Hernando Cortez / Makers of History

by John S. C. Abbott

The Last Days of Cortez.

The party are obliged to put into Havana for repairs.

For a few days a fair wind bore the voyagers rapidly forward over a sunny sea. They had arrived nearly within sight of the Mexican shore, when clouds blackened the sky, and a tropical tempest came howling fiercely upon them. The light brigantine was driven before the gale like a bubble, and, after being tossed for several days upon the angry deep, the voyagers found themselves near the island of Cuba, and were compelled to enter the harbor of Havana for repairs and supplies.

Triumphal march to the capital.

It was not until the 16th of May that they were enabled again to set sail. After a voyage of eight days, Cortez landed near St. Juan de Ulua. Here he assumed an incognito, and proceeded on foot fifteen miles to Medellin. His aspect was so changed by sickness and dejection that no one recognized him. Here he made himself known, and was immediately received with the most enthusiastic demonstrations of joy. He now pressed forward to the capital in truly a triumphal march. The whole country was aroused, and processions, triumphal arches, bonfires, and music, with the ringing of bells and the roaring of cannon, greeted him all the way. The natives vied with the Spaniards in the cordiality of their welcome and in the splendor of their pageants.

Reception at Tezcuco.

Arrangements were made to receive him at the capital with a triumphant fête. He arrived at Tezcuco, on the borders of the lake, in the evening, and there passed the night. It was now the lovely month of June. The sun the next morning rose cloudless, and smiled upon a scene of marvelous beauty, embellished by all the attractions of hills, and valleys, and placid waters. The lake was alive with the decorated boats of the natives, and the air was filled with the hum of peace and joy. Smiles again flitted over the wan and pallid cheeks of Cortez as the shouts of the multitude, blending with the clarion peals of the trumpet, the chime of bells, and the thunders of artillery fell upon his ear. He immediately repaired to the church publicly to return thanks to God for all his mercies. He then retired to his magnificent palace, and again assumed the responsibilities of government.

Enemies at work.
Serious charges.

The enemies of Cortez were still indefatigable in the court of Charles V., and they so multiplied and reiterated their charges that the emperor deemed it expedient to order an investigation. He was charged with withholding gold which belonged to the crown, of secreting the treasures of Guatemozin, of defrauding the revenues by false reports, and of surrounding himself with grandeur and power that he might assert independence of Spain, and establish himself in unlimited sovereignty.

The commissioner.

A commissioner, Luis Ponce de Leon, was accordingly sent by the emperor to assume the government of Mexico temporarily, and to bring Cortez to trial. But a few weeks had passed after Cortez returned to the capital before this messenger arrived. Cortez, surprised by his sudden appearance, was greatly perplexed as to the course he should pursue. The intelligence was communicated to him as he was performing his devotions in the church of St. Francis. "He earnestly," says Diaz, "prayed to the Lord to guide him as seemed best to his holy wisdom, and, on coming out of the church, sent an express to bring him information of all particulars."

Offers of courtesy.
The banquet.
Unfortunate effects.

After much painful deliberation, Cortez decided to receive the royal commissioner with apparent courtesy and submission. He sent to him a friendly message, wishing to know which of two roads he intended to take on his approach to the capital, that he might be met and greeted with suitable honors. The friends of Leon cautioned him to be on his guard, for they assured him that Cortez would, if possible, secure his assassination. Leon warily sent word that, fatigued by his voyage, he should not immediately visit the capital, but should rest for a time. Having dispatched this message, he immediately mounted his horse, and, with his retinue, commenced his journey. The vigilant officers of Cortez, however, met him at Iztapalapan. A sumptuous banquet was prepared, and some delicious cheese-cakes were placed upon the table. All who ate of the cheese-cakes were taken sick, and it was reported far and wide that Cortez had attempted to poison Leon with arsenic. There is no proof that Cortez was guilty. The circumstances alone, as we have stated them, awakened suspicion. These suspicions were fearfully increased by unfortunate events, to which we shall soon allude.

Leon arrived in the city of Mexico, and in the presence of all the civil and military officers produced his authority from the emperor, Charles V., to assume the governorship of the colony, and to bring Cortez to trial. The humbled and wretched conqueror kissed the document in token of submission.

Notice for complainants.
Leon's sudden death.
Its cause.

Leon now issued public notice that all who had complaints to bring against the administration of Cortez should produce them. A host of enemies—for all men in power must have enemies—immediately arose. The court was flooded with accusations without number. Just as Leon was opening the court to give a hearing to these charges, he was seized with a sudden and a mysterious sickness. After lying in a state of lethargy for four days, he died. In a lucid moment, he appointed an officer named Aguilar, who had accompanied him from Castile, as his successor. "What malignities and slanders," exclaims Diaz, "were now circulated against Cortez by his enemies in Mexico!" The faithful historian, however, affirms that Leon died of what is now called the ship fever. Notwithstanding all these unfortunate appearances, it is generally believed that Cortez was not abetting in his death.

Aguilar's administration.
He determines to return to Spain.

Aguilar was a weak and infirm old man, so infirm that "he was obliged to drink goat's milk, and to be suckled by a Castilian woman to keep him alive." This decrepit septuagenarian could accomplish nothing, and after a vacillating and utterly powerless administration of eight months, during which time the influence of Cortez was continually increasing, he died. The treasurer, Estrada, by the governor's testament, was appointed his successor. The affairs of the colony were now in a state of great confusion. These new governors were imbecile men, totally incapable of command. The popular voice, in this emergence, loudly called upon Cortez to assume the helm. Estrada, alarmed by this, issued a decree ordering the instant expulsion of Cortez from the city of Mexico. Cortez, thus persecuted, resolved to return to Spain, and to plead for justice in the court of his sovereign. At the same time, he received letters informing him of the death of his father, and of the renewed activity of his enemies at court.

Purchasing two ships, he stored them with a great abundance of provisions, and by a proclamation offered a free passage to any Spaniard who could obtain permission from the governor to return to Spain. After a voyage of forty days he landed on the shores of his country, at the little port of Palos, in the month of December, 1527. Cortez immediately sent an express to his majesty, informing him of his arrival. In much state he traveled through Seville and Guadeloupe to Madrid, winning golden opinions all the way by his courtly manners and his profuse liberality.

Reception of the emperor.
Marquis of the Valley.
Captain General.

Upon his arrival at Madrid, he was received by the emperor with great courtesy. Cortez threw himself at the feet of his majesty, enumerated the services he had performed, and vindicated himself from the aspersions of his enemies. The monarch seemed satisfied, ordered him to rise, and immediately conferred upon him the title of Marquis of the Valley, with a rich estate to support the dignity. Cortez fell sick, and the emperor honored him with a visit in person. Many other marks of the royal favor Cortez received, which so encouraged him that he began to assume haughty airs, and applied to the emperor that he might be appointed governor of New Spain. The emperor was displeased, declined giving him the appointment, and a coldness ensued. Cortez, however, at length regained some favor, and obtained the title of Captain General of New Spain, with permission to fit out two ships on voyages of discovery to the south seas. He was also entitled to receive, as proprietor, one twelfth of the lands he should discover, and to rule over the countries he might colonize.

Cortez's marriage.
Envy of the queen.

Cortez was now a man of wealth and renown. His manners were highly imposing, his conversation was rich and impressive, and his favor at court gave him a vast influence. His income amounted to about one hundred and twenty thousand dollars a year. There was no family in Spain which would not have felt honored by his alliance, and when he sought the hand of the young, beautiful, and accomplished niece of the Duke of Bejar, his addresses were eagerly accepted. The storm-worn yet still handsome cavalier led to the altar his blushing bride so glittering with brilliant jewels, cut by the exquisite workmanship of the Aztecs, as to excite the envy even of the queen of Charles V.

He embarks for New Spain.
Effects of displeasing a queen.
Cortez's abode.
The contrast.

Cortez soon became weary of a life of idleness and luxury, and longed again for the stirring adventures of the New World. Early in the spring of 1530, he again embarked, with his wife and mother, for New Spain. With his characteristic zeal for the conversion of the natives, he took with him twelve reverend fathers of the Church. After a short tarry at Hispaniola, he landed at Vera Cruz on the 15th of July. As it was feared that Cortez might interfere with the government of the country, the Queen of Spain, who was quite displeased that the wife of Cortez wore more brilliant jewels than she possessed, had issued an edict prohibiting Cortez from approaching within thirty miles of the Mexican capital. He accordingly established himself at one of his country estates, on the eastern shores of the lake. His renown gave him vast influence. From all parts of the country crowds flocked to greet him. With regal pomp he received his multitudinous guests, and his princely residence exhibited all the splendors of a court. Most of the distinguished men of the city of Mexico crossed the lake to Tezcuco to pay homage to the conqueror of Mexico. The governor was so annoyed by the mortifying contrast presented by his own deserted court, that he despotically imposed a fine upon such of the natives of the city as should be found in Tezcuco, and, affecting to apprehend a treasonable attack from Cortez, made ostentatious preparations for the defense of the capital.

He goes to Cuarnavaca.
Devotes himself to industrial interests.

For a long time there was an incessant and petty conflict going on between Cortez and the jealous government of the colony. At last, Cortez became so annoyed by indignities which his haughty spirit keenly felt, that he withdrew still farther from the capital, to the city of Cuarnavaca, which was situated upon the southern slope of the Cordilleras. This was the most beautiful and opulent portion of that wide domain which the energy of Cortez had annexed to the Spanish crown. Here the conqueror had erected for himself a magnificent palace in the midst of his vast estates. The ruins of the princely mansion still remain upon an eminence which commands a wide extent of landscape of surpassing loveliness. Cortez devoted himself with characteristic energy to promoting the agricultural and industrial interests of the country. Thousands of hands were guided to the culture of hemp and flax. Sugar-mills were reared, and gold and silver mines were worked with great success. Cortez thus became greatly enriched, but his adventurous spirit soon grew weary of these peaceful labors.

The expeditions and failures.

In the year 1532, Cortez, at a large expense, fitted out an expedition, consisting of two ships, to explore the Pacific Ocean in search of new lands. The ships sailed from the port of Acapulco, but, to the bitter disappointment of Cortez, the enterprise was entirely unsuccessful. The crew mutinied, and took possession of one of the ships, and the other probably foundered at sea, for it was never again heard from.

But the Marquis of the Valley, with his indomitable spirit of energy and perseverance, fitted out another expedition of two ships. This adventure was as disastrous as the other. The two captains quarreled, and took occasion of a storm to separate, and did not again join company. The southern extremity of the great peninsula of California was, however, discovered by one of the ships. Here, at a point which they called Santa Cruz, a large part of the ship's company were massacred by the savages. The storm-battered ships eventually returned, having accomplished nothing.

Cortez heads another party.

Cortez, still undismayed, prepared for another attempt. He now, however, resolved to take command of the ships himself. His celebrity induced adventurers from all quarters to seek to join the expedition. Three ships were launched upon the bay of Tehuantepec. Many men crowded on board, with their families, to colonize the new lands which should be discovered. More than twice as many adventurers as the ships could carry thronged the port, eager to embark in the enterprise. In the month of May, 1537, the squadron set sail upon the calm surface of the Pacific, the decks being crowded with four hundred Spaniards and three hundred slaves. About an equal number were left behind, to be sent for as soon as the first party should be landed at the port of their destination.

Arrival at Santa Cruz.
The fleet returns.
Disasters.

Sailing in a northwesterly direction, favorable winds drove them rapidly across the vast Gulf of California until they arrived at Santa Cruz, on the southern extremity of that majestic peninsula. A landing was immediately effected, and the ships were sent back to Mexico to bring the remaining colonists. Cortez did not take his wife with him, but she was left in their princely mansion on the southern slope of the Cordilleras. But disasters seemed to accumulate whenever Cortez was not personally present. The ships were delayed by head winds and by storms. The colonists at Santa Cruz, in consequence of this delay, nearly perished of famine. Twenty-three died of privation and hunger. At length, in the midst of general murmurings and despair, one of the ships returned. It brought, however, but little relief, as the ships which were loaded with provisions for the supply of the colonists were still missing.

Discontent.
Search for the vessels.

The discontent in the starving colony became so loud, that Cortez himself took fifty soldiers and embarked in search of the missing ships. With great care he cruised along the Mexican shore, and at last found one stranded on the coast of Jalisco, and the other partially wrecked upon some rocks. He, however, got them both off, repaired them, and brought them, laden with provisions, to the half-famished colony at Santa Cruz.

The colonists eat too voraciously.

The imprudent colonists ate so voraciously that a fatal disease broke out among them, which raged with the utmost virulence. Many died. Cortez became weary of these scenes of woe. The expedition, in a pecuniary point of view, had been a total failure, and it had secured for the conqueror no additional renown. The Marchioness of the Valley, the wife of Cortez, became so anxious at the long absence of her husband, that she fitted out two ships to go in search of him. Ulloa, who commanded these ships, was so fortunate as to trace Cortez to his colony. Cortez not unwillingly yielded to the solicitations of his wife and returned to Mexico. He was soon followed by the rest of the wretched colonists, and thus disastrously terminated this expedition.

Cortez resolves to replenish his resources.

In these various enterprises, Cortez had expended from his private property over three hundred thousand crowns, and had received nothing in return. As he considered himself the servant of his sovereign, and regarded these efforts as undertaken to promote the glory and the opulence of Spain, he resolved to return to Castile, to replenish, if possible, his exhausted resources from the treasury of the crown. He had also sundry disputes with the authorities in Mexico which he wished to refer to the arbitration of the emperor. He was a disappointed and a melancholy man. His career had been one of violence and of blood, and "his ill fortune," says Diaz, "is ascribed to the curses with which he was loaded."

Departure for Spain.

Taking with him his eldest son and heir, Don Martin, the child of Donna Marina, then but eight years of age, and leaving behind him the rest of his family, he embarked in 1540 again to return to his native land. The emperor was absent, but Cortez was received by the court and by the nation with the highest testimonials of respect. Courtesy was lavished upon him, but he could obtain nothing more. For a year the unhappy old man pleaded his cause, while daily the victim of hope deferred. He might truly have said with Cardinal Wolsey,

"Had I but served my God with half the zeal
I served my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies."

Neglect and disappointment.

Cortez soon found himself neglected and avoided. His importunities became irksome. Two or three years of disappointment and gloom passed heavily away, when, in 1544, Cortez addressed a last and a touching letter to the emperor.

Letter to the emperor.

"I had hoped," writes the world-weary old man, "that the toils of my youth would have secured me repose in my old age. For forty years I have lived with but little sleep, with bad food, and with weapons of war continually at my side. I have endured all peril, and spent my substance in exploring distant and unknown regions, that I might spread abroad the name of my sovereign, and extend his sway over powerful nations. This I have done without aid from home, and in the face of those who thirsted for my blood. I am now aged, infirm, and overwhelmed with debt." He concluded this affecting epistle by beseeching the emperor to "order the Council of the Indies, with the other tribunals which had cognizance of his suits, to come to a decision, since I am too old to wander about like a vagrant, but ought rather, during the brief remainder of my life, to remain at home and settle my account with heaven, occupied with the concerns of my soul rather than with my substance."

Unavailing appeal.
The will.

His appeal was unavailing. For three more weary years he lingered about the court, hoping, in the midst of disappointments and intermittent despair, to attain his ends. But at last all hope expired, and the poor old man, with shattered health and a crushed spirit, prepared to return to Mexico in gloom and obscurity to die. He had proceeded as far as Seville, when, overcome by debility and dejection, he could go no farther. It was soon apparent to all that his last hour was at hand. The dying man, with mind still vigorous, immediately executed his will. This long document is quite characteristic of its author. He left nine children, five of whom were born out of wedlock. He remembered them all affectionately in his paternal bequests.

His bequests.

He founded a theological seminary at Cojuhacan, in one of the provinces of Mexico, for the education of missionaries to preach the Gospel among the natives. A convent of nuns he also established in the same place, in the chapel of which he wished his remains to be deposited. He also founded a hospital in the city of Mexico, to be dedicated to Our Lady of the Conception.

An uneasy conscience.

In these solemn hours of approaching death, his conscience does not appear to have disturbed him at all in reference to his wars of invasion and conquest, and the enormous slaughter which they had caused, but he was troubled in view of the slavery to which they had doomed the poor Mexicans. With dying hand he inscribes the following remarkable lines:

"It has long been a question whether one can conscientiously hold property in Indian slaves. Since this point has not yet been determined, I enjoin it on my son Martin and his heirs that they spare no pains to come to an exact knowledge of the truth, as a matter which concerns the conscience of each one of them no less than mine."

Removal to Castilleja.
Cortez's death.
His funeral.
The removal of his remains.
Solemnities.

As the noise of the city disturbed the dying man, he was removed to the neighboring village of Castilleja. His son, then but fifteen years of age, watched over his venerated father, and nursed him with filial affection. On the second day of December, fifteen hundred and forty-seven, Cortez died, in the sixty-third year of his age. He was buried with great pomp in the tomb of the Duke of Medina Sidonia at Seville. A vast concourse of the inhabitants of the whole surrounding country attended his funeral. Five years after his death, in 1562, his son Martin removed his remains to Mexico, and deposited them, not at Cojuhacan, as Cortez had requested, but in a family vault in the monastery at Tezcuco. Here the remains of Cortez reposed for sixty-seven years. In 1629 the Mexican authorities decided to transfer them to Mexico, to be deposited beneath the church of St. Francis. The occasion was celebrated with all the accompaniments of religious and military pomp. The bells tolled the funeral knell, and from muffled drums and martial bands sublime requiems floated forth over the still waters of the lake, as the mortal remains of Cortez were borne over the long causeway, where he had displayed such superhuman energy during the horrors of the dismal night.

The monument erected over his remains.

Here the ashes of Cortez reposed undisturbed for one hundred and sixty-five years, when the mouldering relics were again removed in 1794, and were more conspicuously enshrined in the Hospital of Our Lady of the Conception, which Cortez had founded and endowed. A crystal coffin, secured with bars of iron, inclosed the relics, over which a costly and beautiful monument was reared.