Chapter 23: Rumble in the Jungle
Tenochtitlan was perhaps the wealthiest city in the world. It was the capital and largest city of the Meshica Empire, a state that played a crucial role in the global spice trade. Power was concentrated in the temperate highlands. The Central Plateau of Anawak and the Kiche highlands in the southeast allowed large populations to live relatively comfortably, and possessed ideal soil for growing a number of useful crops and hosted a number of useful minerals. Still, much of the empire’s wealth came from the lowlands by the South Misian and Caribbean Seas. This fertile land was particularly ideal for rubber as well as tropical fruits and spices, and especially for cacao, which was still growing increasingly popular on European markets. Plantations were developed on cleared jungle land in order to satisfy the increasing demand, bringing more profits to Tenochtitlan.
In the autumn of 1641, lowland farmers began to notice that cooling climates were leading to crop failures on the Rubber Coast and Yucatan Peninsula. While most staple food crops would have been able to deal with the dropping temperatures in Mesoamerica, many of the lowland farmers relied on the sale of rubber, fruits, spices, and cacao for access to other forms of food. Many farmers wrote to their local governors, asking for permission to clear more land, including some of their existing plantation land, to grow maize and sweet potatoes. With Tenochtitlan not wanting to lose out on their annual profits, they refused to allow any plantation land to be cleared, and Montezuma VI himself implemented further taxes on the lowland farmers. That winter, hundreds of thousands of lowland farmers starved due to the legally enforced monoculture in the Meshica Famine of 1642.
A large factor that allowed many farmers to survive, however, were the churches. Christianity in the empire still operated in secret. In some areas further from the imperial core, churches were able to bribe corrupt officials to remain open. In other areas, they remained completely underground, sometimes hidden in caves, thick jungle, or unsuspecting houses. Christianity had spread rapidly in the lowland regions, and many churches organized to provide food to those in need. The aid provided by the church allowed Christianity to grow even more popular among the lowlanders.
That March, after countless had starved, many had felt that enough was enough, and that the time of the Meshica had come to an end. On March 20, Yosep of Mayapan led an attack on Meshica tax collectors in the city of Mayapan. The plan was only to kill the tax collectors and make a statement, thinking he would probably die soon after. However, the locals ended up joining him, overthrowing all of the authorities and declaring the city to be a new Christian Dominion with him as its Chief Apostle.
That spring, what came to be known as the Josephan Rebellion spread throughout the lowlands of the northern Yucatan peninsula. The Christian Dominion lacked a real standing army, instead relying on locally organized militias. Recognizing that they lacked an advantage on the open battlefield, the Christian militiamen mostly hid in the jungles and plantations, cutting supply lines and attacking traversing troops, keeping the city of Mayapan protected. Nearby towns all fell to the revolt in a matter of weeks, very often the result of the locals themselves rising up against the government. On Good Friday, the Christian Dominion took Sisal, a small port in northwestern Yucatan that was home to a significant Taino community. The local Taino population, which had a historically antagonistic relationship with the Christians and lived rather relatively securely under Meshica protection, viewed the rebels with suspicion, and were massacred by the locals who saw the mercantile population as imperial agents. Appalled by the violence, Yosep stated that Easter that all Christian militias were now to answer to him directly, officially forming the Salvation Army.
Despite this more direct control, some attacks against the Taino were still carried out. when Campeche fell in May, seeing the writing on the wall, the Taino agreed to side with the Christians, feeling that the Meshica were being too oppressive with their taxation anyway and believing that it was in their interest to side with Yosep. However, after the Salvation Army lost the initial battle, the Taino were instead raided and taken by the Meshica authorities to be sacrificed. When the Salvation Army succeeded the following day, they came to find that the entire Taino ghetto was liquidated.
At the start of June, the Christian Dominion had only controlled the northern Yucatan, including Campeche, Mayapan, Koba, and Tulum. The presence of the Meshica navy on Cozumel meant that the Meshica were frequently able to raid the coasts. However, as the toll of occupation grew heavier, locals came to oppose the large military presence and rebelled, allowing the Salvation Army to make it onto the island. Over the course of the summer months, the Salvation Army would continue to push south, taking Chaktumal, Calakmul, Tikal, and Lakamha, doubling the area under their control. To the west, more rebellions were breaking out. In August, a Meshica force had to fight off a number of rebels in the area around Zempoala who had pledged allegiance to Yosep and the Christian Dominion.
In December, the Salvation Army launched one of their most ambitious attacks yet, a siege against the port of Coatzacoalcos. Hiding in the surrounding swamps and forests, they began by attacking Meshica troops. Realizing what was happening, extra troops were sent by sea. On Christmas, the Salvation Army attempted to storm Coatzacoalcos and were greeted by a far larger force than was expected, which included a number of angry Spaniards who did not wish to see their trade being disrupted. The Meshica retreated, but the Christians were left severely weakened and took a far greater number of casualties. The Meshica then surrounded the city with the weakened Christians inside and easily destroyed them on December 27. Most fell in battle, with the rest being captured for sacrifice in Tenochtitlan.
With a huge portion of the Salvation Army destroyed, they were sent back on the run through the countryside. Throughout the next year, the Meshica fought off guerilla soldiers as they marched through the lowlands towards the Mayan lands. They easily retook Cozumel on March 4, 1643. The following month, they landed in Tulum, and were able to begin their push into the Yucatan peninsula. To deal with the rebels, they massacred entire rebel villages and burned down jungles where they were expected to be hiding. On May 18, the Meshica retook Mayapan, where the whole war started. In September, the Meshica retook Calakmul, which had since become the new headquarters of the rebellion, and captured Chief Apostle Yosep. He was brought to Tenochtitlan to be sacrificed on the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan. According to legend, he stated “My death is not the end, for Christ himself will return to deliver the Christian people from the tyranny of the Meshica”.
Fighting continued in the jungles for another several months, not really ending until January 1644. Although the Josephan Rebellion had been crushed, the existence of such a rebellion proved to Tenochtitlan that the Christians were a threat to their empire. Montezuma VI ordered that all remaining Christians be hunted down and sacrificed and that corrupt officials that allowed churches to exist be killed and replaced. A small Christian presence would be allowed to remain in the old port cities such as Zempoala and Coatzacoalas, but anyone suspected of proselytizing or supporting illegal Christians would be executed.
Still, the fact that the rebellion had gotten as far as it did proved to those watching that the forces of Christianity could resist the power of the Meshica. Christianity would continue to spread rapidly throughout the empire among those who opposed the rule of the Meshica.