[798] The question of his conversion has been much discussed. ‘No le pudo atraer a que se bolviesse Cristiano,’ says Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 105; and Herrera is even more explicit. dec. ii. lib. x. cap. x. Cortés and his followers, Martyr and Oviedo, give no indications to the contrary. Ixtlilxochitl states, however, that he had learned several prayers, and even begged for baptism, but that the rite was deferred ‘por la pascua siguiente, que era de la resurreccion, y fue tan desdichado, que nunca alcanzó tanto bien.’ Hist. Chich., 299. Yet he adds that it has been said ‘que se bautizó y se llamó Don Juan.’ Relaciones, 457. According to Gomara he asked for baptism in the beginning of lent, but it was determined to postpone the rite till pentecost, for greater effect, and as more appropriate for so high a personage. Owing to the troubles arising out of Narvaez’ arrival nothing was done then, ‘y despues de herido oluidose con la prissa del pelear!’ Hist. Mex., 154. Cortés had persuaded him, says Vetancurt, during the early days of his imprisonment, to accept baptism, and he was taken to the temple for the purpose, but at the last moment he excused himself on the ground that the Indians would elect another lord and attack them all if he abandoned the faith. Teatro Mex., iii. 132-3. Father Duran, on the contrary, ever zealous for the natives, and particularly for his hero, Montezuma, asserts that trustworthy men had vouched for his baptism. Padre Olmedo had also expressed belief therein, although he had not been present when it was administered. Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 445. The father’s memory must have failed him with respect to Olmedo. Camargo has also been assured of his baptism, with Cortés and Alvarado for sponsors. Hist. Tlax., 166. Tezozomoc, who claims to have investigated the point, declares explicitly that the rite was administered on his death-bed, when he received the name of Cárlos, and that Cortés, Olid, and Alvarado were the sponsors. Recopilacion de verídicas tradiciones, probando que el emperador Moteuhsoma recibió el santo sacramento del bautismo. This author wrote at the close of the sixteenth century, and follows traditions only. Bustamante, in modern times, has also reviewed the question, and follows Tezozomoc implicitly. In support thereof he quotes a poem, by Captain Angel Betancourt, wherein he refers to Montezuma as the ‘indio bautizado,’ introduces the vague utterance of Ixtlilxochitl, and even attempts to misconstrue a certain expression of Cortés. Montezuma tells the latter to baptize his daughters, and this Bustamante regards as proof that he himself desired the rite. He does not suppose that the religion of the vicious Spaniards could have had great attractions for him, but when about to die he accepted it, ‘as the drowning man does the saving plank.’ Article in Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., i. 287-95. Still fuller is the review of Ramirez, who follows Torquemada in pointing out the fact that neither Cortés nor Alvarado ever referred to their supposed sponsorship, as they certainly would have done in connection with so distinguished a personage had they felt empowered. Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin.
[799] Cortés’ chronology, as indicated in the Cartas, shows clearly that he left Mexico during the night of June 30th, as will be demonstrated. He also implies what Bernal Diaz and Herrera distinctly assert, that considerable fighting took place on the Tlacopan road between the time the corpse was surrendered to the Aztecs and the Spaniards returned to their quarters preparatory to evacuation. Hence the death must have occurred early on that day. Herrera confirms Cortés’ testimony that he could not have died before the 30th, by saying, ‘en quatro dias se murio.’ dec. ii. lib. x. cap. x. It is also generally admitted that he was not wounded before the third day of the siege.
[800] ‘Cortes lloró por èl, y todos nuestros Capitanes, y soldados: è hombres huvo entre nosotros ... que tan llorado fue, como si fuera nuestro padre.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 104. Cortés speaks highly of him, ‘y siempre tuvo mui buena voluntad á los Españoles,’ but this is in the deed presented to his daughter. See Privilegio, Monumentos Domin. Esp., MS., 66. In the Cartas he is referred to merely as a captive who dies. After saying that he never consented to the death of a Spaniard nor to injury against Cortés, Gomara adds: ‘Tambien ay quien lo cõtrario diga.’ Hist. Mex., 154-5.
[801] Clavigero says 54, but Bernal Diaz, who was so much in his company, could hardly have been mistaken, and the comparative youth of his children also indicates that 41 is more correct.
[802] ‘Antes ni despues huvo en este mundo quien le igualase en magestad y profanidad ... fue muy justiciero ... de condicion muy severo, aunque cuerdo y gracioso.’ Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 301. ‘Dizen los Indios que fue el mejor de su linaje, y el mayor rey de Mexico.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 155. ‘Fu circospetto, magnifico, liberale ... sua giustizia degenerava in crudeltà.’ Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 132; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. x. cap. x.; Torquemada, i. 499-500.
[803] ‘Fue muy sabio, pues passaua por las cosas assi, o muy necio q̄ no las sentia.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 155. ‘El hombre mas sábio de su siglo,’ is Bustamante’s interpretation. He also discovers that Montezuma objected to sacrifices! Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., 292-3.
[804] See Native Races, ii. 149-50.
[805] ‘Pareva aver cangiato di sesso, siccome dicevano i suoi sudditi.’ Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 132.
[806] So Cano, the son-in-law, declares, Oviedo, iii. 549, and so Cortés intimates in the privilegio to Isabel, whom he calls ‘su legitima heredera,’ especially commended to him.
[807] Of the rest of the imperial wives and concubines nothing positive is known, save that a number of them and their daughters were liberally bestowed, as a mark of imperial favor, on prominent personages, including Spaniards. After the conquest they sank into obscurity, although some of them still managed to maintain a certain consideration among the natives, despite their poverty. Bernal Diaz claims that he received one of the concubines; upon Olid was bestowed a daughter, and upon Cortés two, it is said, one baptized as Ana, the other as Inés. Two witnesses declare that Isabel also ‘cinco meses questava casada con ... Gallego e que pario una fija y que hera del ... Cortés.’ Cortés, Residencia, ii. 242, 244; i. 63, 99, 221, 263. The three daughters confided to Cortés on their father’s death-bed were not in the Spanish quarters at the time, at least not all of them, but were found after the conquest and baptized. The eldest and legitimate, the attractive Tecuichpo, was then the wife of the last and captive sovereign, Quauhtemotzin, her cousin, who had married her chiefly with a view to strengthen his hold on the throne, for she was too young for the married state. She was baptized as Isabel, and her Indian husband having been executed, Cortés, on his return from Honduras, gave her in marriage to the hidalgo Alonso Grado, of Alcántara, who had succeeded Ávila as contador, and now held the position of visitador general of New Spain. In consideration partly of Grado’s services and partly of Isabel’s rank, the captain-general bestowed as dower, in the emperor’s name, the town of Tacuba (Tlacopan), with the villages and farms subject to it, together with the title of señora thereof. The deed, which recounts the services of her father and the intrusting of his daughters to Cortés, is signed by him as captain-general and governor of New Spain, and dated June 27, 1523. It is given, among other books, in Monumentos Domin. Esp., MS., 65-8. Grado dying soon after, without issue, she married Pedro Andrade Gallego, by whom she had one son, Juan Andrade, the founder of the Andrade-Montezuma family. This branch inherited the Villa Alta villages, in Oajaca, and other estates, which in 1745 were bought up by the crown for a pension of 3000 pesos, continued by the Mexican government in irregular payments. A member of this branch was the bishop of Chiapas a few years later. Certificacion de las Mercedes, MS., 14-18. M. Fossey describes a visit, in 1849, to the poverty-stricken yet proud descendants. Mexique, 497-500. The omission of Gallego’s middle name has led the critical Alaman, among others, to assume that this family descends from Isabel’s fifth marriage with Juan Andrade. Prescott’s Mex. (Mex. 1844), ii. 31. Nor is Prescott free from error in connection with Montezuma’s descendants. The Andrade branch became allied to the Condes de Miravalle, and a daughter of this house was the wife of General Barragan, who became presidente interino of the republic, thus raising a descendant of Montezuma once again to the supreme place in the country. The Princess Isabel was married a fourth time, to Juan Cano de Saavedra, by whom she had five children, the inheritors of the Tacuba estates, also exchanged for a pension which was continued by the republic. Of the Princess Acatlan’s two daughters, María and Mariana, the former left no issue. Mariana married the conquistador Juan de Paz, bringing a dower of three towns, and after his death she took for husband the conqueror Cristóbal de Valderrama. By him she had a daughter, Leonor, who, marrying Diego Arias Sotelo, gave origin to the Sotelo-Montezuma family. Fonseca, Hist. Hacienda, i. 464. This work, with its collection of official papers and extracts, gives a mass of information about the imperial descendants and estates. Prescott confounds the mother and daughter. Mex., ii. 351-2. Viceroy Mendoza, in a despatch to the emperor of December 10, 1537, refers to the death, three weeks before, of Valderrama, and speaks of children by the former husband, which are not admitted in Fonseca. Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 208. Cortés refers to three sons of Montezuma: the heir, who fell on the causeway during the noche triste, and two surviving boys, ‘one said to be insane, the other paralyzed.’ On leaving Mexico he took with him one son and two daughters, his concubines probably, all of whom perished. Cartas, 135, 153. Sahagun names two sons, who perished on that occasion. Hist. Conq. (ed. 1840), 122, 126. Ixtlilxochitl gives them different names. Hist. Chich., 302. Cano gives the name Asupacaci to the heir, or only legitimate son, the brother of his wife Isabel, and states that he was killed by Quauhtemotzin, who feared him as the only rival to the throne. Oviedo, iii. 549. Brasseur de Bourbourg follows him, but prefers the name of Cipocatzin for the young prince, while Axayoca is also applied. Cortés’ version is more likely to be correct, however. One of the surviving sons, ‘Signor di Tenajoccan,’ Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 133, was baptized with the intervention of his sponsor, Rodrigo de Paz, and died three years after the conquest, ‘y se enterrò en la Capilla de San Joseph.’ Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 144. This author assumes that the youth fled with the Spaniards from the capital and hid at Tepotzotlan. The other prince, son of Miahuaxochitl, daughter of the lord of Tula, and niece of Montezuma—baptized as María, says Vetancurt—received the name of Don Pedro. He accompanied Cortés to Spain in 1528, it appears, at the age of eighteen, and made repeated appeals to the emperor for a maintenance in accordance with his rank. At first some trifling favors were granted, and he, together with a cousin, was educated by the Franciscans in Madrid. Puga, Cedulario, 85. President Fuenleal, of the audiencia, and other prominent persons having added their recommendation, regular pensions and encomiendas were bestowed, including the town of Tula, the seat of his maternal grandparents, upon which was based the second title of Condes de Montezuma y de Tula, conferred on his grandson. The line expired on the male side with the great great-grandson of the emperor, whose daughter married Sarmiento de Valladares, duke of Atlixco, and viceroy of New Spain, thus raising the name again to the highest position in the country. Prescott, following Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 191, 203, calls Valladares, by mistake, a descendant of Montezuma. The cousin of the vice-queen married Silva, the first marquis of Tenebron, whose descendants inherited the title and estates from the other branch, and became grandees in 1765. Their pension amounted at this time to 40,000 pesos, says Berni, Titulos de Castilla, which represented in part the encomiendas withdrawn by the government. The republic recognized this portion, as it had the pensions to the other branches. Shortly after the independence of Mexico the holder of the title, Alonso Marcilla de Teruel Montezuma, came over with the intention of asserting his claim to the throne of his forefathers, but the prudent possessors of the power thought it best not to admit him, and he passed on to New Orleans, there to put an end to his life some years later. Prescott understands that the septuagenarian had been disappointed in love. Mex., ii. 352. Several members of the Spanish nobility have intermarried with this line, among them a branch of the Guzman family, whence the claim made for the consort of Napoleon III. of having Montezuma’s blood in her veins. Gondra gives a portrait of a member married into the Mendoza family. Prescott’s Mex. (ed. Mex. 1845), 219. One of the line, Padre Louis de Montezuma, wrote the Historia del Emperador, which has been consulted by Alaman, Disert., i. app. ii. 158. Clavigero gives a genealogic table in Storia Mess., iii. 235, and Carbajal, while plagiarizing the statements and blunders of others, adds a few of his own. Hist. Mex., ii. 378-88. In Fonseca, Hist. Hacienda, i. 455 et seq., are to be found several valuable extracts concerning titles and estates; also in Reales Cédulas, MS., i. pt. i. 5, ii. 4 etc.; Certificacion de las Mercedes, MS.; Mex. Mem. Hacienda, 1848, 35-6; Fuenleal, Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xiii. 222. The family name has been spelled in different ways, also by its possessors, as Motezuma, Muteczuma, Moctezuma, Mocthecuzoma, Motecuhzuma, Moteuhzuma; but Montezuma is the most common form.