Casey Linton

Hist 1510
Document Analysis Essay
The Broken Spears; The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, written by Miguel
Leon-Portilla in 1992, was an expanded and updated version of the Spanish book Vision de los
vencidos published in 1959. It is meant for a general audience to describe the conquest of
Mexico by the Spaniards from the Aztecs point of view, instead of the Spaniards. Quite a
gruesome and intriguing story, it shares different viewpoints mainly from Sahaguns informants,
but also from Diego Munoz Camargo who was married into the Tlaxcala. Miguel also includes
dramatic parts of the epics called The Songs of Sorrow, which are written by post conquest Aztec
poets. The book also includes some illustrations adapted from original codices paintings.
In the introduction, the book gives a little bit of background detail on the Aztecs and
ancient Mexico such as their warfare, culture, society, Tenochtitlan (the Aztec capital) literature
and education. Then, the first chapter describes the bad omens that the Aztecs witnessed about
ten years before the arrival of the Spaniards. The omens were told from Sahaguns informants
view and how Diego Munoz Camargo interpreted them. Both views share the reactions of the
people, from performing sacrifices to crying in discomfort/fear. It is quite interesting that the
Aztecs incorporate sacrifice in everyday practices. It was a very different form of worship than
what the Spaniards were used to.
The second chapter mentions the arrival of the Spaniards and describes how the Aztecs
believe the ships the Spaniards used to be mountains floating on the sea. When I went to the
shores of the great sea, there was a mountain range or small mountain floating in the midst of the
water, and moving here and there without touching the shore. The Aztecs describing the

Spaniards ships as mountains show how undeveloped they were at this point, as well as in
chapter three when it mentions that Motecuhzoma sends the messengers to meet the Spaniards
for the first time, the Spaniards fire off a cannon and the Indians faint or cower in fear from it.
When they return home and inform Motecuhzoma about this, he starts to becomes despaired and
even fearful of the Spaniards whom he now considers Gods. He becomes so fearful that he wants
to flee the capital, which is made known to the people and they start to despair as well. Letting
fear rule is the sign of a weak leader, especially when it can be so easily spread to his people. It
was at this point that Motecuhzoma actually lost to the Spaniards because he instilled the fear in
his people without putting up a fight, or trying to inspire them to fight.
The next stop for Cortes was the cities of Tlaxcala and Cholula. He marches to Tlaxcala
first with an envoy sent by the city. They arrive and the Tlaxcalas convince Cortes to help them
destroy the Cholultecas. They ally and together march towards Cholula. Here it is mentioned that
there are two different stories to how the destruction of Cholula went. The first was that they
came out unarmed and met the Tlaxcaltecas and Cortes, and were massacred, while the second
says that they came out, began fighting, and believed that Quetzalcoatl would destroy their
enemies in a flood. What will become of you, you traitors? We are waiting, and you will see
how our god Quetzalcoatl punishes his foes! When that did not happen, the Cholultecas lost all
hope, and the majority of them committed suicide by jumping from their temples. This shows
how important their idols were to them, and how much faith they had in their existence.
On his way to Tenochtitlan, Cortes was welcomed into Tezcoco. He met Ixtlilxochitl who
showed him around the city where the people would worship him, and brought him food. During
his visit there, he told the people of Christianity and the trials of Jesus. The people were so
inspired from the stories that Ixtlilxochitl urged Cortes to immediately baptize him and a bunch

of the other lords that very night. During their stay there the Spaniards baptized most of Tezcoco
into Christianity. Hearing this, Motecuhzoma also decided to accept Cortes into the city, instead
of trying to oppose him. Here we see the opposite of the Cholultecas who were so devoted to
their gods that they were eliminated. Ixtlilxochitl was willing to throw away his belief in
polytheism for monotheism.
From here, Cortes marches to Tenochtitlan and finally meets Motecuhzoma in Xoloco.
Motecuhzoma invites them into his Royal Palace where they place him under guard. They then
ventured to Motecuhzomas treasure houses and took all of the gold objects they saw. This shows
the Spaniards true intentions of greed for the gold. They dismembered the beautiful artifacts
made by the Aztecs and melted down the gold into ingots. The Aztecs decide to start the Fiesta
of Toxcatl for the Spaniards. During the dance of the bravest warriors in Tenochtitlan, the
Spaniards stormed the court, locked them in, and massacred all the performers and spectators. At
this point the documents get very graphic. They describe how the Indians, running away, were so
confused they were tripping over their own entrails. This level of detail is unfortunately
necessary at this part because it really shows how violent and terrible this massacre was.
Motecuhzoma tried to stop the people from revolting against the Spaniards, but his cries
fell on deaf ears. The Aztecs besieged the royal palace, and anyone who had sworn loyalty to
Motecuhzoma or even looked guilty of trying to slip food to the Spaniards was immediately
killed. If Motecuhzoma had not been such a coward, maybe his people would have listened to his
cries, but he lost his people when he became fearful and despaired. At one point the Spaniards
drag out the dead body of Motecuhzoma. Then Cortes calls his men to retreat through the
Tlacopan causeway, and they were surrounded by the Aztecs in boats. They retreated down to the
Canal of the Toltecs where they threw themselves into the water and drowned. The ones who

survived climbed over the dead bodies of men and horses that had completely filled the canal.
They retreated to Teocalhueyacan until they were well rested. This night was later named the
Night of Sorrows because of how disastrous it was. This is another part of the document that
needs to be as descriptive as it was to have such an impact on the reader.
Immediately after the Spaniards were pushed out of Tenochtitlan, the people become
diseased and covered in sores. Many died from this disease (now known as Smallpox) and the
city became very weak. The Spaniards returned and lay siege to Tenochtitlan. They try to fight
the Aztecs on multiple occasions, and are forced to retreat in many battles. Though the Aztecs
were such strong warriors, and fought very valiantly, the Spaniards pushed deeper into
Tenochtitlan, little by little, until they had fully conquered the city. The fact that the Aztecs were
able to put up such a strong fight while being so weak from hunger, disease, and had
considerably weaker weapons, proves just how good they were at fighting.
Cuauhtemoc (the new leader of Tenochtitlan) eventually surrendered Tenochtitlan to the
Spaniards because of an omen they saw during the night. Everyone stared in silence because they
knew what the omen meant. The next day was when Cuauhtemoc surrendered and the Aztecs
began to flee the city. The Spaniards continued killing them and searched them for any gold they
may have hidden under their clothes. Cortes was only interested in finding gold and the gold the
Spaniards had lost during the Night of Sorrows. This goes to show that Cortezs only goal was
the gold. His greed lead to the destruction of a great empire and great history.
Throughout the document are included illustrations of main events such as the massacre
of the warriors in the royal temple, and the Night of Sorrows. Though these illustrations are quite
basic or simple, they help the reader picture the main tragedies easier than it would be without
them.

The Songs of Sorrow, included near the end of the book was written by post-conquest
Aztecs, and included detail on how Tenochtitlan felt afterward. Estimated to be written in 1523,
they mention how the city feels empty and how nothing but grief and suffering remain within.
We are crushed to the ground; we lie in ruins. There is nothing but grief and suffering in Mexico
and Tlatelolco, where once we saw beauty and valor. The other two epics are about the
imprisonment of Cuauhtemoc and one about the fall of Tenochtitlan. They are included to give
yet another perspective of the events that took place during the Conquest.
The importance of this document is that it shares the conquest from the other side, the
losers side, which most historical documents dont do. It shares the suffering and pain inflicted
by the Spaniards, and the hope, grief, lament, and anger felt by the Aztecs. The document shared
all the information in a way for a general reader to be fully engaged in the story, not solely for
more sophisticated or educated people. The most important aspect of the document is that the
Aztecs were a strong and respectful people who suffered greatly.