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The Aztec Empire
Presently there are several Aztec culture written accounts even though the Spanish conquerors primarily wrote them. These accounts still provide significant insights into the Aztec’s beliefs and lifestyle. The Spanish found the complete hugeness of Moctezuma’s power noteworthy, with the great city of Temixtitlan. Cortes’ second letter to Charles v described the city as a noble city with extraordinary and rare objects, Moctezuma’s dominions and government, and the sovereign religious right and customs. Thus, that makes us trust that Cortes highly regarded the Aztec culture compared to his own.
Concerning Aztec culture, Cortes and Diaz both focus on two distinct features about their surrounding, which people may point to their social position. In his letter to Charles V, General Cortes paid more attention to the layout and structures of the famous city. In contrast, Bernal Diaz, in his memoirs, focused on the religion and culture of the Aztecs. Thus, General Cortes’s thoughts were more on the military concerning Temixtitlan layout, in readiness for conquering when the need would arise. Moreover, the written accounts described many things that were observed first-hand by Cortes and Diaz. They illustrate the practices and places in detail as they position themselves in those observations.
The conquest accounts of the Aztec people contrast with the Spanish and Aztec sides, yet are also alike. Similarities are how the Aztec’s conquest occurred, whereas the differences focus on the reasons for the occurrence. This continually happens throughout history among the great wars losers and winners, and will often be the case of an event told by two different parties.
Work Cited
Reilly, S. (2019) The Human Journey; A Concise Introduction to World History Vol 1. The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc.
The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo, excerpts – http://faculty.tnstate.edu/tcorse/h1220revised/memoirs_of_the_bdiaz.html
Hernan Cortés: from Second Letter to Charles V, 1520 – http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1520cortes.asp
Moctezuma’s Greeting to Hernan Cortes (from Cortés’ letter to the King of Spain) -http://web.archive.org/web/20000301012519/http://www.humanities.ccny.cuny.edu/history/reader/cortez.htm
Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico (Chapter 4 of Miguel León-Portilla’s Broken Spears) – https://books.google.com/books?id=Lr11P02iM3MC&pg=PT88&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=falsea>