History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 1/Chapter 14

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

 

CHAPTER XIV.

SUBJUGATION OF CHOLULA.

October, 1519.

Departure from Tlascala — Description of Cholula — The Welcome — Army Quarters in the City — Intimations of a Conspiracy between the Mexicans and Cholultecs — Cortés Asks for Provisions and Warriors — He Holds a Council — Preparations for an Attack — The Lords Enter the Court with the Required Supplies — Cortés Reprimands them in an Address — The Slaughter Begins — Destruction of the City — Butchery and Pillage — Amnesty finally Proclaimed — Xicotencatl Returns to Tlascala — Reconciliation of the Cholultecs and Tlascaltecs — Dedication of a Temple to the Virgin — Reflections on the Massacre of Cholula.

The Spaniards had been three weeks beneath the hospitable roofs of the Tlascaltecs, and now they departed amid expressions of good-will mingled with grief.^[1] A crowd as large as that which had welcomed their arrival followed them for a considerable distance, and this included all the available warriors of the districts,^[2] who would gladly have joined the handful of heroes in their quest for wealth and glory amongst the hated Aztecs. Cortés did not think it well, however, to trammel his movements, or to intrude on his various hosts with too large a force of undisciplined and unmanageable men, whom he had not learned to trust, and only about five thousand were allowed to attach themselves to his army.^[3]

Late in the afternoon the army reached the southern border of Tlascala, and camped by a river two leagues from Cholula. The city stood in a vast fertile plain, so thickly covered with plantations and gardens "that not a span of land remained uncultivated." A network of ditches irrigated the fields wherein maize and agave, cochineal and chile, swelled the resources of the owners. "No city in Spain," exclaims Cortés, "presents a more beautiful exterior, with its even surface and mass of towers," interspersed with charming gardens and fringed with alluring groves. Its six sections were marked by fine, straight streets, lined with buildings, the neatness and substantial appearance of which fully corresponded to the reputed wealth of the occupants. Cortés estimates the number of houses at twenty thousand, with as many more in the suburbs, which implies a population of two hundred thousand.^[4]

Cholula was one of the most ancient settlements in the country, with traditions reaching far back into the misty past. It was here that Quetzalcoatl had left the final impress of his golden age as ruler and prophet, and here that a grateful people had raised to him the grandest of his many temples, erected upon the ruins of a tower of Babel which had been stayed in its growth by divine interference. Notwithstanding the vicissitudes of war, during which the frenzy of the moment had overcome religious scruples to wreak destruction, or during which reckless invaders less imbued with veneration came to desecrate this western Rome, she had maintained herself, ever rising from the ashes with renewed vigor and fresh splendor, and she was at this time the commercial centre for the great Huitzilapan plateau, famous beside for her pottery and delicate fabrics. The warlike Tlascaltecs referred to her contemptuously as a city of cunning and effeminate traders, and there was doubtless a good deal of truth in this; but then her merchants rivalled those of Mexico in wealth, while her citizens were not behind the dwellers on the lake in refinement.

But the chief renown of Cholula consisted in being the holy city of Anáhuac, unequalled for the frequency and pomp of her festivals and sacred pageantry; in being the religious centre for countless pilgrims who journeyed from afar to worship at the shrines here maintained, not only by the citizens, but by princes of different countries. Her temples were estimated to equal the number of days in the year, and as some possessed more than one chapel, fully four hundred towers rose to bewilder the eye with their gleaming ornamentation. Chief among them was the semispherical temple, with its vestal fire, devoted to Quetzalcoatl, which stood upon a quadrilateral mound of nearly two hundred feet in height, ascended by one hundred and twenty steps, and with a larger base than any old-world pyramid.^[5]

The government was aristocratic republican, directed by a council of six nobles, elected in the six wards. At their head sat two supreme magistrates, the tlachiach and aquiach, chosen respectively from the priesthood and nobility, and corresponding to pontiff and captaingeneral,^[6] the latter office held at this time by Tecuanhuchuetzin.^[7]

At the command of these chiefs a number of Cholultec nobles appeared at the camp to offer welcome and to bring provisions.^[8] In the morning the army advanced toward the city and was met by a crowd of fully ten thousand people, preceded by a stately procession, at the head of which appeared the lords. They showed themselves most obsequious, but requested that the Tlascaltecs, as their enemies, should not be allowed to enter the city, and Cortés accordingly persuaded these warriors to camp outside. Some of their carriers alone entered with the Cempoalans and Spaniards to receive a share in the proffered hospitality. If the troops found no arches and floral festoons, as at Tlascala, to honor them, nor the same jubilant shouts of welcome, they were at least heralded by clashing music, and dense crowds of spectators lined the streets and roofs, while priests in white robes went chanting by their side, swinging the censers whence the copal rose to shed a halo on the heroes. Cortés was struck with the superior quality and quantity of dresses worn, the higher classes being noticeable in their embroidered mantles, not unlike the Moorish cloak. He also observed that beggars abounded, as they did in "Spain and other parts inhabited by civilized people."

The courts of one of the temples^[9] were offered as quarters for the army, and presently servants appeared with provisions, which, if not abundant, were at least good.^[10] Cortés did not omit to vaunt the grandeur of his king and to impress the advantages of the true faith, but although the lords bowed admission to the first they held firmly to their idols. The following day they failed to appear, and the supply of food dwindled perceptibly, while none was furnished on the third day, the populace even appearing to avoid the Spanish quarters. Cortés sent to remind the chiefs of their neglect, but received only the scantiest provisions, with the excuse that the stock was nearly exhausted.^[11]

The same day came envoys from Montezuma, unprovided with the usual presents, who, after some words with the confrères acting as guides to the Spaniards, represented that to proceed to Mexico would be useless, since the roads were impassable and the food supply insufficient.^[12] Finding that these and other statements had no effect on Cortés, they left, taking with them the leading envoy stationed with the Spaniards.^[13] 13 All this was far from reassuring, taken in connection with the warning of the Tlascaltecs still ringing in their ears, and with the report brought by Cempoalans of barricades, of stone piles upon the roofs, and of excavations in the main street set with pointed sticks and loosely covered over.^[14]

Now came messengers from the allied camp to announce that women and children had been leaving the city with their effects, and that unusual preparations seemed to be going on. Scarcely had this set Cortés pondering when Marina appeared with the still more startling information that a native woman of rank, won by her beauty and evident wealth no doubt, had just been urging her in a most mysterious manner to transfer herself and her effects to the house of the woman, where she should be married to her son.^[15] By expressing gratitude and pretending acquiescence, Marina elicited that envoys had been coming and going between Mexico and Cholula for some time, and that Montezuma had prevailed on the chiefs, by means of bribes and promises,^[16] to attack the Spaniards that very night or in the morning. Aztec troops were stationed close to the city, to the number of twenty or even fifty thousand, to aid in the work and to carry the Mexican share of the captives to their capital.^[17] Cortés at once secured the communicative woman, who was awaiting the return of Marina with her valuables, and ascertained further that the covered excavations, the stone piles, and the barricades were no fiction.

He also secured two apparently friendly priests,^[18] and by bribing them with chalchiuite stones, and showing that he was aware of the plot, obtained a revelation which agreed substantially with the account already given. It appeared that Montezuma had proposed to quarter his troops in the city, but this the lords had objected to, fearing that once within the walls the Aztecs would retain possession.^[19] The Cholultecs intended to do the deed themselves, and it was only in case the Spaniards left the city, or escaped, that the confederate Aztecs were to take an active part.

Only three of the wards had consented to share in the treachery,^[20] and the priests of the others had that very day sacrificed ten children^[21] to the god of war, and received assurances of victory. So confident were they of securing the encaged guests that ropes and stakes had been prepared to bind the captives.

Cortés called his counsellors, and placing before them the state of affairs asked their views. A few of the more cautious advised retreat to Tlascala, whose friendly hospitality seemed alluring. Others suggested an immediate departure by way of the friendly Huexotzinco, while the majority inclined to a prompt and effective chastisement of the treachery as a warning to others. This was what Cortés had determined upon. He showed them how well the arrangement of the courts would answer for the plan he had evolved, and how strong they were in case of a siege.

Summoning the lords, he expressed his displeasure at the inconsiderate treatment received, and said that he would rid them of his presence on the morrow. He reminded them of the allegiance they had tendered, and declared that if loyal they would be rewarded; if not, punishment would follow. Finally he demanded provisions for the journey, and two thousand warriors, beside carriers, to accompany the army.^[22] This appeared to suit their plans, for they exchanged a look of intelligence, and at once promised compliance, protesting at the same time their devotion. "What need have these of food," they muttered with a laugh, "when they themselves are soon to be eaten cooked with chile?"^[23] That very night preparations were made, the Spaniards planting guns at the approaches to the streets and courts, looking to the horses and accoutrements, and sending a message to the Tlascaltecs to enter the city and join them on hearing the first shot.

In the morning, so early indeed as to indicate a decided eagerness, came the lords and leading priests, with an immense throng. A force even larger than had been demanded followed them into the Spanish quarter, and was allowed to file into the court, which was commanded at all points by the soldiers and the cannon, the latter as yet innocent-looking instruments to the Cholultecs.^[24] The lords and leading men, to the number of thirty or forty, were invited to Cortes' rooms to receive his farewell. He addressed them in a severe tone, in the presence of the Aztec envoys, representing that he had sought to win their friendship for himself and their adhesion for his king, and to further this he had treated them with every consideration. They had withheld the necessary supplies, yet he had respected their property and persons, and for their sake he had left his stanch allies outside the city. In return for this they had, under the mask of friendship, plotted against the lives of his party, the invited guests of themselves and of Montezuma, with the intention of assassinating them. But they had been caught in their own trap. The amazement of the chiefs deepened into terror as he concluded. "Surely it is a god that speaks," they murmured, "since he reads our very thoughts." On the impulse of the moment they admitted their guilt, but cast the blame on Montezuma. This, rejoined Cortes, did not justify treachery, and the excuse should avail them naught. The lords who had been opposed to the plot, and a few others less guilty or less responsible chiefs and priests, were now taken aside, and from them further particulars were obtained, which implicated the Mexicans only the more.

Returning to the envoys, who protested that their emperor was wholly blameless, he reassured them by saying that he believed not a word of the accusation. Montezuma was too great a prince, he continued, to stoop to şuch baseness, and had beside, by means of presents and messages, shown himself to be his friend. The Cholultecs should suffer the penalty not only of their treason but of their falsehood. The fact was that it did not suit Cortés to quarrel with Montezuma for the present, but rather to lull him into fancied security.^[25] A terrible punishment was now in store for the Cholultecs.

The signal being given, volleys poured from cannon, arquebuses, and cross-bows upon the warriors confined in the court, and then the Spaniards rushed in with sword and lance thrusting and slashing at the packed masses. The high walls permitted no escape, and at the gates gleamed a line of lances above the smoking mouths of the guns. Pressing one upon another, the victims offered only a better mark for the ruthless slayers, and fell in heaps, dead and dying intermingled, while many were trampled underfoot. Not one of those who had entered the court remained standing. Among the slain were the captain-general and the most inimical of the lords and leading men.^[26]

Meanwhile other guns had belched destruction along the approaches from the streets, as the crowd rushed forward in response to the cries and groans of their butchered friends. Terrified by the fiery thunder and its mysterious missiles, they fell back; and now the cavalry charged, trampling them underfoot, and opening a way for the infantry and.allies, who pressed onward to take advantage of the confusion and to repeat the scene enacted within. Panicstricken as the natives were by the strange arms and tactics of the Spaniards, they offered little or no resistance, though armed with intent to attack. Being also without leaders, they had none to restrain their flight, but pressed one on the other, down the streets and into buildings, anywhere out of the reach of the cutting blades and fierce-tramping horses. The Tlascaltecs^[27] were at the same time falling on their flanks, glorying in the opportunity to repay their enenies the treachery of years ago. A bloody track they left. Unprepared for such an onslaught the people of Cholula found little opportunity to make use of the barricades and the stone piles, and where they attempted it the fire-arm and cross-bow aided the fire-brand. The strongest resistance was met at the temples, wherein the fugitives mostly gathered, but even these did not hold out long, for stones and arrows availed little against armor.

All who could sought to gain the great temple of Quetzalcoatl, which offered not only the best defence from its height, but was held to be impregnable through the special protection extended over it by the deity. Within its walls lay confined a mighty stream, so it was said, which by the removal of a few stones could be let loose to overwhelm invaders. Now, if ever, in the name of all the gods, let it be done! Reverently were removed, one by one, the stones of the sacred wall, but no flood appeared, not even a drop of water. In their despair the besieged hastened to hurl the stones, and arrows, and darts^[28] upon the enemy as they climbed the sides of the pyramid. But there was little use in this. Quickly they were driven by the sword from the platform into the chapel tower. Not caring to lose time in a siege, the Spaniards offered them their lives. One alone is said to have surrendered. The rest, inspired by the presence of the idols, spat defiance. It was their last effort, for the next moment the torch was applied, and enfolding the building, the flames drove the besieged, frenzied with terror and excitement, upon the line of pikes inclosing them, or head-foremost down the dizzy heights. To the last could be seen a priest upon the highest pinnacle, enveloped in smoke and glare, declaiming against the idols for having abandoned them, and shouting: "Now, Tlascala, thy heart has its revenge! Speedily shall Montezuma have his!"^[29]

During the first two hours of the slaughter over three thousand men perished, if we may believe Cortés, and for three hours more he continued the carnage, raising the number of deaths according to different estimates to six thousand or more.^[30] The loss of life would have been still greater but for the strict orders issued to spare the women and children, and also the less hostile wards,^[31] and for the eagerness of the Tlascaltecs to secure captives as well as spoils, and of the Spaniards to hunt for treasures. The hostile wards had besides been pretty well cleared of inhabitants by the time Cortés returned to his quarters forbidding further butchery. When the amnesty was proclaimed, however, numbers appeared from hiding-places, even from beneath the heaps of slain, while many who had pretended death, to escape the sword, arose and fled.

The pillage was continued for some time longer,^[32] and as the Tlascaltecs cared chiefly for fabrics, feathers, and provisions, particularly salt, the Spaniards were allowed to secure all the gold and trinkets they could, though these were far less in amount than had been expected.^[33] When the real work was over, Xicotencatl appeared with twenty thousand men and tendered his services; but Cortés could offer him only a share in the booty for his attention, and with this he returned to Tlascala to celebrate the downfall of the hated and boastful neighbor.^[34]

The prayers of the chiefs who had been spared, supported by the neighboring caciques, and even by the Tlascalan lords, prevailed on Cortés to stop the pillage after the second day, and to issue a pardon, although not till everything of value had been secured. Some of the chiefs were thereupon sent forth to recall the fugitive inhabitants, and with such good effect that within a few days the city was again peopled. The débris and gore being removed, the streets speedily resumed their accustomed appearance, and the shops and markets were busy as before, though blackened ruins and desolated homes long remained a testimony of the fearful blow.^[35] Impressed no less by the supposed divine penetration of the white conquerors than by their irresistible prowess and terrible revenge, the natives were only too ready to kiss with veneration the hand red with the blood of their kindred. To this they were also impelled by finding that the Spaniards not only allowed no sacrifice of captives, but ordered the Tlascaltecs to release the prisoners they had hoped to carry into slavery. This was a most trying requirement to the allies, but at the instance of Maxixcatzin and other lords they obeyed in so far as to restore the greater proportion of the thousands who had been secured.

The intervention of the Tlascaltec lords and chiefs in behalf of the Cholultecs tended to promote a more friendly feeling between the two peoples, particularly since the one had been satiated with revenge and the other humbled, and Cortés took advantage of this to formally reconcile them. Whatever may have been their sincerity in the matter, they certainly found no opportunity to renew their feud.

The captain-general having fallen, the people, with Cortés' approval, chose a successor from the ranks of the friendly chiefs.^[36] Cortés assured them of his good-will and protection so long as they remained the loyal subjects they now promised to be, and he hoped that nothing would occur hereafter to mar their friendly intercourse. He explained to them the mysteries of his faith, and its superiority over the superstitious worship of the idols which had played them false during the late conflict, counselling them to cast aside such images, and let their place be occupied by the redeeming emblems of Christianity. The terrified natives could only promise obedience, and hasten to aid in erecting crosses, but the idols nevertheless retained their places. Cortés was quite prepared to take advantage of his power as conqueror to compel the acceptance of his doctrines by the now humbled people, but Padre Olmedo representing the futility of enforced conversion, he contented himself with breaking the sacrificial cages and forbidding the offering of human victims. As it was, idolatry had suffered a heavy blow in this terrible chastisement of the holy city, rich as she was in her sanctuaries and profound in her devotion. The gods had proved powerless! Although a number of temples were speedily restored to their worship, the great pyramid was never again to be graced by pagan rites. Twice had this temple shared in the destruction of the city, only to rise more beautiful than ever in its delusive attractions; now a simple stone cross stood upon the summit, erected by Cortés, to guard the site on behalf of the church which was there to rise a few years later. This was dedicated to the Vírgen de los Remedios, whose image is said to have been left in the city by her conquerors.^[37]

 

The massacre of Cholula forms one of the darkest pages in the annals of the conquest, and has afforded much ground for reproach against Cortés, but it is to be regarded from different stand-points. The diabolical doctrines of the day may be said to have forced on adventurers in America the conquest of her nations, and cruel deeds were but the natural result, particularly when the task was undertaken with insufficient forces. According to their own admission, made also before the later investigating committee, the Cholultecs had plotted to destroy their invited guests, whom they sought first to lull into fancied security, and in this they acted as treacherously and plotted as cruelly as did their intended victims in retaliating. True, they had been forced by threats, and by the exhibition of an apparently superior force, into a submission which they could ill brook, and were justified in striking a blow for liberty, especially when encouraged, or bidden, by the great monarch; but they had no right to complain if they suffered the penalty everywhere affixed to treachery; and the Cholultecs did bear an unenviable reputation in this respect. The native records naturally assert their innocence; but even if we ignore the confession of the Indians, as prompted by fear of their judges and masters, or as colored by Franciscans whose patron Cortés was, and if we disregard all official testimony, we must still admit that there was evidence enough to justify the general in a measure which he regarded as necessary for the safety of his men.^[38]

It might be claimed that by holding captive the chiefs their safety would have been assured; but treason was rife everywhere, and a lesson was needed. Here among the greatest plotters, and in the holy city, the lesson would be most effective. It might also be claimed that the chiefs were the guilty ones, and should alone have suffered, not the citizens and soldiers; but they were also in arms, even if subordinate, and such discrimination is not observed in our own age.

Outrages equally as cruel are to-day exculpated throughout Christendom as exigencies of war. If we, then, overlook such deeds, how much more excusable are they in the more bloody times of Cortés? But neither now nor then can war, with any of its attendant atrocities, be regarded by right-thinking, humane men as aught but beastly, horrible, diabolical.

 

 

1. 'Hiço sacrificar treynta muchachos el dia. que se partieron.' Oviedo, iii. 497.
2. Estimated by Cortés at a round 100,000. Others say he was offered 10,000 to 20,000 men.
3. This is the figure deduced from later references. 'Quedaron en mi compañia hasta cinco ó seis mil.' Cortés, Cartas, 72. Dismissing the 100,000 with presents, he retained only 3000. 'Por no ponerse en manos de gente barbara.' Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. i. 'Six thousand warriors,' says Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 294. He gives the names of their chiefs, which differ wholly from those mentioned in Camargo, Hist. Tlax., 160. Fueron tàbien con el muchos mercaderes a rescatar sal y mantas.' Gomara, Hist. Mex., 91.
4. Cartas, 71-5. 'En el tiempo de la guerra salian en campo ochenta ó noveata mill hombres de guerra.' Oviedo, iii. 498. Ultra triginta millia familiarum capiebat.' Las Casas, Regio. Ind. Devastat., 23. 'Parecio. . . .en el assiento, y prospetiua a Valladolid.' Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. i.
5. See Native Races, iii. iv.
6. Native Races, v. 264; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., 160. 'Gouernauase por vn capitan general, cligido por la republica, con el consejo de seys nobles, assistian en el sacerdotes.' Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. ii. Gomara mentions only a captain-general or governor. Hist. Mex., 95. Torquemada gives the city four lords, who divided between them the territory. ii. 350-1. The government appears to have undergone several changes since the age of Quetzalcoatl, and at one period four nobles appear to have represented the wards, but these increased in course of time to six, and the council appears also to have been increased by the attendance of other priests beside the pontiff.
7. Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., 100, 107-8. For history and description of city and temples, see Native Races, ii.-v.
8. From a vague reference in Camargo, Brasseur de Bourbourg assumes that this party is headed by the three counsellors least friendly to the Spaniards. A little later the other three come to Cortés for protection, after escaping from the imprisonment imposed upon them by their colleagues. Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 174. Herrera places the arrival of the refugees at Tlascala. dec. ii. lib. vi. cap. xviii. But there appears to be no ground for these statements.
9. Del gran Cú de Quetzalcoatl.' Sahagun, Hist. Conq., 18.
10. Les dieron aquella noche a cada vno vn gallipauo.' Gomara, Hist. Mex., 92.
11. 'Lo que traian era agua, y leña,' says Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 58.
12. Do Muteczuma estaba habia mucho número de leones é tigres é otras fieras, é que cada que Muteczuma quirie las hacie soltar, é bastaban para comernos é despedazarnos.' Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 574; Gomara, Hist. Мех., 92.
13. Cortés told them to wait, for he would start for Mexico on the following day, and they promised to do so, says Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 58.
14. On his entry into the city Cortés also observed suspicious features. 'Algunas calles de la ciudad tapiadas, y muchas piedras en todas las azoteas.' Cartas, 72.
15. 'Hermano de otro moço que traia la vieja que la aconpañaua.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 59. This is probably the young man who, according to Peter Martyr, reveals the plot to Aguilar. A 'Cempoal maiden' was also warned by a Cholultec woman. dec. v. cap. ii.
16. 'Dieron al capitan-general vn atambor de oro.' Gomara. Hist. Mex., 92. This official was the husband of the old woman. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 59.
17. 'Auian de quedar veinte de nosotros para sacrificar á los idolos de Cholula.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 59. Others say half the captives.
18. Marina won them over. Id. 'Dos que andauan muy solicitos.' Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. i. Brasseur de Bourbourg supposes that the friendly chiefs were those who gave the first intimation of the plot, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 174, and it is not unlikely that they did warn the Spaniards
19. Oviedo regards the Cholultecs as having rebelled against Montezuma. iii. 498. But they stood rather in the position of allies. See Native Races, v. Bernal Diaz assumes that half the Aztec troops were admitted.
20. Los Mexicanos . . . . trataron con los Señores de los Tres Barrios.' Torquemada i. 438. Herrera has been even more explicit, and Bernal Diaz confirms this in several places, without specifying the number. 'Otros barrios, que no se hallaron en las traiciones.' Hist. Verdad., 60.
21. Three years old, half males, half females. Herrera, dec. ii. lib, vii. cap. ii. Oviedo supposes the females to be young virgins. iii. 498. Bernal Diaz says five children and two other persons.
22. Most authors, following Gomara and Herrera, assume that only carriers were asked for, but Diaz writes warriors, and correctly, no doubt, since it could not be Cortés' plan or desire to wreak vengeance on helpless carriers, but rather on the very men who proposed to attack him. According to Tapia, followed by Gomara, Cortés upbraids the lords for lying and plotting, but they assure him of their loyalty. Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 575. It is not likely that he would have roused suspicion by such language.
23. Aguilar que los oya hablar.' Oviedo, iii. 498.
24. Picked warriors were brought, pretending to be slaves and carriers. Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 575. 'Cõ hamacas para lleuar los Españoles.' Gomara, Hist. Mex., 93.
25. According to Bernal Diaz the envoys are told of this on the preceding evening, and are thereupon placed under guard. Hist. Verdad., 59.
26. Tapia states that most of the lords and chiefs whom Cortés addressed were killed. Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 575. 'Some of them,' say Ixtlilxochitl and Gomara, while Clavigero, Brasseur de Bourbourg, and others suppose that all these leaders were pardoned, which is not likely, since so many less guilty men fell. 'El que solia mădar, fue vno de los que murieron en el patio.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 60. He intimates that the real carriers were allowed to leave the court, the warriors alone being detained for slaughter. The two friendly priests were sent home to be out of harm's way. This leads to the supposition that all the rest of the leading men fell. 'Los otros señores naturales todos murieron.' Oviedo, iii. 499.
27. Wearing crowns of rushes to be distinguished from their enemies. Camargo, Hist. Tlax., 164.
28. Zamacois enters into an elaborate argument to disprove the unimportant statement that burning arrows were showered on the besiegers. Hist. Méj., ii. 707. This author has a decided faculty for singling out trifles, apparently under the impression that important questions can take care of themselves.
29. Camargo, Hist. Tlax., 163-4; Torquemada, i. 440. 'Se dejaron allí quemar.' Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 576.
30. Cortés, Cartas, 73-4; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 94; 6000 and more within two hours. Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 294. Las Casas lets him first kill 6000 unarmed carriers and then proceed to devastate the city. Regio. Ind. Devastat., 27.
31. 'Eché toda la gente fuera de la ciudad por muchas partes della.' Cortés, Cartas, 74. The statement of Bernal Diaz that the friendly priests were sent home, to be out of harm's way, shows also that parts of the city were respected. See notes 17 and 23. 'El marques mandaba que se guardasen de no matar mujeres ni niños.' Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 576.
32. For two days, says Tapia, id., and Bernal Diaz intimates that it ended with the second day. Hist. Verdad., 60.
33. 'Tomaron los Castellanos el oro, y pluma, aūque se hallò poco.' Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. ii. 'Ovo mucho despojo de oro é plata,' says Oviedo, iii. 499, probably because he knew Cholula to be rich; but a great deal of private treasure at least must have been taken out of the city when the women were sent away. The Tlascaltecs carried off 20,000 captives, he adds.
34. Herrera, ubi sup. Oviedo allows a reinforcement of 40,000 Tlascaltecs to join in the massacre and pillage, iii. 498, and Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 60, says the late comers joined in the pillage on the second day. The Tlascaltecs brought the Spaniards food, of which they had fallen short. Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 295.
35. A very similar massacre and raid was perpetrated by the Chichimec-Toltecs at the close of the thirteenth century. Native Races, v. 484-7.
36. Gomara, Hist. Mex., 95. Finding that the brother of the deceased was, according to custom, entitled to the office, Cortés appointed him. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 60. Oviedo intimates that one governor was chosen to take the place of all the other ruling men. iii. 499.
37. It is also said 'que la trajo un religioso franciscano á quien se le apareció en Roma.' Veytia, Hist. Ant. Méj., i. 156. 'Disgusted with the idol which had played them false, they installed another in its place,' says Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 61. The disregard shown by Spaniards even for the temples and relics of Quetzalcoatl might have struck the natives as peculiar in men whom rumor pointed out as his descendants, yet no chronicle refers to it.
38. Spanish chroniclers as a rule approve the deed as necessary and just, either in tacit or open comment, and a few devout missionaries, who have assumed the rank of Indian apostles, are the only ones to take exception. Chief among these stands Las Casas, as might be expected from his sympathy with Velazquez, and from his character as Indian protector. He condemns it in the most unmeasured terms as a base murder of innocent and defenceless people, committed merely with a view to spread terror. Six thousand carriers, he writes, were shut up in a court and put to the sword, while the many discovered alive on the following days were thrust through and through. The chiefs of the city and neighborhood, to the number of over 100, were chained together to a circle of poles and burned alive, and the king, who fled with 30 or 40 followers to a temple, met the same fate there. While the soldiers were butchering and roasting the captives, 'eorum Capitaneum summa lætitia perfusum in hunc cantum prorupisse:
     

    Monte ex Tarpeio Romana incendia spectans
    Ipse Nero planctus vidit, nec corde movetur.'

    Las Casas, Reg. Ind. Devastat., 26-8. A number of finely executed copper plates are appended to illustrate these deeds.   Bernal Diaz expresses himself hotly against this version, and states that several of the first Franciscans who came to Mexico held an investigation at Cholula of the massacre. After examining the leaders, and other persons who had witnessed it, they came to the conclusion that the story of the conquerors was true, and that the slaughter was a well merited punishment for a plot which involved the lives of Cortés' soldiers, and would, if successful, have stayed the conquest for God and the king. Diaz had heard the pious Motolinia say that although he grieved over the deed, yet, being done, it was best so, since it exposed the lies and wickedness of the idols. Hist. Verdad., 61. The Franciscans did not probably care to weigh carefully the value of testimony from new converts given before a tribunal composed of their religious and political masters, nor were they likely to favor a Dominican friar like Las Casas when the interest of their patron Cortés was at stake. In awe of the friars, and in terror of the conquerors whose encomienda slaves they were, the Indians hardly dared to say aught to implicate the latter. This is doubtless the view Las Casas would have taken. Intent on pleading the cause of his dusky protégés, he cared not to sift statements that might create sympathy for them. Yet, had he foreseen how widely his accusations would be used to sully Spanish fame, he might have been more circumspect. 'E' vero, che fu troppo rigorosa la vendetta, ed orribile la strage,' says Clavigero; yet he severely condemns Las Casas for his distorted account. Storia Mess., iii. 63-4. According to Sahagun's native record, the Tlascaltecs persuaded Cortés to avenge them on the Cholultecs, and as the latter received him coldly, he began to believe the accusations of his allies. Assembling the chiefs and soldiers, together with citizens, in the temple court, he slaughtered them, defenceless as they were. Hist. Conq., 18. Bustamante comments on this version, and denounces the conquerors as atrociously cruel. Id. (ed. 1840), 56-63. Duran's version is a little milder. His main object being to give the life of Montezuma, he has passed by many events connected with the Spaniards, and has suppressed many accounts of their cruelties. He accordingly refers but briefly to the Cholula massacre, saying that 'the Indians, in their eagerness to serve the Spaniards, came in such large numbers to their quarters with provisions, grass, etc., that Cortés suspected treasonable designs, and put them to the sword.' Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 438-9. Ixtlilxochitl evidently struggles between his fear of the Spanish rulers and the desire to tell what he regards as the truth. He intimates that the only ground for suspicion against the Cholultecs was the effort to dissuade Cortés from going to Mexico. The chiefs and the citizens were assembled on the pretence of selecting carriers, and over 5000 fell beneath the sword. Hist. Chich., 294. An antagonistic view of the affair is offered by Juan Cano, of Narvaez' expedition, who gave Oviedo the hearsay statement that Cortés had asked for 3000 carriers, and wantonly killed them. iii. 552. Carbajal Espinosa, a Mexican historian, like Bustamante, regards the victims as innocent and the deed as barbarous. Hist. Mex., ii. 182. Robertson considers that Cortés had good reasons for it, yet 'the punishment was certainly excessive and atrocious.' Hist. Am., ii. 452. Solis condemns those who seek to accuse the Spaniards of cruelty and to pity the Indians — 'maligna compasion, hija del odio y de la envidia.' The conquerors gave religion to them, and that he regards as sufficient compensation. Hist. Mex., i. 345. 'Cortez felt but doubtful of their fidelity, and feared to leave his rear to a people who might ruin his enterprise,' says Wilson, Conq., Mex., 383, in explanation of the motive; but he forgets that a few hostages, as taken from other peoples on the route, would have secured Cortés far more than the murder of a small percentage of this population. Prescott compares the deed with European cruelties, and, considering the danger threatening the Spaniards, he excuses it. He prefaces his comments by a consideration of the right of conquest. Mex., ii. 29-39. Alas for honesty, humanity, decency, when talented American authors talk of the right of one people to rob and murder another people! See also Veytia, Hist. Ant. Méj., iii. 381-2; Pizarro y Orellano, Varones Ilvstres, 86-9; Peralta, Not. Hist., 112-13, 313-14; Pimentel, Mem. Sit., 90-2. Although some of the early Dutch writers eagerly copy and even exaggerate Las Casas' version, the contemporary German writers are quite moderate. Cortés' version is given in the Weltbuch Spiegel und bildtnis des gantzen Erdtbodens von Sebastiano Franco Wördensi, Tübingen, 1534, ccxxxvii leaves, beside preface and register. This book was much sought after in its day, and received several editions, in German and Dutch, as late as the seventeenth century. The earliest mentioned by Harrisse is dated 1533. The new continent was gradually receiving a larger space in the cosmographies at this period, and Franck actually assigns it a whole section, as one of the four parts of the world. The historic and geographic description of Africa occupies the first and smallest section; Europe follows and absorbs about half the pages, while Asia receives 100 folios, and America the remainder, beginning at folio 210. The heading reads: Von America dem vierdten teyl der welt, Anno M.CCCC.XCVII. erfunden; but after this chapter follow several pages on Portuguese discoveries in Africa and eastward, till folio 220, when begins the voyage of Columbus, 'sunst Dauber genant,' the German translation of the admiral's name. After several chapters on the physical features, natural resources, and inhabitants of the new discoveries, comes one relating how Americus Vespucius found the fourth part of the world. This is followed by three pages of matter on Asia, as if the author, fearful of forgetting it, there and then gave his story. Several interpolations occur, but the chief portion of the remaining folios relates to Cortés' conquest of Mexico. The carelessly compiled and badly arranged material of the volume claims to be based on over sixty authorities, among which figure Apianus, Munster, Vespucci, Columbus, and Cortés. The affix Wördensi indicates that Franck was a Hollander, although he is often referred to as a German, probably because his life was passed chiefly in Germany. Here he issued, among other works, a not very orthodox chronicle, which was excommunicated at Strasburg. Franck was chased from more than one place, but enjoys the honor of standing in the first class among authors condemned by the Roman Church, and of having been deemed worthy of special refutation by Luther and Melancthon. Even the liberal-minded Bayle, after applying the term Anabaptist, refers to him as 'un vrai fanatique.' Dict. Hist., ii. 1216.