Hernan Cortez was a Spanish conquistador that was one of the first to successfully pierce Mexico bringing an end to the Aztec empire and paved the way for Spanish colonization of Mexico. As Cortez blazed his path of conquest, he wrote letters to King Charles the V of Spain. This second letter that Cortez wrote to King Charles describes his efforts to keep his men from deserting him and how he managed to divide and conquer the native tribes of Mexico, all in the name of Christianity and the for the King of Spain.
Hernan Cortez’s motivation was in his desire to win favor with King Charles the V and obtain royal favor. While Cortez desired to obtain royal favor, he also truly desired to spread Christianity to the native peoples of Mexico. In this letter, that Cortez writes to the King it is obvious that he feels as if the weight of the fight and the journey is all upon him. In the text, he describes to the King how, “I attacked two towns…”, “I took them by surprise…”, “I left them pacified…” His narrative to King Charles describes a man that has conquered an entire land on his own. He laments to the King that his men wanted to leave him and abandon him. Only at Cortez's urging that God was on Spain's side and that nothing was impossible to God was Cortez able to persuade his men to continue on to complete their conquest. Cortez used the fact that he was doing God’s work as justification to destroy and take what he wanted. He claimed to be doing it for the spread of Christianity and for his king. Cortez was able to conquer and take control of ancient people in their own land. He was able to convince these people that they had brought the killing and torture of their own people upon themselves by not submitting to Christianity immediately.
Much of Cortez’s success was due to the religious beliefs of the time period and the need of countries and peoples to obtain land and wealth. Many people today commit acts in the name of their country and God that are unspeakable and intolerable. To this end, our world is much the same in this day and time in that religion and acquisition of lands drives our behavior in how we treat other peoples.
No comments:
Post a Comment