FOOTNOTES

[1190] Herrera, dec. iii. lib. ii. cap. ii., lib. i. cap. xx., places this incident on the third day of entry into the city.

[1191] ‘Todos los mas principales y esforzados y valientes.’ Cortés, Cartas, 244. And 2000 captives. Ixtlilxochitl, Hor. Crueldades, 43. ‘Tuuieron bien q̄ cenar aquella noche los Indios nuestros amigos,’ observes Gomara, unctuously. Hist. Mex., 209. Bernal Diaz, who claims to have been among the 100 select, intimates that Alvarado also formed an ambuscade that day, though less effective. Hist. Verdad., 153-4. In rushing from the hiding-place, says Cortés, two horses collided, one of them throwing its rider and charging alone amid the foe. After receiving several wounds it sought refuge among the soldiers and was conducted to camp, where it died.

[1192] ‘Fué bien principal causa para que la ciudad mas presto se ganase,’ Cortés, Cartas, 245, but this must be regarded as an exaggerated estimate.

[1193] Herrera, dec. iii. lib. ii. cap. ii. Torquemada, i. 560, 564, wavers, intimating in one place that all were determined to die. When the people at last inclined to peace, says Gomara, Quauhtemotzin opposed it on the ground that they had once decided for war, ‘contra su voluntad y consejo.’ Hist. Mex., 213. Most of the revelation was made by a woman of rank, it appears. Carried away by his love for hero-painting, Prescott has either missed or ignored the facts which now reveal his false coloring.

[1194] ‘Y asi escondidas huvo algunos Principales de las Provincias cercanas que acudieron con algun maiz para solo llevar joyas.’ That is, where the cruisers allowed such smuggling. Duran, Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 497.

[1195] About 1000 were killed, says Ixtlilxochitl, Hor. Crueldades, 44; but Cortés puts the killed and captured at more than 800. Cartas, 245.

[1196] ‘Osauan nuestros vergantines romper las estacadas ... remauan con gran fuerça y ... a todas velas.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 150.

[1197] ‘De la Capitana, que èl havia salvado,’ says Herrera, while asserting that the captain Villafuerte abandoned her; but this hardly agrees with his own later statements that Villafuerte remained in charge of the fleet, dec. iii. lib. i. cap. xxi.; lib. ii. cap. viii. The slain leader is called the lieutenant-general of Quauhtemotzin, and his death ‘fue causa, que mas presto se ganase la Ciudad,’ Torquemada, i. 558, all of which is doubtful. A similar reward to that of Lopez was accorded on another occasion to a soldier named Andrés Nuñez, who after the captain had abandoned his vessel led her to the rescue of two consorts. When the commander came to resume his post Nuñez refused to admit him, saying that he had forfeited it. On being appealed to, Cortés sustained the brave fellow and gave him the command, in which capacity he rendered important service. Herrera, dec. iii. lib. ii. cap. i.

[1198] July 25th, according to Clavigero, while Torquemada less correctly makes it August 5th.

[1199] The Spanish corruption of Quauhtemotzin. ‘La calle qe ba al tianguiz de Tlatelulco qe se llama de Guatimosa.’ Libro de Cabildo, MS., 88.

[1200] Herrera names Magallanes as one of those who succumbed under the onslaught of a chief, but his death was avenged by Diego Castellanos, a noted marksman. dec. iii. lib. i. cap. xx. On this occasion Ixtlilxochitl intimates that his namesake captured his brother, the usurper king of Tezcuco, and surrendering him to Cortés, he was at once secured with shackles. Hor. Crueldades, 42-3. ‘De manera que de cuatro partes de la ciudad, las tres estaban ya por nosotros.’ Cortés, Cartas, 246.

[1201] At the corner of the street leading to Sandoval’s quarter. Id., 247.

[1202] I knew three of them, writes Bernal Diaz. ‘Las enterramos en vna Iglesia, que se dize aora los Mártires.’ Hist. Verdad., 153.

[1203] For a full description see Native Races, ii. 382 et seq.

[1204] Cortés saw the smoke from his camp, from which he was preparing to start. Cartas, 247. Herrera leaves the impression that Alférez Montaño captured the temple, dec. iii. lib. ii. cap. i., but he was probably only the first to step on the summit. Bernal Diaz, who fought under Alvarado, states distinctly that Badajoz led the party, but he is no doubt incorrect in adding that the fight on the top continued till night. Hist. Verdad., 153. Torquemada, i. 565, refers to the temple as the Acatliyacapan. Duran makes Cortés appeal to the Chalcans, and they ‘tomando la delantera del Ejército, y con ellos Yxtlilxachitl ... ganaron el Cue grande.’ Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 506. This must be a Chalcan version.

[1205] Gomara, Hist. Mex., 210. Cortés calls them wounded merely. Sahagun’s native version of the plaza fight is very confusing, and mixed with that of the struggle against the other divisions, ‘y tomaron los bergantines [two] á los españoles, y lleváronlos á una laguna que llaman Amanalco.’ Hist. Conq. (ed. 1840), 202-3. But this must be a mistake.

[1206] ‘Que se llama Atenantitech, donde ahora està edificada la Iglesia de la Concepcion, junto de la Albarrada.’ Torquemada, i. 553. Tetenamitl ward, says Sahagun in one edition. Hist. Conq. (ed. 1840), 209.

[1207] This or a third relic bore the name of Mamalhuaztli. Sahagun also refers to a divine bow and arrow. Hist. Conq., 53-4. But his editions vary in text; see that of 1840, 210-12. The serpent was invoked even after the conquest, says the pious friar, and he heard Father Tembleque relate that he one day opened his window during a storm and had his left eye injured by a ray of lightning, which damaged the house and adjoining church. This ray, the Mexicans assured him, was the Xiuhcoatl, conjured up by the sorcerers, for they had seen it issue in the form of a big snake through the door. The editor Bustamante tells an equally impressive story in connection with an attempt to account for the snake and lightning.

[1208] One being killed and two horses wounded. Bernal Diaz, loc. cit.

[1209] Sahagun, Hist. Conq. (ed. 1840), 213. The editor Bustamante speaks of a similar phenomenon in Michoacan in 1829. Id. (ed. 1829), 68.

[1210] ‘De los niños no quedó nadie, que las mismas madres y padres los comian,’ is the statement of the native records. Id., 210. Yet Torquemada, i. 572, assumes that the Mexicans would not eat of their own race. Thousands had already died of starvation without touching the flesh of countrymen, though priests partook of children sacrificed during ordinary festivals; but at last the scruple among the masses was overcome by despair. See Native Races, ii. passim.

[1211] ‘Porque no acabas cõ el que nos acabe?... Desseamos la muerte por yr a descansar cõ Quetçalcouatlh,’ adds Gomara, Hist. Mex., 210-11.

[1212] The chroniclers call him an uncle of the Tezcucan king, but this appears to be a misinterpretation of Cortés’ text, wherein he says that such an uncle had captured the prisoner.

[1213] Cortés, Cartas, 251. This was partly in accordance with the law against nobles who returned from captivity, as already instanced.

[1214] ‘Tenia mucho miedo de parecer ante mí, y tambien estaba malo.’ Cortés, Cartas, 253. ‘Empacho,’ explains Herrera, dec. iii. lib. ii. cap. vii. He feared to be shot. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 164.

[1215] ‘Ni tenian ni hallaban flechas ni varas ni piedras con que nos ofender.... No tenian paso por donde andar sino por encima de los muertos y por las azoteas.’ Cortés, Cartas, 254.

[1216] ‘Mataron y prendieron mas de cuarenta mil ánimas.’ Id. Ixtlilxochitl, Hor. Crueldades, 48, raises the number to 50,000, while Duran states that over 40,000 men and women perished while fleeing. Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 510. What pained the conquerors most, however, was the sight and knowledge of what immense quantity of booty eluded them to pass into the hands of these marauders.

[1217] ‘Entre la Garita del Peralvillo, la place de Santiago de Tlatelolco et le pont d’Amaxac.’ So says Pichardo. Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 193. ‘Donde se embarcaban para Atzlapotzalco,’ adds Bustamante. Ixtlilxochitl, Hor. Crueldades, 50.

[1218] Chimalpain calls him Tlacotzin, afterward baptized as Juan Velasquez. Hist. Conq., ii. 71. ‘Ciguacoacin, y era el Capitan y gobernador de todos ellos, é por su consejo se seguian todas las cosas de la guerra,’ says Cortés, Cartas, 255.

[1219] ‘Porque les queria combatir y acabar de matar.’ Cartas, 256. ‘Pues eran barbaros, que no queria dexar hombre vivo, q̄ se fuessen.’ Herrera, dec. iii. lib. ii. cap. vii.

[1220] The distinguished captive said: ‘Capitan señor, dáte buena maña, que aquellos indios ... son esclavos de Guatimuçin, é podrá ser quél va allí huyendo, porque su bandera ya no paresçe.’ Oviedo, iii. 516. A canoe of twenty rowers and bearing a number of people. Gomara, Hist. Conq., 212. See also Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 164; Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 230. A small canoe, says Duran.

[1221] Torquemada, i. 570-1, followed by Clavigero, mentions besides Tetlepanquetzaltzin, king of Tlacopan, the fugitive king of Tezcuco; but this is doubtful, as we have seen. He enumerates several dignitaries. Brasseur de Bourbourg names Tlacahuepan, son of Montezuma, while his authority, Ixtlilxochitl, states that his namesake captured him and Tetlepanquetzaltzin in another canoe, and in a third Papantzin Oxomoc, widow of Emperor Cuitlahuatzin. Hor. Crueldades, 50. ‘Quahutimoc se puso en pie en la popa de su canoa para pelear. Mas como vio ballestas ... rindiose.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 213. This probably assumed fact has been elaborated by some writers into an heroic act. The incident has been placed by tradition as occurring near the later Puente del Clérigo. But this can hardly be. See [note 27]. According to Bernal Diaz, Sandoval came up shortly after, on learning the news, and demanded the surrender of the captives to him as the commander of the fleet, who had ordered Holguin to pursue the canoes. The latter refused, and a delay occurred, during which another crew hurried to bear the tidings to Cortés and claim the reward granted for first reports. Two captains were now sent to summon the disputants and captives. Hist. Verdad., 155. Cortés, while according in his letter the credit of the capture to Holguin, promised to refer the claim to the king. Holguin figures some years later as regidor and estate owner in the city.

[1222] ‘Esta casa era de un principal tlatilulcano que se llamaba Aztaoatzin.’ Sahagun, Hist. Conq., 55.

[1223] The versions of this remarkable speech vary greatly. ‘Habia hecho todo lo que de su parte era obligado para defenderse á si y á los suyos hasta venir en aquel estado, que ahora ficiese dél lo que yo quisiese.’ Cortés, Cartas, 257. ‘Diçiéndole que le diesse de puñaladas é lo matasse, porque no era raçon que viviesse en el mundo hombre que avia perdido lo que’l avia perdido,’ adds Oviedo, iii. 422. ‘Preguntáronle por los chripstianos, é dixo: No me preguntés esso; é si me quereys matar; matadme ya: que harto estoy de vivir,’ says another version. Id., 517. ‘Iria mui consolado adonde sus dioses estaban, especialmente haviendo muerto à manos de tal Capitan.’ Herrera, dec. iii. lib. ii. cap. vii. ‘Why so stubborn?’ is the way Duran opens the conversation on Cortés’ part. Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 509. ‘Toglietemi con questo pugnale una vita, che non perdei nella difesa del mio Regno.’ Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 230. See also Ixtlilxochitl and others. Writers generally go into ecstacy over this utterance. ‘Magnanimo,’ exclaims Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. viii. ‘Heroic,’ ejaculates Bustamante in support of Chimalpain’s encomium. Hist. Conq., ii. 75. ‘Ce trait est digne du plus beau temps de la Grèce et de Rome.’ Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 193. ‘A spirit worthy of an ancient Roman,’ echoes Prescott, Mex., iii. 206. Bernal Diaz says the emperor wept, and with him his chiefs. Hist. Verdad., 155.

[1224] Made a few years later by order of the city council. It was not, as many suppose, the original standard, for this was hidden during two centuries among rubbish in the university, as stated in its records. It now exists in the museum, forming a piece about a yard square, which shows on one side the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception with hands joined in prayer, and bearing on her head a crown of gold surrounded by a halo and a circle of stars; on the other are the royal arms. Boturini, Idea, 157. In his Catálogo, 75, this author assumes it to be the standard given to the Tlascaltecs, but Carbajal states that at Tlascala exists another standard of Cortés’, with royal arms, Hist. Mex., ii. 637, with a picture of the above named virgin. See also Beaumont, Crón. Mich., ii. 345-6. By order of July 31, 1528, the city council orders bull-fights and other entertainments in honor of the day, ‘e q todos cabalguen los q tovieren bestias.’ Libro de Cabildo, MS., 127, 234. Mexicans are never seen to share in the procession. ‘Tan profundo está en sus ánimos la herida.’ Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 3; Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 192. A minute account of the ceremonies on the occasion is given in Monumentos Hist. Admin. Colon., MS., 365, copied from the Archivo General.

[1225] Counting from May 30th, Cartas, 257, and so it is stated in the grant to Cortés of Escudo de Armas. Duran and Ixtlilxochitl extend it to 80 and Bernal Diaz to 93 days. ‘Despues de muchos combates, y mas de sessenta peleas peligrosisimas.’ Acosta, Hist. Nat. Ind., 525.

[1226] Over 60 soldiers were lost in the great defeat, and small numbers now and then, while the auxiliaries, less skilled in fighting and chiefly unarmored, succumbed in hordes. Gomara says about 50 soldiers, 6 horses, and not many Indians; Herrera modifies to ‘a little over’ 50; Torquemada advances to ‘less than 100,’ and Clavigero to ‘more than 100 Spaniards.’ Hernandez, in his Estadist. Méj., 232, computes such curiously exact figures as 107 Spaniards, 18,915 Tlascaltecs, and 33,240 Aztecs. Ixtlilxochitl, ever eager to enlarge upon the services of his race, claims that 30,000 Tezcucans fell out of 200,000 employed, Hor. Crueldades, 51; but this is evidently exaggerated.

[1227] ‘En que murieron infinitos.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 213; Herrera, dec. iii. lib. ii. cap. viii.; Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 232-3. Bustamante raises the number killed to ‘150,000 at least.’ Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., ii. 74; Ixtlilxochitl, loc. cit., to 240,000, including most of the nobles; while Torquemada, i. 577, observes ‘que de veinte partes, no quedò vna, aviendo perecido, y muerto las diez y nueve,’ he and several others allowing the estimate of fully 300,000 inhabitants. The survivors are estimated at from 30,000 persons, by Torquemada to 70,000 warriors by Oviedo, iii. 516.

[1228] ‘Hiço herrar algunos Hombres, y Mugeres por Esclavos; à todos los demàs dexò en libertad.’ Torquemada, 573. ‘À muchos indios é indias, porque estaban dados por traydores,’ says Oviedo, iii. 517. Cortés stayed and punished those who took slaves, ‘aunque todavia herraron en la cara á algunos mancebos y mugeres.’ So states the native record of Sahagun, Hist. Conq. (ed. 1840), 231. But if he punished slave-takers it was for not declaring the capture to the royal official. Duran reduces his account of Spanish liberality to an absurdity, but more from politic reasons than because he had not at hand better evidence, Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 510.

[1229] Hist. Verdad., 156. ‘Io sospetto, che da’ Messicani lasciati fossero a bella posta insepolti i cadaveri, per iscacciar colla puzza gli Assediatori.’ Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 231. But this is unlikely. A severe siege will produce such results.

[1230] Bernal Diaz relates that although wine and provisions from Cuba were abundantly dispensed at the banquet, yet there was not room for one third of the soldiers, and much discontent grew out of it, partly from the utterances of drunken men. A dance followed. Father Olmedo complained of so much revelry before the rendering of due thanks to God. Cortés pleaded that soldiers must be allowed some license, but the following day was set apart for religious services. Hist. Verdad., 156.

[1231] Bustamante comments on the non-fulfilment of the promises to Tlascala, saying that the republic was rightly served for lending herself to the invaders. Sahagun, Hist. Conq., 144. On their way home, says Ixtlilxochitl, the Tlascaltecs and their neighbors plundered Tezcuco and other towns. With the slaves carried home by his namesake, he adds consolingly, the destroyed palaces of Tezcuco were rebuilt. Hor. Crueldades, 52-3. The Tlascaltecs ‘aun lleuaron hartas cargas de tasajos cecinados de Indios Mexicanos, que repartieron entre sus parientes ... por fiestas.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 157.

[1232] ‘Non dubitamus quin justa sint bella ... in eos qui humanam carnem epulantur,’ etc. De Jure Belli, lib. ii. cap. xx.

[1233] Alvarado was Ajax; Maxixcatzin, Nestor; Quauhtemotzin, Hector. Chevalier, Mex. Ancien, 232-41.

Transcriber’s Note

Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Simple typographical errors have been corrected.

In some cases, Bancroft uses both “u” and “v” to spell an author’s name, e.g. Vetancurt and Vetancvrt.

Other archaic letter substitutions include “b” for “v”, “i” for “y”, “x for “j”, “i for “j”, “ç” or “c” for “z” and vice versa. These have been left as printed.

Accents and other diacritics are inconsistently used.

Some possible printer’s errors or inconsistencies include:

Footnotes, originally at the bottoms of pages, have been sequentially renumbered, collected together, and placed after the last page of each chapter.

[This volume contains references to the previous volumes of this work.] They can be found at: