The Handy Military History Answer Book. Samuel Willard Crompton
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them into his followers. On every occasion, he gained Indian allies among those who disliked Aztec rule. Very few people of our time admire or like Cortés—he is in some ways the archetypical Western conqueror of native peoples—but his audacity and skill were, at times, simply breathtaking.
Is it true that the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice?
Yes. The Spaniards may have exaggerated the numbers, but there is no doubt that the Aztec priests regularly killed hostages—young people especially—on the steps of the magnificent temple in the center of Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs believed that the world was on a fifty-two-year calendar (not fifty-two weeks) and that these sacrifices were necessary to persuade the gods and goddesses “to “renew” the world at the end of each of these cycles.
What was the “Night of Sorrows”?
In June 1520, the Aztecs rose in fury against the Spaniards and their allies. Montezuma was dead by this time: whether by the hand of the Spaniards or by his own people remains uncertain. Cortés led his army out of Tenochtitlan on the evening of June 30, 1520, fighting the Aztecs all along the causeway that bridged the two islands. The fighting was fierce, and much of the treasure he had obtained fell into the water. Beyond this, however, Cortés suffered more than 1,000 men killed and wounded during the Night of Sorrows.
If the Aztecs believed that this was it, they were sadly mistaken. Recruiting still more Indian allies, Cortés spent the next nine months in the mountains on the east side of the Lake of Mexico, and when he returned in the spring of 1521, he had small ships. Mounted on rollers, these ships slid down the mountains and into the lake. What followed was an intense, extremely bloody fight for the city itself.
How many people died during the Siege of Tenochtitlan?
The seventy-five-day siege lasted through much of the summer of 1521, and when it was over both the city and the Aztec nation lay in ruins. Cortés did not attempt an accurate account of the killed and wounded, but we suspect it was close to 100,000. Spanish steel was so superior to the obsidian in Aztec knives that a well-armed Spaniard could, indeed, kill up to ten of his enemies without taking a serious wound himself.
Montezuma II was the leader of the Aztecs at the time of Cortés’ arrival. He died of uncertain causes before the Siege of Tenochtitlan.
How much treasure did Cortés and his friends find?
Much to their surprise, the Spaniards found that the Aztec valued gold less than they valued turquoise, the most prized of all their possessions. Over time, Cortés and those who followed him discovered that Mexico possessed vast quantities of silver. Indian laborers dug in the earth and brought out the raw silver, which Spaniards refined and then sent across the ocean.
One hundred thousand people killed and wounded meant that the cream of the Aztec nation was gone. Cortés soon established a new Spanish colony, which he called New Spain. His cause was assisted by the fact that Roman Catholicism—especially the veneration of the Virgin Mary—was both liked and applauded by many Native Americans. Within a generation or two, the conquest was complete. Mexico had become part of Spain.
What happened to Cortés and Malinali?
She bore him a son, and they seemed like a good couple. Whenever native people condoled Malinali on the change in her circumstances, she resolutely told them that it was all God’s will, that it was a great blessing to have converted to Roman Catholicism. Whether she and Cortés would have stayed together is unknown because she contracted smallpox and died at the age of twenty-four or twenty-five. Their son moved to Spain, where he lived the life of a nobleman.
Who was the first person to go completely around the globe?
Magellan (c. 1480–1521) usually gets the credit because he conceived the idea and led the expedition until his death in 1521. The Spaniard Juan Sebastián Elcano (1476–1526) actually completed the voyage, however, arriving in Spain in September 1522.
What type of frustrations and delays did Magellan experience?
The list is very long. Not only did many of the Spanish sailors distrust him because he was Portuguese, but several of the ship captains wanted to overthrow him and return to Spain. Magellan put down not one but two mutinies even before he located the famous strait that now bears his name. Emerging from that strait, he crossed the Pacific, landing in Guam during the spring of 1521. To this point, Magellan had done nearly everything “right,” but he overreached himself by joining one Philippine tribe to fight another. In the battle that ensued, Magellan died on a lonely beach, with many of his men fleeing to the ships.
Magellan had started the voyage with five ships, but these were reduced to two by the time of his death. Juan Sebastian Elcano was elected the new leader of the expedition. He brought the two remaining ships to the Spice Islands, where the Spaniards crammed them with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, the spices that had been the motivation for the voyage in the first place. Elcano then led two ships from the Spice Islands, but one was captured by the Portuguese. Elcano and seventeen other ragged survivors arrived in Spain in September 1522. They were the first people to go completely around the world and to prove, beyond a doubt, that Columbus had been correct. The way to reach the spices of the East was to sail west, but it took much longer than Columbus—or anyone else—had anticipated.
What was the great monarchical rivalry of the early sixteenth century?
One can point to several intense rivalries, including that between the king of England and the king of Scotland, but the largest and greatest of them was the rivalry between Emperor Charles V of Spain and King Francis I of France.
Charles V was Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain. Thanks to Cortés’ efforts, he was now ruler, as well, of Spanish Mexico. The present was bright, and the future looked even brighter. Charles V had one great foe, however. King Francis I of France (ruled 1515–1547) was raised, from his earliest days, to look on Charles V as a deadly foe, and the two kings spent many years fighting one another, sometimes clandestinely and sometimes in the open. Both monarchs made occasional use of the king of England—who had his own reasons and motivations—as an ally.
Why do we usually think of King Henry VIII as a buffoon?
Because during the course of his long reign, he became one. Early in his reign, however, Henry VIII was athletic, skillful, and passably good looking (this changed over the years, thanks to his enormous appetite).
Although Magellan did not complete his voyage around the globe (he was killed by native people in the Philippines in 1521), he is credited with the first circumnavigation of the globe.
In watching the rivalry between Emperor Charles V and King Francis I, Henry VIII usually sided with the emperor, who was the nephew of his first wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536). Henry was eager to play a larger role in Continental politics, and in the spring of 1520, he planned to meet Francis I at a special extravaganza in what is now Belgium, the Field of Cloth of Gold. Before he could do so, however, Henry learned that the Emperor Charles also wished to meet with him. The “summit” meetings between these three men, therefore, became the talk of Europe in 1520.
Who met at Canterbury in June 1520?
Henry VIII waited anxiously along the coast, while Charles V’s ships made their way from Spain. When Charles came ashore, he and Henry rode together on the short but memorable way to Canterbury Cathedral, where they celebrated Pentecost Sunday (known in England as Whitsun Sunday). Henry and Charles kept these conversations to marital and familial matters, but both were well aware that Henry was soon to meet Francis.
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