The Conquest of the Aztecs: The Lives and Legacies of Cortés, Montezuma, and the Aztec Empire

ISBN: 9781985170186
$7.99
$7.99
*Includes pictures of Aztec art, ruins, and more.
*Describes daily life for the Aztecs, including their infamous human sacrifice rituals.
*Discusses the legends and controversies surrounding the lives of Cortes and Montezuma, as well as the Conquest.
*Includes Cortés's Second Letter to Charles V, one of the most descriptive firsthand accounts of the Aztecs and Tenochtitlan.
*Includes a Bibliography for further reading.
*Includes a Table of Contents.

From the moment Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés first found and confronted them, the Aztecs have fascinated the world, and they continue to hold a unique place both culturally and in pop culture. Nearly 500 years after the Spanish conquered their mighty empire, the Aztecs are often remembered today for their major capital, Tenochtitlan, as well as being fierce conquerors of the Valley of Mexico who often engaged in human sacrifice rituals.

Ironically, and unlike the Mayans, the Aztecs are not widely viewed or remembered with nuance, in part because their own leader burned extant Aztec writings and rewrote a mythologized history explaining his empire’s dominance less than a century before the Spanish arrived. Naturally, Cortes and other Spaniards depicted the Aztecs as savages greatly in need of conversion to Catholicism. While the Mayans are remembered for their astronomy, numeral system, and calendar, the Aztecs have primarily been remembered in a far narrower way, despite continuing to be a source of pride to Mexicans through the centuries.

The Spanish conquest of the Aztec and some of the myths and legends surrounding it have made its emperor's name (and variations of it like Montezuma) instantly recognizable around the globe. Still, Moctezuma II's life is shrouded in mystery; Bernal Diaz del Castillo’s The Conquest of New Spain and Miguel Leon-Portilla’s translation of the Aztec observation of the conquest, The Broken Spears, recorded but a few details about the last Aztec ruler’s life.
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