John Fredrick Parker
Donor
It's here! 
My first TL -- with a little help from Sa'id!
This is largely based on the ideas of this thread -- my deepest thanks to everyone who read and responded to it! I look forward to your responses.
-----
"Future generations came to include more and more who would look to Malinche I as almost a semi-deity, whose larger than life accomplishments warranted in themselves a national identity -- it is in their works of literature that the name "Cortesia" was first uttered. Somewhat inaccurately, these poets gave full credit to Cortes for this identity -- nonetheless, it can be supposed, that he would not have been inclined to contradict them had he the opportunity."
A History of Cortesia, by Hugh Thomas
-----
(the following is taken from the Common Encyclopedia)[1]
The Cuban governor Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar decided to send an expedition to explore the continental coast. Hernán Cortés, then one of Velázquez's favorites, was named as the commander, which created envy and resentment among the Spanish contingent in the Cuban colony. Velázquez's instructions to Cortés, in an agreement signed on 23 October 1518, were to lead an expedition to initiate trade relations with the indigenous coastal tribes.
One account suggests that Governor Velázquez wished to restrict the Cortés expedition to being a pure trading expedition. Invasion of the mainland was to be a privilege reserved for himself. However, by calling upon the knowledge of the law of Castile that he gained while he was still a student in Salamanca and by utilizing his famous powers of persuasion, Cortés was able to maneuver Governor Velázquez into inserting a clause into his orders that enabled Cortés to take emergency measures without prior authorization if such were "...in the true interests of the realm."
It is said that even then, Malinche I knew this to be the opportunity of a lifetime, and embarked on this enterprise zealously and energetically. He began assembling a fleet of eleven ships and a force of well-armed men. He ostentatiously invested a considerable part of his personal fortune to equip the expedition, committed the greater part of his assets, and went into debt to borrow additional funds when his assets ran out. Governor Velázquez personally contributed nearly half the cost of the expedition. The ostentatiousness of his endeavor probably added to the envy and resentment of the Spanish contingent in Cuba who were also keenly aware of the opportunity that this assignment offered for fame, fortune and glory.
Revoking the commission Velázquez himself must have been keenly aware that whoever conquered the mainland for Spain would gain fame, glory and fortune to eclipse anything that could be achieved in Cuba. Thus, as the preparations for departure drew to a close, the governor became suspicious that Cortés would be disloyal to him and try to commandeer the expedition for his own purposes, though even then he thought his intent was only to establish himself as governor of the colony, independent of Velázquez' control. For this reason, Velázquez sent Luis de Medina with orders to replace Cortés. However, Cortés' brother-in-law had Medina intercepted and killed. The papers that Medina had been carrying were sent to Cortés. Thus warned, Cortés accelerated the organization and preparation of his expedition.
He was ready to set sail on the morning of 18 February 1519 when Velázquez arrived at the dock in person, determined to revoke Cortés's commission. But Cortés, pleading that "time presses," hurriedly set sail thus literally beginning his conquest of American Indian territories and nations with the legal status of a mutineer.
His contingent consisted of 11 ships carrying about 100 sailors, 530 soldiers (including 30 crossbowmen and 12 arquebusiers), a doctor, several carpenters, at least eight women, a few hundred Cuban Natives and some Africans, both freedmen and slaves.
Cortés lands at Cozumel
Cortés spent some time at Cozumel island, trying to convert the locals to Christianity and achieving mixed results. While at Cozumel, Cortés heard reports of other white men living in the Yucatán. Cortés sent messengers to these reported castilianos, who turned out to be the survivors of a 1511 shipwreck, Gerónimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero.
Aguilar petitioned his Maya chieftain to be allowed leave to join with his former countrymen, and he was released and made his way to Cortés's ships. Now quite fluent in Yucatec Maya as well as some other indigenous languages, he proved to be a valuable asset for Cortés as a translator - a skill of particular significance to the later conquest of the Aztec Empire that was be the end result of Cortés' expedition...
Cortés lands on the Yucatán peninsula
After leaving Cozumel, Cortés continued round the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula and landed at Potonchan – where it was discovered someone who would prove an invaluable asset, a woman named Maliani, whom Cortés called Doña Marina... Later, the Aztecs would come to call Cortés "Malintzin" by dint of his close association with her -- and a title was born.
Later historians confirmed that Doña Marina was of noble birth, probably of Toltec or Tabascan origins, but later sold into slavery at a young age. With her, Cortés had stumbled upon one of the keys to realizing his ambitions. He would speak to Gerónimo de Aguilar in Spanish who would then translate into Mayan for Malinche. Malinche would then translate from Mayan to Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. With this pair of translators, Cortés could now communicate to the Aztecs quite effectively.
Christened Marina by Cortés, she later learned Spanish, became Cortés' mistress and bore him a son. Native speakers of Nahuatl, her own people, would call her "Malintzin", the closest phonetic approximation possible in Nahuatl to the sound of 'Marina' in Spanish.
Cortés founds a city
Cortés landed his expedition force on the coast further north. He learned of an indigenous settlement called Cempoala and marched his forces there. On their arrival in Cempoala, they were greeted by 20 dignitaries and cheering townsfolk.
Cortés quickly persuaded the Totonac chief Xicomecoatl (also known as King Chicomacatt) to rebel against the Aztecs. Though his motives at this time are steeped in mystery and legend, serious historians believe that, faced with imprisonment or death for defying the governor, Cortés' only alternative was to continue on with his enterprise in the hope of redeeming himself with the Spanish Crown. To do this, he directed his men to establish a settlement called La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. The legally constituted "town council of Villa Rica" then promptly offered him the position of adelantado.
This strategy was not unique. Velásquez had used this same legal mechanism to free himself from Diego Columbus' authority in Cuba. In being named adelantado by a duly constituted cabildo, Cortés was able to free himself from Velásquez's authority and continue his expedition. In what would prove to be a vain attempt at securing legal sanction for this action, several members of his expedition, including Francisco Montejo, returned to Spain to seek royal acceptance of the cabildo's declaration.
The Totonacs helped Cortés build the town of La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, which was the starting point for his attempt to conquer the Aztec empire...
Scuttling the fleet
Those of his men still loyal to the Governor of Cuba conspired to seize a ship and escape to Cuba, but Cortés moved swiftly to quash their plans. To make sure such a mutiny did not happen again, he decided to scuttle his ships, on the pretext that they were no longer seaworthy.
With all of his ships scuttled except for one small ship with which to communicate with Spain, Cortés effectively stranded the expedition in the so-called New World and ended all thoughts of loyalty to the Governor of Cuba. Cortés then led his band inland towards the fabled Tenochtitlan. The ship was loaded with a Royal Fifth (the King of Spain claimed 20% of all spoils) of the Aztec treasure they had obtained so far, further evidence that Cortés's was making a claim to the governorship at the time.
In addition to the Spaniards, Cortés force now included 40 Cempoalan warrior chiefs and 200 other natives whose task it was to drag the cannon and carry the supplies. The Cempoalans were accustomed to the hot climate of the coast, but they suffered immensely from the cold of the mountains, the rain, and the hail as they marched towards Tenochtitlan
Alliance with Tlaxcalteca
Cortés arrived at Tlaxcala, a confederacy of about 200 towns, but without central government. Their main city was Tlaxcala. After almost a century of fighting the Flower wars, a great deal of hate and bitterness had developed between the Tlaxcalans and the Aztecs. The Tlaxcalans knew that eventually the Aztecs would try to conquer them. It was just a matter of time before this tension developed into a real conflict. The Aztecs had already conquered much of the territory around Tlaxcala.
The Tlaxcalans initially greeted the Spanish with hostile action and the two sides fought a series of skirmishes, which eventually forced the Spaniards up onto a hill where they were surrounded. Some Spanish participants have described the first battle between the Spanish force and the Tlaxcalteca as surprisingly difficult. They write that they probably would not have survived, had not Xicotencatl the Elder persuaded his son, the Tlaxcallan warleader, Xicotencatl the Younger, that it would be better to ally with the newcomers than to kill them.
On 18 September 1519, Cortés arrived in Tlaxcala and was greeted with joy by the rulers, who already saw the Spanish as a possible ally against the Aztecs. Due to a commercial blockade by the Aztecs, Tlaxcala was poor, lacking, among other things, both salt and cotton cloth, so they could only offer Cortés and his men food and women. Cortés stayed 20 days in Tlaxcala. It was there that he could appreciate for the first time the way of life of the inhabitants of Mesoamerica. Cortés seems to have won the true friendship of the old leaders of Tlaxcala, among them Maxixcatzin and Xicotencatl the Elder, although he could not win the heart of Xicotencatl the Younger. The Spaniards agreed to respect parts of the city, like the temples, and only took the things that were offered to them freely.
All that time Cortés offered to talk about the benefits of Christianity. Legends say that he convinced the four leaders of Tlaxcala to become baptized. Maxixcatzin, Xicotencatl the Elder, Citalpopocatzin and Temiloltecutl received the names of Don Lorenzo, Don Vicente, Don Bartolomé and Don Gonzalo. Though their understanding of the Catholic faith has proven a matter of historical debate, they apparently had no problems in adding "Dios" (God in Spanish), the lord of the heavens, to their already complex pantheon of gods.
An exchange of gifts was made and thus began the alliance between Cortés and Tlaxcala.
Cortés marches to Cholula
Meanwhile Mexican ambassadors continued to press Cortés to leave Tlaxcala, the "city of poor and thieves" and go to the neighbouring city of Cholula, which was under Aztec influence. Cholula was, at the time, one of the most important cities of Mesoamerica, the second largest, and the most sacred. Its huge pyramid made it one of the most prestigious places of the Aztec religion. However, it appears that Cortés perceived Cholula as a military power rather than a religious center. He sent emissaries first.
The leaders of Tlaxcala urged Cortés to go instead to Huexotzingo, a city allied to Tlaxcala. Cortés, who had not yet decided to start a war by going to Huexotzingo, decided to make a compromise. He accepted the gifts of the Mexica ambassadors, but also accepted the offer of the Tlaxclateca to provide porters and warriors. He sent two men, Pedro de Alvarado, and Bernardino Vázquez de Tapia, on foot (he did not want to spare any horses), directly to Tenochtitlan, as ambassadors.
On 12 October 1519, Cortés and his men, accompanied by about 1,000 Tlaxcalteca, marched to Cholula.
Fall of Cholula
There are contradictory reports of what happened at Cholula. Moctezuma had apparently tried to stop the advance of Cortés and his troops, and it seems that he ordered the leaders of Cholula to try to stop him. Cholula had a very small army, since as a sacred city, they put their confidence in their prestige and their gods. According to the chronicles of the Tlaxcalteca, the priest of Cholula expected to use the power of Quetzalcoatl against them.
Dona Mariana told Cortés, after talking to the wife of one of the lords of Cholula, that the locals planned to murder the Spaniards in their sleep and Cortés ordered a pre-emptive strike, urged on by the Tlaxcalans. The Spaniards seized and killed many of the local nobles to serve as a lesson. After Cortés arrived in Cholula he seized their leaders Tlaquiach and Tlalchiac and then ordered the city set fire. The troops started in the palace of Xacayatzin, and then on to Chialinco and Yetzcoloc. In his letters, Cortés claimed that in three hours time his troops (helped by the Tlaxcalans) killed 3,000 people and burned the city. Another witness, Vazquez de Tapia, claimed the death toll was as high as 30,000.
The Azteca and Tlaxclateca histories of the events leading up to the destruction differ. The Tlaxcalteca claimed that their ambassador Patlahuatzin was sent to Cholula and had been tortured by the Cholula. Thus, Cortés was avenging him by attacking the Cholula.
The Aztec version put the blame on the Tlaxcalteca claiming that they resented Cortés going to Cholula instead of Huexotzingo. The massacre had a chilling effect on the other Mesoamerican cultures and on the Mexica themselves. The tale of the city’s fate inclined the other cultures in the Aztec empire to submit to Cortés' demands rather than risk the same.
Cortés then sent emissaries to Moctezuma with the message that the people of Cholula had treated him with disrespect and had therefore been punished. Cortés' message continued that the Aztecs need not fear his wrath if Moctezuma treated him with respect and gifts of gold.
Tenochtitlan
On 8 November 1519 after nearly three months, Cortés arrived at the outskirts of Tenochtitlan, the island capital of the Mexica-Aztecs, and one of the largest cities in the world at that time. (Of all the cities in Europe, only Constantinople was larger than Tenochtitlan.)
According to Nahutl first hand accounts, the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II welcomed him with great pomp. They report that Moctezuma welcomed Cortés to Tenochtitlan on the Great Causeway into the "Venice of the West", as many of the Spanish called it at the time.
A fragment of the greetings of Moctezuma say: "My lord, you have become fatigued, you have become tired: to the land you have arrived. You have come to your city: Mexico, here you have come to sit on your place, on your throne. Oh, it has been reserved to you for a small time, it was conserved by those who have gone, your substitutes... This is what has been told by our rulers, those of whom governed this city, ruled this city. That you would come to ask for your throne, your place, that you would come here. Come to the land, come and rest: take possession of your royal houses, give food to your body."
Moctezuma personally dressed Cortés with flowers from his own gardens, the highest honour he could give, although it was said later that Cortés did not understand the significance of the gesture at the time.
Moctezuma had the palace of his father Axayácatl prepared to house the Spanish and their 3000 native allies. In addition to providing more gifts of gold to demonstrate his fealty as a vassal (of Charles V, say many sources), Cortés also demanded that the two large idols be removed from the main temple pyramid in the city, the human blood scrubbed off, and shrines to the Virgin Mary and St. Christopher be set up in their place. All his demands were met. Cortés then seized Moctezuma in his own palace and made him his prisoner as insurance against Aztec revolt, and demanded an enormous ransom of gold, which was duly delivered.
Defeat of Narváez
At this point, Cortés received news from the coast that a much larger party of Spaniards under the command of Pánfilo de Narváez had arrived. Narváez had been sent by Governor Velázquez not only to supersede Cortés, but to arrest him and bring him to trial in Cuba for insubordination, mutiny, and treason.
Cortés' response was arguably one of the most daring of his many exploits. Some describe it as absolutely reckless but he really had few other options. If arrested and convicted, he could have been executed. Leaving only one hundred and forty men under Pedro de Alvarado (and Dona Mariana, though historians still debate if she was given any authority by Cortes)[2] to hold Tenochtitlan, Cortés set out against Narváez, who had nine hundred soldiers, whereas Cortés, reinforced as he approached the coast, mustered about two hundred and sixty. With this much smaller force, Cortés surprised his antagonist with a night attack on May 27, during which Narváez lost an eye and Cortés' men took him prisoner.
When Cortés told the defeated soldiers about the city of gold, Tenochtitlan, they agreed to join him. Cortés then had to lead the combined forces on an arduous trek back over the Sierra Madre Oriental.
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OOC: [1] From Wikipedia, with as few as possible modifications for TTL; the events are meant to be the same as OTL, but accounted from a different future
[2] This is future history looking at the PoD -- as it happens, she wasn’t in OTL or this one
EDIT: I had Sa'id as "collaborator", which isn't quite right
My first TL -- with a little help from Sa'id! This is largely based on the ideas of this thread -- my deepest thanks to everyone who read and responded to it! I look forward to your responses.
-----
"Future generations came to include more and more who would look to Malinche I as almost a semi-deity, whose larger than life accomplishments warranted in themselves a national identity -- it is in their works of literature that the name "Cortesia" was first uttered. Somewhat inaccurately, these poets gave full credit to Cortes for this identity -- nonetheless, it can be supposed, that he would not have been inclined to contradict them had he the opportunity."
A History of Cortesia, by Hugh Thomas
-----
(the following is taken from the Common Encyclopedia)[1]
The Cuban governor Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar decided to send an expedition to explore the continental coast. Hernán Cortés, then one of Velázquez's favorites, was named as the commander, which created envy and resentment among the Spanish contingent in the Cuban colony. Velázquez's instructions to Cortés, in an agreement signed on 23 October 1518, were to lead an expedition to initiate trade relations with the indigenous coastal tribes.
One account suggests that Governor Velázquez wished to restrict the Cortés expedition to being a pure trading expedition. Invasion of the mainland was to be a privilege reserved for himself. However, by calling upon the knowledge of the law of Castile that he gained while he was still a student in Salamanca and by utilizing his famous powers of persuasion, Cortés was able to maneuver Governor Velázquez into inserting a clause into his orders that enabled Cortés to take emergency measures without prior authorization if such were "...in the true interests of the realm."
It is said that even then, Malinche I knew this to be the opportunity of a lifetime, and embarked on this enterprise zealously and energetically. He began assembling a fleet of eleven ships and a force of well-armed men. He ostentatiously invested a considerable part of his personal fortune to equip the expedition, committed the greater part of his assets, and went into debt to borrow additional funds when his assets ran out. Governor Velázquez personally contributed nearly half the cost of the expedition. The ostentatiousness of his endeavor probably added to the envy and resentment of the Spanish contingent in Cuba who were also keenly aware of the opportunity that this assignment offered for fame, fortune and glory.
Revoking the commission Velázquez himself must have been keenly aware that whoever conquered the mainland for Spain would gain fame, glory and fortune to eclipse anything that could be achieved in Cuba. Thus, as the preparations for departure drew to a close, the governor became suspicious that Cortés would be disloyal to him and try to commandeer the expedition for his own purposes, though even then he thought his intent was only to establish himself as governor of the colony, independent of Velázquez' control. For this reason, Velázquez sent Luis de Medina with orders to replace Cortés. However, Cortés' brother-in-law had Medina intercepted and killed. The papers that Medina had been carrying were sent to Cortés. Thus warned, Cortés accelerated the organization and preparation of his expedition.
He was ready to set sail on the morning of 18 February 1519 when Velázquez arrived at the dock in person, determined to revoke Cortés's commission. But Cortés, pleading that "time presses," hurriedly set sail thus literally beginning his conquest of American Indian territories and nations with the legal status of a mutineer.
His contingent consisted of 11 ships carrying about 100 sailors, 530 soldiers (including 30 crossbowmen and 12 arquebusiers), a doctor, several carpenters, at least eight women, a few hundred Cuban Natives and some Africans, both freedmen and slaves.
Cortés lands at Cozumel
Cortés spent some time at Cozumel island, trying to convert the locals to Christianity and achieving mixed results. While at Cozumel, Cortés heard reports of other white men living in the Yucatán. Cortés sent messengers to these reported castilianos, who turned out to be the survivors of a 1511 shipwreck, Gerónimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero.
Aguilar petitioned his Maya chieftain to be allowed leave to join with his former countrymen, and he was released and made his way to Cortés's ships. Now quite fluent in Yucatec Maya as well as some other indigenous languages, he proved to be a valuable asset for Cortés as a translator - a skill of particular significance to the later conquest of the Aztec Empire that was be the end result of Cortés' expedition...
Cortés lands on the Yucatán peninsula
After leaving Cozumel, Cortés continued round the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula and landed at Potonchan – where it was discovered someone who would prove an invaluable asset, a woman named Maliani, whom Cortés called Doña Marina... Later, the Aztecs would come to call Cortés "Malintzin" by dint of his close association with her -- and a title was born.
Later historians confirmed that Doña Marina was of noble birth, probably of Toltec or Tabascan origins, but later sold into slavery at a young age. With her, Cortés had stumbled upon one of the keys to realizing his ambitions. He would speak to Gerónimo de Aguilar in Spanish who would then translate into Mayan for Malinche. Malinche would then translate from Mayan to Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. With this pair of translators, Cortés could now communicate to the Aztecs quite effectively.
Christened Marina by Cortés, she later learned Spanish, became Cortés' mistress and bore him a son. Native speakers of Nahuatl, her own people, would call her "Malintzin", the closest phonetic approximation possible in Nahuatl to the sound of 'Marina' in Spanish.
Cortés founds a city
Cortés landed his expedition force on the coast further north. He learned of an indigenous settlement called Cempoala and marched his forces there. On their arrival in Cempoala, they were greeted by 20 dignitaries and cheering townsfolk.
Cortés quickly persuaded the Totonac chief Xicomecoatl (also known as King Chicomacatt) to rebel against the Aztecs. Though his motives at this time are steeped in mystery and legend, serious historians believe that, faced with imprisonment or death for defying the governor, Cortés' only alternative was to continue on with his enterprise in the hope of redeeming himself with the Spanish Crown. To do this, he directed his men to establish a settlement called La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. The legally constituted "town council of Villa Rica" then promptly offered him the position of adelantado.
This strategy was not unique. Velásquez had used this same legal mechanism to free himself from Diego Columbus' authority in Cuba. In being named adelantado by a duly constituted cabildo, Cortés was able to free himself from Velásquez's authority and continue his expedition. In what would prove to be a vain attempt at securing legal sanction for this action, several members of his expedition, including Francisco Montejo, returned to Spain to seek royal acceptance of the cabildo's declaration.
The Totonacs helped Cortés build the town of La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, which was the starting point for his attempt to conquer the Aztec empire...
Scuttling the fleet
Those of his men still loyal to the Governor of Cuba conspired to seize a ship and escape to Cuba, but Cortés moved swiftly to quash their plans. To make sure such a mutiny did not happen again, he decided to scuttle his ships, on the pretext that they were no longer seaworthy.
With all of his ships scuttled except for one small ship with which to communicate with Spain, Cortés effectively stranded the expedition in the so-called New World and ended all thoughts of loyalty to the Governor of Cuba. Cortés then led his band inland towards the fabled Tenochtitlan. The ship was loaded with a Royal Fifth (the King of Spain claimed 20% of all spoils) of the Aztec treasure they had obtained so far, further evidence that Cortés's was making a claim to the governorship at the time.
In addition to the Spaniards, Cortés force now included 40 Cempoalan warrior chiefs and 200 other natives whose task it was to drag the cannon and carry the supplies. The Cempoalans were accustomed to the hot climate of the coast, but they suffered immensely from the cold of the mountains, the rain, and the hail as they marched towards Tenochtitlan
Alliance with Tlaxcalteca
Cortés arrived at Tlaxcala, a confederacy of about 200 towns, but without central government. Their main city was Tlaxcala. After almost a century of fighting the Flower wars, a great deal of hate and bitterness had developed between the Tlaxcalans and the Aztecs. The Tlaxcalans knew that eventually the Aztecs would try to conquer them. It was just a matter of time before this tension developed into a real conflict. The Aztecs had already conquered much of the territory around Tlaxcala.
The Tlaxcalans initially greeted the Spanish with hostile action and the two sides fought a series of skirmishes, which eventually forced the Spaniards up onto a hill where they were surrounded. Some Spanish participants have described the first battle between the Spanish force and the Tlaxcalteca as surprisingly difficult. They write that they probably would not have survived, had not Xicotencatl the Elder persuaded his son, the Tlaxcallan warleader, Xicotencatl the Younger, that it would be better to ally with the newcomers than to kill them.
On 18 September 1519, Cortés arrived in Tlaxcala and was greeted with joy by the rulers, who already saw the Spanish as a possible ally against the Aztecs. Due to a commercial blockade by the Aztecs, Tlaxcala was poor, lacking, among other things, both salt and cotton cloth, so they could only offer Cortés and his men food and women. Cortés stayed 20 days in Tlaxcala. It was there that he could appreciate for the first time the way of life of the inhabitants of Mesoamerica. Cortés seems to have won the true friendship of the old leaders of Tlaxcala, among them Maxixcatzin and Xicotencatl the Elder, although he could not win the heart of Xicotencatl the Younger. The Spaniards agreed to respect parts of the city, like the temples, and only took the things that were offered to them freely.
All that time Cortés offered to talk about the benefits of Christianity. Legends say that he convinced the four leaders of Tlaxcala to become baptized. Maxixcatzin, Xicotencatl the Elder, Citalpopocatzin and Temiloltecutl received the names of Don Lorenzo, Don Vicente, Don Bartolomé and Don Gonzalo. Though their understanding of the Catholic faith has proven a matter of historical debate, they apparently had no problems in adding "Dios" (God in Spanish), the lord of the heavens, to their already complex pantheon of gods.
An exchange of gifts was made and thus began the alliance between Cortés and Tlaxcala.
Cortés marches to Cholula
Meanwhile Mexican ambassadors continued to press Cortés to leave Tlaxcala, the "city of poor and thieves" and go to the neighbouring city of Cholula, which was under Aztec influence. Cholula was, at the time, one of the most important cities of Mesoamerica, the second largest, and the most sacred. Its huge pyramid made it one of the most prestigious places of the Aztec religion. However, it appears that Cortés perceived Cholula as a military power rather than a religious center. He sent emissaries first.
The leaders of Tlaxcala urged Cortés to go instead to Huexotzingo, a city allied to Tlaxcala. Cortés, who had not yet decided to start a war by going to Huexotzingo, decided to make a compromise. He accepted the gifts of the Mexica ambassadors, but also accepted the offer of the Tlaxclateca to provide porters and warriors. He sent two men, Pedro de Alvarado, and Bernardino Vázquez de Tapia, on foot (he did not want to spare any horses), directly to Tenochtitlan, as ambassadors.
On 12 October 1519, Cortés and his men, accompanied by about 1,000 Tlaxcalteca, marched to Cholula.
Fall of Cholula
There are contradictory reports of what happened at Cholula. Moctezuma had apparently tried to stop the advance of Cortés and his troops, and it seems that he ordered the leaders of Cholula to try to stop him. Cholula had a very small army, since as a sacred city, they put their confidence in their prestige and their gods. According to the chronicles of the Tlaxcalteca, the priest of Cholula expected to use the power of Quetzalcoatl against them.
Dona Mariana told Cortés, after talking to the wife of one of the lords of Cholula, that the locals planned to murder the Spaniards in their sleep and Cortés ordered a pre-emptive strike, urged on by the Tlaxcalans. The Spaniards seized and killed many of the local nobles to serve as a lesson. After Cortés arrived in Cholula he seized their leaders Tlaquiach and Tlalchiac and then ordered the city set fire. The troops started in the palace of Xacayatzin, and then on to Chialinco and Yetzcoloc. In his letters, Cortés claimed that in three hours time his troops (helped by the Tlaxcalans) killed 3,000 people and burned the city. Another witness, Vazquez de Tapia, claimed the death toll was as high as 30,000.
The Azteca and Tlaxclateca histories of the events leading up to the destruction differ. The Tlaxcalteca claimed that their ambassador Patlahuatzin was sent to Cholula and had been tortured by the Cholula. Thus, Cortés was avenging him by attacking the Cholula.
The Aztec version put the blame on the Tlaxcalteca claiming that they resented Cortés going to Cholula instead of Huexotzingo. The massacre had a chilling effect on the other Mesoamerican cultures and on the Mexica themselves. The tale of the city’s fate inclined the other cultures in the Aztec empire to submit to Cortés' demands rather than risk the same.
Cortés then sent emissaries to Moctezuma with the message that the people of Cholula had treated him with disrespect and had therefore been punished. Cortés' message continued that the Aztecs need not fear his wrath if Moctezuma treated him with respect and gifts of gold.
Tenochtitlan
On 8 November 1519 after nearly three months, Cortés arrived at the outskirts of Tenochtitlan, the island capital of the Mexica-Aztecs, and one of the largest cities in the world at that time. (Of all the cities in Europe, only Constantinople was larger than Tenochtitlan.)
According to Nahutl first hand accounts, the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II welcomed him with great pomp. They report that Moctezuma welcomed Cortés to Tenochtitlan on the Great Causeway into the "Venice of the West", as many of the Spanish called it at the time.
A fragment of the greetings of Moctezuma say: "My lord, you have become fatigued, you have become tired: to the land you have arrived. You have come to your city: Mexico, here you have come to sit on your place, on your throne. Oh, it has been reserved to you for a small time, it was conserved by those who have gone, your substitutes... This is what has been told by our rulers, those of whom governed this city, ruled this city. That you would come to ask for your throne, your place, that you would come here. Come to the land, come and rest: take possession of your royal houses, give food to your body."
Moctezuma personally dressed Cortés with flowers from his own gardens, the highest honour he could give, although it was said later that Cortés did not understand the significance of the gesture at the time.
Moctezuma had the palace of his father Axayácatl prepared to house the Spanish and their 3000 native allies. In addition to providing more gifts of gold to demonstrate his fealty as a vassal (of Charles V, say many sources), Cortés also demanded that the two large idols be removed from the main temple pyramid in the city, the human blood scrubbed off, and shrines to the Virgin Mary and St. Christopher be set up in their place. All his demands were met. Cortés then seized Moctezuma in his own palace and made him his prisoner as insurance against Aztec revolt, and demanded an enormous ransom of gold, which was duly delivered.
Defeat of Narváez
At this point, Cortés received news from the coast that a much larger party of Spaniards under the command of Pánfilo de Narváez had arrived. Narváez had been sent by Governor Velázquez not only to supersede Cortés, but to arrest him and bring him to trial in Cuba for insubordination, mutiny, and treason.
Cortés' response was arguably one of the most daring of his many exploits. Some describe it as absolutely reckless but he really had few other options. If arrested and convicted, he could have been executed. Leaving only one hundred and forty men under Pedro de Alvarado (and Dona Mariana, though historians still debate if she was given any authority by Cortes)[2] to hold Tenochtitlan, Cortés set out against Narváez, who had nine hundred soldiers, whereas Cortés, reinforced as he approached the coast, mustered about two hundred and sixty. With this much smaller force, Cortés surprised his antagonist with a night attack on May 27, during which Narváez lost an eye and Cortés' men took him prisoner.
When Cortés told the defeated soldiers about the city of gold, Tenochtitlan, they agreed to join him. Cortés then had to lead the combined forces on an arduous trek back over the Sierra Madre Oriental.
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OOC: [1] From Wikipedia, with as few as possible modifications for TTL; the events are meant to be the same as OTL, but accounted from a different future
[2] This is future history looking at the PoD -- as it happens, she wasn’t in OTL or this one
EDIT: I had Sa'id as "collaborator", which isn't quite right
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