt—Immigration—Repartimientos of Indians—Honduras—Guatemozin—Mariana—Cortéz
accused—ordered to Spain for trial—his reception, honors
and titles—he marries—his return to Mexico—resides at Tezcoco—Expeditions of
Cortéz—California—Quivara—returns to Spain—death—Where are his bones? | [84] |
| CHAPTER XIII.—Archbishop Zumarraga's destruction of Mexican monuments,
writings, documents—Mr. Gallatin's opinion of them—Traditions—two sources of
accurate knowledge—Speculations on antiquity—Aztecs—Toltecs—Nahuatlacs—Acolhuans,
&c.—Aztecs emigrate from Aztlan—settle in Anahuac—Tables of emigration
of the original tribes—Other tribes in the empire, | [92] |
| CHAPTER XIV.—Difficulty of estimating the civilization of the Aztecs—Nations
in Yucatan—Value of contemporary history—The Aztec monarchy—elective—Royal
style in Tenochtitlan—Montezuma's way of life—Despotic power of the
Emperor over life and law—Theft—intemperance—marriage—slavery—war—Military
system and hospitals—Coin—Revenues—Aztec mythology—Image of Teoyaomiqui—Teocalli—Two
kinds of sacrifice—Why the Aztecs sacrificed their
prisoners—Common Sacrifice—Gladitorial Sacrifice—Sacrificial Stone—Aztec Calendar—week,
month, year, cycle—Procession of the New Fire—Astronomical
Science—Aztec Calendar—Tables, | [99] |