Second Letter to King Charles V - Essay Example

Hernan Cortes: evaluation of his Second Letter to Charles V (1520) In his second letter to King Charles V (1520), Hernan Cortes describes the Aztec inhabitants of Temixtitlan (Mexico City), their social organization, religious practices and economic organization in terms that would resonate with a monarch both attuned to comparable factors in his own country and with at least a modest grasp of European history. Given the subject matter covered in the letter, I suggest that it was Cortes’ intent to describe the Aztec Empire as one that was naturally amenable to absorption into King Charles’ already extensive and polyglot Hapsburg Empire and to provide reasons why that absorption was morally and legally justified. There are several subject areas within the letter that merit consideration. Physical description of the capital city: Mexico City is described not only in terms of its physical location, but also in terms of its size (expressed in comparison with such Spanish cities as Seville and Cordova), urban planning and design (application of modern civil engineering principles to take advantage of local physical conditions, as, for example, had been done by the builders of Venice over the centuries), and its prospect reflecting its importance (“All the streets at intervals have openings, through which the water flows, crossing from one street to another; and at these openings, some of which are very wide, there are also very wide bridges, composed of large pieces of timber, of great strength and well put together; on many of these bridges ten horses can go abreast.”)1 The letter’s language, while ostensibly straightforward, would certainly have been interpreted by its readers—King Charles and his advisors—as describing appurtenances considerably grander than what they enjoyed in Spain. For example, Cortes writes, “There was one palace somewhat inferior to the rest, attached to which was a beautiful garden with balconies extending over it, supported by marble columns, and having a floor formed of jasper elegantly inlaid. There were apartments in this palace sufficient to lodge two princes of the highest rank with their retinues.”2 The marketplace in the city: Cortes describes items for sale, some of which had direct European counterparts (e.g., food, finished products, construction materials). It is in this context that Cortes made a subtle, if casual, reference to items that he must have known would have been of interest to King Charles—precious metals and stones—while at the same time giving no overt emphasis to them. Cortes wrote, “[In the marketplace there] all kinds of merchandise that the world affords, embracing the necessaries of life, as for instance articles of food, as well as jewels of gold and silver, lead, brass, copper, tin, precious stones, bones, shells, snails, and feathers.”3 Search for riches in the form of precious metals was a major driving force underlying the European exploration impulse, as was satisfaction of the demand for herbs (medicinals) and spices. In Cortes’ words, “There is also an herb street, where may be obtained all sorts of roots and medicinal herbs that the country affords.”4 Again, the reference is both casual in its context but certainly one that would not be lost on King Charles. Social organization of the Mexico City population: Cortes describes the city’s popular organization quasi-European terms, albeit largely in terms of the ruling elite. He mentions commoners in passing (e.g., “In all the markets and public places of this city are seen daily many laborers waiting for some one to hire them.”5). His description of the Aztec monarch and his retinue was surely intended to incite the interest—if not envy—of King Charles. “[Moctezuma] was served in the following manner: Every day as soon as it was light, six hundred nobles and men of rank were in attendance at the palace, who either sat, or walked about the halls and galleries, and passed their time in conversation, but without entering the apartment where his person was. The servants and attendants of these nobles remained in the court-yards, of which there were two or three of great extent, and in the adjoining street, which was also very spacious. They all remained in attendance from morning until night; and when his meals were served, the nobles were likewise served with equal profusion, and their servants and secretaries also had their allowance.”6 Amenability of the population to adoption of Christianity: Cortes described the religious practices of the Aztecs in terms that would almost certainly have resonated with a Catholic monarch. After first establishing his assertive Catholic bona fides (“[In the temples,] in place of these [idols] I put images of Our Lady and the Saints, which excited not a little feeling in Moctezuma and the inhabitants… I answered, through the interpreters, that they were deceived in expecting favors from idols…”7), Cortes described at length the priestly functions of the Aztec nobility in terms that vaguely paralleled those of a European seminarian preparing for the Catholic priesthood. “All these persons dress in black, and never cut or comb their hair from the time they enter the priesthood until they leave it; and all the sons of the principal inhabitants, both nobles and respectable citizens, are placed in the temples and wear the same dress from the age of seven or eight years until they are taken out to be married; which occurs more frequently with the first-born who inherit estates than with the others. The priests are debarred from female society, nor is any woman permitted to enter the religious houses. They also abstain from eating certain kinds of food, more at some seasons of the year than others.”8 Cortes also states that to the extent possible he forbade humans sacrifice as “being abhorrent in the sight of God.”9 I believe that Cortes was tacitly arguing that, given their existing practices, the Aztecs—or, a least, the Aztec nobility—would be amenable to reorganizing their religious functions along Christian lines. In this respect, Cortes was arguably appealing to King Charles’ religious sentiments and, perhaps more important, to those of Charles’ ecclesiastical advisors. Arguing for the legitimacy of establishing Spanish rule in Mexico City: In his letter, Cortes made a seemingly unobtrusive observation about Aztec origins. In the context of his description of Aztec idolatry and human sacrifice, Cortes notes that the Aztec leadership “informed me that they were not the aborigines of the country, but that their ancestors had emigrated to it many years ago; and they fully believed that after so long an absence from their native land, they might have fallen into some errors [of religious practice]…”10 I believe that Cortes had a dual purpose in making this historical reference. First, by their own understanding of their history, the Aztec rulers presumed a right of rule by conquest. Thus, Spanish authorities, in establishing their own prospective rule over Mexico, would be acting just as legitimately as had the Aztecs. (This could also have the effect of undermining any reservations in King Charles’ court concerning the legitimacy of extending Spanish rule in Mexico.) Second, Cortes’ description also tacitly provided the Spanish Court with a religious underpinning (securing the Aztecs who ‘might have fallen into some errors’ from those errors) in support the establishment of Spanish rule. Read More