History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 2/Chapter 23

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

 

CHAPTER XXIII.

DEATH OF CORTÉS.

1540-1547.

Departure of Cortes for Spain — His Arrival and Reception — Hollow Show — Vain Hopes — He Joins the Expedition to Algiers — And Suffers Shipwreck — Loss of the Famous Emeralds — He is Slighted at a Council of War — Return to Madrid — A Fruitless Petition — More Indignities — Last Touching Appeal — Determination to Return to Mexico — Last Illness and Death of the Conqueror — Disposition of the Remains — His Last Will — The Estate — The Descendants of Cortés — Résumé of his Character.

We have seen as the settled policy of Spain that the greatest discoverers and conquerors must not be allowed permanent or hereditary rule. The viler sort, like Pedrarias and Velazquez, were the safer instruments of royalty; while the claims of the noble and chivalrous, Columbus, Balboa, and Cortés, whose services were too great for convenient recompense, it was usually found easier to repudiate. It is true they asked much, for they had given much; they asked long and persistently, for the sovereign promised with little thought of performing; in due time it was the king's pleasure not to know them.

The viceroy Mendoza was not naturally a bad man. He was only carrying out the policy of his master Charles when he so irritated and persecuted Cortés as to drive him from Mexico in 1540. It was in January of that year that he embarked for Spain, accompanied by his son Martin, then eight years of age, by the chronicler Bernal Diaz, and a retinue of nobles and partisans. On his arrival he learned that the emperor was at Ghent, the court remaining at Madrid. When approaching the capital, the members of the India Council and other dignitaries, with an outward show of great respect, came forward in gorgeous array to welcome him. The palace of the comendador Juan de Castilla was prepared as the residence of the illustrious guest, and no lack of attention revealed the insincerity of superficial show. Not long, however, was Cortés allowed to cherish the flattering hope of eventually making effective, not only in name, the honors and titles which had been showered upon him years before. The enthusiasm of the first reception passed, and cold politeness was gradually observed by the members of the council, though Cortés was always courteously received, and even with apparent friendship, by the president, Cardinal Loaisa. But when he came to ask a settlement of his affairs, he found that the great conqueror had become but an ordinary litigant.

A. year passed by, and, though influential persons interceded, nothing was done in his behalf, except in the claim against Guzman, which was decided in his favor. His proud soul rebelled against such treatment; he asked permission to return to Mexico, but was refused. Still, he never faltered in his loyalty toward his sovereign master. In 1541 Charles prepared an expedition against Algiers, for the purpose of releasing a number of Spanish captives; and Cortés joined it voluntarily, accompanied by his son Martin.^[1] The fleet was dispersed by a storm, and the admiral's ship Esperanza, on which Cortés embarked, was driven upon the rocks. He and his son, with most of the cavaliers, saved their lives by swimming ashore. But the inestimable treasure, the five famous emeralds which the conqueror always carried on his person, were lost in the flood. The fates seemed to have united at this juncture to wrench from his grasp little by little what they had so lavishly bestowed; prestige, honors, wealth, and royal favor, all seemed vanishing. Was there nothing to be left him for all his toils, all his successes, but a hollow title? Was implacable Nemesis always to pursue him? The loss of the baubles, however much they represented in money, could not cause such heart-ache as did ingratitude, slight, and insult.

A council of war was called, and the greatest soldier of the day was not summoned to it; his very presence was ignored. In regard to the situation, he had expressed an opinion in favor of an immediate attack; but the courtiers were anxious to raise the siege: the formidable ramparts of the Moslem made the peaceful walls of Madrid seem far away, and it was decided to abandon the enterprise. Stung by the manifest insult, and indignant at the effeminate resolution, Cortés exclaimed: "Had I but a handful of my veterans from New Spain, not long would they remain outside of yonder fortresses!" "Indeed, señor," was the reply; "no doubt you would do wonderful things; but you would find the Moors quite a different foe from your naked savages."

After his return home Cortés again began to press his suit. He presented a memorial to the emperor, recounting the services which he had rendered to the crown; the losses, grievances, and persecutions he had suffered; the wrongs inflicted by the audiencia and viceroy, and praying that justice might be done; that his honors and titles might be made available, and in a manner commensurate to his services and sacrifices, so that he might with dignity maintain the rank and position to which he had been raised. What kind of play was this? He had achieved, and had been rewarded; then he was robbed and humiliated, and without cause. Cortés handed in the petition and never afterward heard of it.

Bowed down by disappointment, wounded in his most sensitive part, his heart-felt loyalty and love for his sovereign spurned, his influence and popularity gone — what had he to live for? Then, too, he began to suffer the infirmities of age; his constitution was shattered, and his sight and hearing were growing dull. The hardships of so many rough campaigns, the wounds received, the fevers, and the long exposures, all had left their impress. If one wishes to see glorious recompense, let one look at Peru, which has done even more than Mexico to fill the royal coffers. Perhaps the turbulence there has taught the monarch prudence. Go further then, and compare the conduct of Cortés with that of Pizarro after their respective conquests: the one is gentle, obedient; the other arrogant and blood-bespilling. Yet wherever it is most politic that it should be inflicted, there will the punishment be felt. When the monarch has no further need of the man, it is well the man should die.

But the life of Cortés was destined to be spared for a few more indignities. He had sent to Mexico for his daughter Doña María, to be married to Álvaro Perez de Osorio, heir to the estates and titles of the marqués de Astorga. The engagement was cancelled by Osorio for pecuniary and prudential motives.^[2] The humiliation, the insult, which struck at once the pride of the conqueror and the heart of the father, affected him to such a degree that for a time he was prostrated by a dangerous fever.

Before this, namely, on February 3, 1544, Cortés had made a touching and dignified appeal to the monarch for redress, praying for a final settlement of his affairs. To this as in the other instance no reply was made. It has even been stated that after Charles refused to see Cortés the latter on one occasion forced his way to the royal carriage and placed his foot upon the step. "Who is this man?" demanded the king. "One who has given your Majesty more kingdoms than you had cities before!" was the reply.^[3] This was the last time that Cortés ever asked aught of his sovereign.^[4] Three years passed in further waiting, and then the conqueror, his patience exhausted, determined to return to New Spain, to leave his native soil forever.

Having previously obtained permission to depart, he proceeded to Seville and was received with honors by the nobility, the last to be tendered him in this life. They bid him farewell, asking God's blessing on his departure. But these manifestations, hollow or sincere, could not revive his broken spirit, nor dispel his bitterness of heart; his health declined, and it was soon apparent that his last hour was drawing near. The strain upon his faculties had been severe, and death came at last to his relief To escape visitors, he was conveyed to the village Castillejo de la Cuesta, about two leagues from Seville, accompanied by Martin, who would not leave his father; and on December 2, 1547, then in his sixty-second year, Hernan Cortés expired. Two days afterward his remains were deposited with due solemnity and pomp in the monastery of San Isidro, on the outskirts of Seville, the sepulchre of the dukes of Medina Sidonia. The bearer of that title and guardian of young Cortés, second marqués del Valle, and many other distinguished personages from Seville and the neighboring country were present at the obsequies.

The remains of Cortés rested at San Isidro until 1562, when they were removed by order of Martin Cortés to New Spain, to the city of Tezcuco. Pursuant to a provision of the will they were to have been deposited in his favorite city, Coyuhuacan, within ten years after his death. This, however, was never done. They were destined to wander from place to place, till in 1823 they disappeared altogether from the city of Mexico.^[5]

Since that time a deep mystery has hung over the final resting-place of the conqueror's remains. Though it is generally believed that they were secretly shipped to the family, and are now deposited at Palermo in Italy, there is a possibility that they never left Mexico, but occupy some hidden spot known to few.^[6] Perhaps it was befitting that the great chieftain who had known no rest in life, should not find it in death.

The day after his death the will of Cortés was opened.^[7] It is a voluminous document and throws some additional light upon the character of its author, but most of the details are not now of interest to the reader. As guardians of the legitimate children, administrators of the estate, and executors of the will, in Spain, were appointed Juan Alonso de Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia; Pedro Álvarez Osorio, marquis of Astorga, and Pedro Arellano, count of Aguilar; and for New Spain, the marchioness, wife of Cortés; Bishop Zumárraga; Friar Domingo de Betanzos, and Licenciate Juan de Altamirano. The principal heir, succeeding to the estate and title, was his legitimate son, Martin, who after his twentieth year was to enjoy the full income of the inheritance, though his majority was fixed at twenty-five. All the other children, legitimate and natural, were well provided with an adequate income, and appropriate dowries for the daughters. None of the many male and female relatives seem to have been forgotten, and all the servants, even the lady's-maids to the marchioness, were liberally remembered. Endowments for the erection and support of religious, charitable, and educational institutions were made with princely generosity. A college for theology and canon law, and a convent, the latter to serve as the Cortés family sepulchre, were to be founded at Coyuhuacan; neither of these institutions were built, however, for want of funds. A third, the celebrated hospital de la Concepcion, afterward known as Jesus, was erected. The manner in which the testator dwells upon the Indian question forms a striking feature of the will, and reveals the fact that he entertained great scruples concerning the legality of holding Indian slaves, and of exacting tributes.^[8]

The assertions of Cortés concerning his poverty, which we observe in his memorials to the emperor, must not be taken literally, but rather in a comparative sense. From the provisions of his will it is manifest that at the time of his death he deemed himself possessed of vast estates. These, however, or the greater portion of them, were the object of litigation with the crown and prominent individuals in New Spain, and were otherwise embarrassed. His last unsuccessful expeditions had swallowed up immense sums, and the loss of the emeralds was also an important item. After his death, when the litigations came to a close, the verdict was against the heirs, and few of the provisions of the will could be carried out. The original grants to Cortés, with a few exceptions, were confirmed to his son Martin in 1565 by Philip II., in recognition of the father's services to the crown, and in consideration of the son's gallant conduct at the battle of St Quentin. Tehuantepec was the only portion retained by the crown, for which the heirs were compensated in a sum equal to the amount of tributes collected. But the magnanimity of the king lasted only two short years. In 1567, after the alleged conspiracy of Martin Cortés, the estate was sequestrated by the crown; it was returned in 1574, greatly reduced, and injured by neglect and the rapacity of royal officials. After that other sequestrations and changes occurred.^[9]

Cortés was first married, as we well know, in Cuba, to Catalina Juarez, a native of Granada, in Andalusia, whose death occurred in October 1522, It is supposed that by her he had a child, but nothing definite can be ascertained on the subject. A natural daughter by a Cuban Indian is also mentioned at that time. The issue of his second marriage, with Doña Juana de Zúñiga, was one son, Martin, and three daughters: Maria, married to Luis Vigil de Quiñones, conde de Luna; Catalina, who died single at Seville, and Juana married to Hernando Enriquez de Rivera, duke of Alcalá, and marqués de Tarifa. Beside these there were several natural children: Martin Cortés, son of the devoted Marina; Catalina Pizarro, daughter of Leonor Pizarro; Luis, son of Antonia Hermosilla;^[10] Leonor and Maria, daughters of noble Indian women; Leonor was married to Juan de Tolosa, one of the founders of Zacatecas; and finally another son Luis, who died before his father.

With Pedro Cortés, the fourth marqués del Valle and great grandson of the conqueror, the direct line became extinct. The estates and title passed to his niece, Doña Estefania, married to Diego de Aragon, duke of Terranova, descendant of one of the most distinguished families of Sicily. This union remaining without male issue, by the marriage of their daughter Juana with Hector, duke of Monteleone, the line became united with the Piñatelli family, Neapolitan nobles of the first rank. Thus the descendants and present representatives of the great adventurer's family are the dukes of Terranova y Monteleone, in Sicily, one of the proudest families of Italy.^[11]

In finally reviewing the character of Hernan Cortés, after our long acquaintance, and comparing him with his contemporaries, we find conspicuous a supreme worldly ambition, love of power, of wealth, of fame, united to intense religious zeal and loyalty to the king. In the combination there was much that might be called remarkable. This union of the spiritual and the sensual, a selfishness as broad and deep in heavenly as in earthly affairs, an all-abiding, heart-felt loyalty to the sovereign of Spain, paramount even to self-love or to church devotion, seems here more evenly balanced than in any person of note among those who came early to the Indies. Though his religious zeal was so fervid, he seldom permitted it to stand in the way of worldly advancement; but there was ever present a fighting piety which might have adorned a member of the house of Hapsburg. Love of gold was usually subordinate to love of glory; and yet we have seen him decline a coveted title because of a real or pretended lack of means to support it. Further, after having had set apart for him lands, and vassals, and revenues befitting a king, he rendered the latter part of his life miserable by reason of vain importunities to his sovereign for more. A tithe of what he possessed he might with contentment have enjoyed, but in his later mood half the planet would have been too small for him while the other half remained to be coveted.

But in this it was more what he considered his due that he desired, than the gratification of an all-absorbing avarice, such as that which possessed Nuño de Guzman, and men of similar stamp. When an humble navigator discovered a new world, or a nameless cavalier conquered a considerable portion of it at his own cost and in the name of the king, laying it at the sovereign's feet, with all its wealth of gold and pearls, and land and vassals, it was an undetermined question how much of it belonged to the monarch and how much to the discoverer and conqueror, and it is not at all strange that opinion should be divided on the subject. But in every emergency, whatsoever the monarch said or did, whether he granted lands and honors or withheld them, Cortés was bound to believe all as right. He might sometimes sacrifice wealth and power to religion; more frequently he would sacrifice religion to wealth and power, but never would he abate one jot of his devoted obedience to the king, unless it was clearly to the king's interest that he should be slightly disobeyed.

From the time of the Honduras expedition, and his separation from the faithful Marina, the star of the conqueror declined. From that day care fast engraved wrinkles on his forehead. The hardships and disappointments experienced on the march had broken his spirits and lowered his strength of mind, and they never recovered. In the mean time he had reached the summit of fame; he was captain-general and governor of the country he had conquered, and was made a marquis with vast grants. Nevertheless his soul was embittered by the fact that the gifts of his royal master were benefits only in name, that real honors were withheld, that he was no longer supreme in the land of his achievement, but must be ruled like any other by an audiencia and subsequently by a viceroy. Still, his restless impulse carries him forward to new and exciting scenes. New Spain is conquered, and he would penetrate beyond. The California and Spice Island expeditions fail; he wrangles with the viceroy over the right of further discoveries, of which he is finally and effectually deprived.

Nowhere is the presence of noble character more visibly displayed than when taunted, maligned, and robbed by the royal officials. While possessing ample power to sweep them from his path, he endured in angry patience every indignity and wrong rather than place himself on record as other than law-abiding and a lover of good conduct. His domestic life during his second marriage seems to have been one of great felicity; we find him the kindest of parents and a devoted husband, though from his earlier libertinisms the contrary might have been expected. We have seen that till his last moments he showed the greatest solicitude for the welfare of his entire family.

In mind and manners, in adventure, war, diplomacy, he everywhere displayed great versatility. There was little that he could not do; there was little he could not do better than another. Were ships required, he would make them; were they in the way, he would burn them. Did he want powder, there was the sulphur of the volcano; did he lack iron for guns, he used silver or copper. Were the hosts of Andhuac too many for him, he turned against them other hosts before whom he was likewise in point of numbers an insignificant enemy. But though his feats as an Indian-fighter were wonderful, it is not in these that we find him at his best. A stupid slur was that made during the Algiers expedition by the king's courtier, who said that Cortés would find the Moors a very different enemy from naked Americans. Cortés was a match for any Moor, or any Spaniard; indeed his most brilliant exploits were achieved when he found himself opposed by his own countrymen; and he was scarcely less successful as a ruler than as a military leader.

His nature, as we everywhere have seen, was one ef emphasis and intensity. Affairs of gallantry he conducted with as much skill and persistency as were required to win a battle. The grave and courtly manners by which the Spaniard commonly veils his real character were in Cortés modified by a freeness and vivacity due in a great measure to New World influences.

We cannot condemn simply because one has faults; we cannot wholly condemn if one has many and glaring faults. It is only when one displays that most offensive of faults, an unconsciousness of having any, that we may regard the case as entitled to sweeping condemnation.

 

The leading biographer of Cortés is Gomara, on whose works bibliographical notes will be found in my Hist. Cent. Am., i. 314-16. With regard to his Historia de Mexico, which in reality may be looked upon as a biography of Cortés, he has met with supporters and detractors. Las Casas is scathing in his criticisms of the earlier portions of his work, asserting that his information being derived from the representations of Cortés is warped. Hist. Ind., iv. 11-12, 448 et seq. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 11, also considered that Gomara's statements are not consistent with the facts, and Muñoz charges him with accepting the accounts of previous writers without due examination, and of being credulous and deficient in discernment. Hist. Nuev. Mund., i. p.xviii. On the other hand Gomara is followed by numerous writers, ancient and modern. Herrera draws largely upon him, while at the same time he was enabled to consult documents which this father of American history never saw. Gomara obtained his materials from important sources, such as letters, reports, and other documents to which he had access; but, chaplain as he was to Cortés, it was but natural that he should be prejudiced in favor of his patron, and be disposed to somewhat color his great deeds, without chronicling those which might detract from his renown. Oviedo supplies information relative to Cortés which no one else gives. In his Hist. Gen. de Indias he reproduces the conqueror's first letters, slightly adapted to his own language. Having met him in Spain he had frequent opportunities of conversing with him. He received occasional letters from Cortés, and his mention of these and quotations from them assist in proving facts and fixing dates. Bernal Diaz detracts somewhat from the credit of his great commander by exalting that of his companions. Pizarro, Varones Ilust., gives a glowing eulogy of Cortés, but it is non-critical and partial. He enlarges on the importance of omens and natural phenomena which presented themselves at the birth and during the eventful periods of the life of the hero. He ranks him naturally enough second to his relative Pizarro. Clavigero, Storia Mess., has made a few valuable investigations, and produced Cortés' family tree. This author's usual perspicacity is displayed in his researches and conclusions relative thereto. The Residencia of Cortés, as containing the testimony of his foes, is full of dark pictures, most of which are exaggerated and many of them false. Nevertheless the student receives much aid from the statements of opposing witnesses, and particularly from such corroborative evidence as appears. From the Escritos Sueltos, the Cartas of Cortés, from letters, memorials, and other papers, in Col. Doc. Ind., and Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xv. xxvi.-xxx., and other volumes, much fresh information may be gathered as regards his actions, motives, and character. The notes of Lorenzana in Cortés, Nueva Esp., Mexico, 1770, supply many important particulars, and may be consulted with interest. The researches of Humboldt, Essai Pol., Paris, 1811, have revealed many facts which may be considered as historical discoveries. Among the modern biographers of Cortés Arthur Helps occupies a prominent position. Born about 1817 he began to figure as a writer, anonymously, as early as 1835, and continued to furnish the press at frequent intervals with productions covering a wide range of literature, as essays, dramas, biographies, and histories. He also assisted Queen Victoria in preparing her Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands. For these and other efforts he was in 1872 honored with knighthood. As an essayist he has been compared to Lamb for good-natured satire and deep feeling, and his treatises generally indicate also the observer and thinker. The first notable work on America, The Conquerors of the New World, London, 1848-52, two volumes, a speculative and semi-historic account of the settlement of America, chiefly with reference to the race mixture, is not a work of much merit. It is now rarely met with, owing perhaps to Helps' own efforts to withdraw it from circulation. Yet the book served a good purpose in inciting him to further researches for the more thorough and elaborate History of the Spanish Conquest in America, London, 1858-61, four volumes, followed in 1868 by Life of Las Casas, Life of Pizarro, 1659, Life of Cortés, 1871. In the former work an excellent treatise on encomiendas is offered by Sir Arthur, who has in a measure competed with Prescott, while covering ground not embraced by him. But the main object of "he former work is still the race mixture, or rather the origin of negro slavery and its effect on America, and this accounts for the less thorough treatment of the regular history, and for the lengthy deviations from its natural course. Treating rather of the result than the progress of conquest, and inclining greatly to ethnologic and social data, the book is apt to disappoint those who take the title as an index. Although showing an admirable grasp of subject and philosophic treatment the historian is not unfrequently found to yield to the essayist, and at times poetic feeling and fancy take the place of facts. Free from affectation the language deserves the compliment of 'beautiful, quiet English,' bestowed by Ruskin, but as finished work it cannot compare with Robertson, Prescott, or even Irving. His Life of Cortés forms a slightly elaborated gleaning on this topic from the preceding volumes, and forms as a natural result not a thorough history of his conquests, but rather an attractive biography, which at times dwells too much on trifles, and incorporates idle statements; yet displays in other respects a clear perception of traits and incidents, frequently manifested in profound observations and adorned with brilliant sentences. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., Paris, 1857, four volumes, scarcely does Cortés justice. The abbé, though a fascinating writer, regarded the Conquest from a native stand-point, and consequently his views and descriptions are tinged with a corresponding coloring. Preeminent, however, among modern writers of this period of Mexican history stands Prescott, whom I have already considered in the first volume of my History of Mexico. In addition to what has been already said about his Conquest of Mexico it may be remarked that after the fall of the city his work is for the most part confined to the biography of Cortés, whose bright achievements and good qualities are prominently and brilliantly set forth, but whose imperfections are not impartially portrayed. Alaman's Disert., Mexico, 1844, may be regarded as a complement to Prescott. Although he gives but a biographical outline of the career of Cortés as an individual, Alaman nevertheless displays great research on certain points upon which he throws much light. Armin, Alte Mex., Leipsic, 1865, supplies some additional information to that found in Prescott. This work is well written. The following additional authorities may be mentioned: Gonzalez Dávila, Teatro Ecles., i. 8-13; Motolinia, Hist. Ind., 274-7; Benzoni, Mondo Nuovo, 51; Torquemada, i. 540; Providencias Reales, MS., 7, 15-25, 209, 215-20; Reales Cédulas, MS., i. 136-70; Kingsborough's Mex. Antig., v. 158; Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., 167-8; Monumentos Domín, Esp., MS., 70, 79; Herrera, dec. vii. lib. ii. cap. 10; Burgoa, Geog. Descrip. Oajaca, ii. 361-6; Hakluyt's Voy., iii. 454; Figqueroa, Vindicias, MS., 132-7; Kerr's Col. Voy., iii. 454; iv. 307-28; Beaumont, Crón. Mich., v. 90-1; Cabrera, Escudo Armas, 406; Sammlung aller Reisebesch., xiii. 265-6; Voyages, New Col., i. 348; World Displayed, ii. 252; Certificacion de Mercedes, MS., 11-12; Villa Señor y Sanchez, Theatro, i, 69-73, 269-70; Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 6, 149-51; Dillon, Beautés, 55-8; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, i. 61; Raynal, Hist. Phil., iii. 247-8; Pelaez, Mem. Guat., i. 128-9; Pap. Varios, tom. cliii. pt. iii. 55-80; Dubois, Mexique, 88-93; Dufey, Résumé, 1. 213-14; Calderon de la Barca, 34; Castillo, Dicc. Hist., 187-92; Chevalier, Mexique, 63-4; Salmon's Modern Hist., iii. 197; Sandoval, Hist. Carlos V., ii. 635; Peralta, Not. Hist., 145-6, 340; Salazar, Cong. Mex., 462-74; Société Américaine, i. 296; Pimentel, Sit. Actual, 110-11; Conder's Mex. and Guat., 81-3; Bussierre, L'Emp. Mex., 370, 377-9; Arroniz, Hist. y Cron., 31-2, 54-7; Rivera, Gob. Mex., 12-13, 18; Campbell, Span. Am., 43; Southern Quart. Rev., new series, vi. 120-1; Cavanilles, Hist. España, v. 177-89; Rivera, Mex. en 1842, 7-11; Revilla, notes in Solis, Hist. Cong. Mej. (Madrid, 1843), 485-6; Gordon's Anc. Mex., 236-40; Lerdo de Tejada, Apunt. Hist., No. v., 259-61; Liceo Mex., i. 91-109; Mora, Rev. Mex., iii. 187-8, 379-423; Gleeson's Hist. Cath. Church, i. 36; Lacunza, Disc. Hist., No. xxxiii. 462; Nouv. Bib. des Voy., 127-30; Robles, Diario, in Doc. Hist. Mex., série i. tom. ii. 202-19; Mayer's Mex. Azt., i. 76-9, 89-91; Wilson's Mex., 279, 417-18; Zamacois, Hist. Mex., iii. 265; iv. 238-660, passim; v. 5-18; xi. 530-1; Mavor's Univ. Hist., xxiv. 147-8; Roche, Fernand Cortez, 136-8; Portilla, España en Mex., 118-29; N. Am. Rev., lviii. 197; Edinburgh Rev., April, 1845, 469, 472-3; U. S. Cath. Mag., 1844, 146, 417; Carriedo, Estud. Hist., ii. 7, 8; Blexico, 200-4; Lebron y Cuervo, Apolog. Jurid., in Papeles de Derecho, No. 4, 58-61.

 

 

1. Gomara, Hist. Mex., 347, says with his two sons, Martin and Luis; other authors maintain that the latter remained at Madrid in the service of the prince,
2. The dowry of Doña María was to have been 100,000 ducats in gold, which under the present circumstances could probably not be raised at the time. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 237. This occurred subsequently to the making of his will, from which it appears that 20,000 ducats had already been paid to Marqués Astorga on account of the dowry, and Cortés provided that the remainder be paid, to fulfil the contract.
3. This incident is not well authenticated, as it rests mainly on Voltaire, Essai sur les Mœurs.
4. In this last appeal to the emperor, he begins: 'Pensé que haber trabajado en la juventud me aprovechara para que en la vejez tubiera descanso, y así á cuarenta años que me he ocupado en no dormir, mal comer, y á las veces ni bien ni mal, traer las armas á cuestas, poner la persona en peligro, gastar mi hacienda y edad todo en servicio de Dios, trayendo obejas á su corral'. . . to extend the power and fame of his sovereign, and to increase his domain, by the conquest of many large kingdoms, and lordships of barbarous nations. All of which he had accomplished in person and at his own cost, without aid from the government; on the contrary, he had been hindered by 'muchos émulos é invidiosos que como sanguijeulas han rebentado de hartos de mi sangre.' He could not conceive why the royal promises were not fulfilled, and why he was again deprived of the favors once granted. It was more difficult, he said, to defend himself against his Majesty's fiscal than to conquer the enemy's country. Cortés concludes this long and interesting appeal 'trusting there will be no unnecessary delay in the decision, otherwise he prefers to lose all and return to his home, 'porque no tengo ya edad para andar por mesones, sino para recogerme á aclarar mi cuenta con Dios, pues la tengo larga, y poca vida para dar los descargos, y será mejor perder la hacienda quel ánima.' Cortés, Carta al Emperador, in Col. Doc. Inéd., i. 41-6. On the back of the original document is the laconic indorsement: No hay que responder — Needs no reply!
5. It was provided in the will that in whatever place in Spain Cortés died his remains were to be deposited, to be transferred within ten years to Coyuhuacan in New Spain. The remains of his mother and of his son Luis, at Cuernavaca, were to be transferred to the same place at that time. Concerning the funeral services, it was provided that all curates and friars of the place in which he died should attend at the obsequies; 50 poor people were to receive new suits of clothes and one real to attend with torches; new clothes for mourning being given also to all his servants and his son's, and 5,000 masses were to be read; 1,000 for the souls in purgatory, 2,000 for those who died in his service in New Spain, and the remainder for those he had wronged unknowingly and whose names he could not remember. Cortés, Testamento, in Col. Doc. Inéd., iv. 239-77. In the year 1629, on the death of Pedro Cortés, fourth marqués del Valle, the bones of the conqueror were removed from Tezcuco and deposited in the Franciscan church in Mexico, with great pomp; and in 1794 the relics were transferred to the hospital of Jesus Nazareno. This new sepulchre, surmounted by a chaste monument adorned with the arms and the bust of Cortés, the work of the celebrated sculptor Tolsa, had been erected through the exertions of Viceroy Revilla Gigedo and the assistance of representatives of the Cortés family. The ceremonies observed on the occasion of this last transfer eclipsed in grandeur anything heretofore witnessed in the city of Mexico. But scarcely 30 years elapsed before the relics were again disturbed. When in 1823 the remains of the patriots who proclaimed the independence of Mexico in 1810 were to be transported to the capital, pamphlets appeared exciting the populace to reduce to ashes the remains of Cortés. The outrage was however prevented by the friends of the family, who obtained an order from the government to remove the casket to a secure place. The order was made effective by Alaman, then a member of the cabinet, who says in connection with the event in his Disert., ii. 60: ‘Habiendo yo intervenido en la pronta egecucion de estas órdenes, en virtud de las funciones públicas que desempeñaba.' During the night of September 15th the chaplain of the hospital. Dr Joaquin Canales, removed the remains, and by disposition of Count Lucchesi, acting for the family, they were provisionally deposited under the platform of the altar of Jesus. The excitement of the populace continued, and it was found expedient to remove the bust and arms from the monument, and to ship them to the duke of Terranova at Palermo. The marble obelisk and sepulchre disappeared after the hospital and church property was sequestered by the government in 1833. Mora, Mej. Rev., iii. 188, says in connection herewith: 'And they would have profaned even the ashes of the hero but for the precautions taken by some unprejudiced persons who, wishing to save their country the dishonor of such reprehensible and rash procedure, managed at first to conceal, and then to ship them to his family in Italy.'
6. Icazbalceta, in a letter to Henry Harrisse on the subject, says: 'The place of the present sepulture of Cortés is wrapped in mystery. Don Lúcas Alaman has told the history of the remains of this great man. Without positively saying so, he lets it be understood that they were taken to Italy. . . It is generally believed that the bones of Cortés are at Palermo. But some persons insist that they are still in Mexico, hidden in some place absolutely unknown. Notwithstanding the friendship with which Mr Alaman has honored me, I never could obtain from him a definite explanation in the matter; he would always find some pretext to change the conversation.' Harrisse, 217-20. There was certainly something strange in the reticence of Alaman.
7. It was executed October 11, 1547, before the notary Melchor de Portes. The text is printed in Cortés, Escritos Sueltos, 348-92; Cortés, Testamento, in Col. Doc. Inéd., iv. 239-77; Alaman, Disert., ii. app. 98-138; Mora, Mej. Rev., iii. 379-453, and others. The will was admitted to probate August 16, 1548.
8. Concerning the Indian vassals of Cortés, he enjoined his successor to ascertain whether these had paid him more tribute than the amount formerly paid to their native chiefs; if so, the full sum so overpaid should be returned, including also all tributes collected unjustly; the same was to be done with all lands unjustly seized from the natives. Should the question of slavery be decided in the future, the successor must act accordingly, and pay particular attention to the instruction and education of the natives. Besides ordering his mother's remains to be transferred to his own future burial-place, Cortés further signified his filial love by founding certain services at the sepulchre of his father, at Medellin. To his wife he gave 10,000 ducats, being the dower received from her; the dower of his daughter Maria he fixed at 100,000 ducats, 20,000 already paid, and the balance to be paid over to conclude the marriage with Osorio. This, as mentioned in the text, never took place. The dowry of the other legitimate daughters, Catalina and Juana, was 50,000 ducats each. The natural sons, Martin and Luis, received a life-rent of 1,000 ducats, and were enjoined to acknowledge and obey their brother, Don Martin, as the head of the family. The natural daughter, Catalina Pizarro, whose mother was Leonor Pizarro, afterward married to Juan de Salcedo, was to enjoy all the rents, tributes, and other income from the village of Chinantla, besides receiving other grants of lands and cattle. Leonor and Maria had a dowry of 10,000 ducats bestowed. Those who had served under Cortés were to be paid according to their contracts; all he had expended in the service of the crown should be computed and collected from the royal treasury, and all his debts, of whatever nature, should be paid. Cortés, Testamento, in Col. Doc. Inéd., iv. 239-77. The provisions of the will are very minute and concise, showing that great care was bestowed by the testator in its preparation.
9. The original grant to Cortés of July 6, 1629, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xii. 291-7, comprised 22 towns with dependencies, and 23,000 vassals. In 1805, according to Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 265, the marquisate contained 4 villas, 49 villages, and 17,700 inhabitants. This is refuted by Navarro y Noriega, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, ii. 83, who claims there were 7 judicial districts, 33 curacies, 1 city, 15 villas, 157 pueblos, 89 haciendas, 119 ranchos, and 5 estancias, with 150,000 inhabitants all told. This was not so bad after all. The income from the houses in Mexico was applied, pursuant to the will of Cortés, to the erection and maintenance of the hospital of Jesus. According to Terranova y Monteleone, Esposicion, 29-30, in 1828 this income amounted to 28,000 pesos. In the course of time the estate greatly diminished, and in the year mentioned the duke of Terranova retained only the 'haciendas marquesanas,' some lands in Tuxtla, and the property in Mexico city; and the income had greatly decreased by the abolition of tributes. The sugar plantation of Atlacomulco was not a part of the original grant; it was bought by Martin Cortés in 1553. Terranova y Monteleone, Esposicion, 23-31, 60-62. More particulars concerning the estate may be found in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xii. 330-8; Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, ii. 19; Humholdt, Essai Pol., i. 126; Villa Señor, Theatro, i. 269-70; ii. 118-23; Doc. Hist. Mex., série i. tom. i. 4, 415, 461.
10. Martin, Luis, and Catalina were legitimized by papal bull of April 16, 1529, which is given in Alaman, Disert., ii. 2d app. 32-6. The former were made knights of Santiago and Calatrava, respectively.
11. The statement in Prescott, iii. 351, that by the marriage of a female into the house of Terranova, the Cortés family was united with the descendants of the 'gran capitan' Gonzalo de Córdoba, is erroneous. The house of Terranova united with the Cortés family received its title from Philip II. in 1565, and is distinct from that of Terranova in Calabria. The genealogy of Cortés may be found in Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 236-7. See, also, Carriedo, Estudios, ii. 7; Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 13-14; Panes, Vireyes, in Monumentos Domin. Esp., MS., 70, 79; Lebron, Apolog. Jurid., in Pap. Derecho, No. 4, 58-61; Alaman, Disert., ii. 48-52, 1st app. 4-6; 2d app. 32-6; Cortés, Residencia, i. 111; Cortés, Escritos Sueltos, 279-80.