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Chapter 7 “He Had Survived His Honor”
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70 7 “He Had Survived His Honor” The Gods Have Their Say Motecuhzoma had surrendered all the things of earthly value— power, wealth, even the sovereignty of his people, almost gladly. Now Cortés would press him for the things of the spirit. Perhaps he felt that this too would follow. Shortly after the execution of Quauhpopoca, Cortés climbed the 114 steps of the Great Temple with a bodyguard. To let in the light they cut through the thick hangings sewn with bells that covered the entrance to Huitzilopochtli’s shrine. They saw the idol encrusted with blood “two or three fingers thick.” The conquistador exclaimed, “Oh, God! Why do You permit such great honor paid the Devil in this land? Look with favor, Lord, upon our service to You here.” The cacophony of the disturbed bells brought the Mexica priests. Cortés turned on them and commanded, “Here where you have these idols I wish to have the images of the Lord and His Blessed Mother. Also bring water to wash these walls, and we will take all this away.” The priests laughed and warned him, “Not only this city but all the land holds these as gods, This is the house of Uchilobos [Huitzilopochtli], whom we serve, and in comparison with him the people hold for nothing their fathers and mothers and children , and will choose to die. So take heed, for on seeing you come up here they have all risen in arms and are ready to die for their gods.” Then he turned on the priests and said, “It will give me great pleasure to fight for my God against your gods, who are a mere nothing.” With that he picked up an iron bar and leapt into the air to bring the bar crashing down upon the face of Huitzilopochtli. The idol’s golden masks flew off. Glaring at the stunned priests, he exclaimed, “Something must we venture for the Lord.”1 Motecuhzoma, who had been kept almost instantly appraised of the confrontation, sent word asking permission to come to the temple. Cortés agreed and sent a strong escort for him. Accompanied by his captains, he confronted Motecuhzoma when he arrived . Señor, I have often asked you not to sacrifice any more human beings to your gods who are deceiving you, and you will not cease doing it, I wish to know that all my companions and these captains who are with me have come to beg you to give them leave to remove the gods from your temple and put our Lady Santa Maria and a Cross in their place, and if you will not give them leave now, they will go and remove them, and I would not like them to kill any priests.2 Motecuhzoma was horrified. “Oh, Malinche, how can you wish to destroy the city entirely! For the gods are very angry with us, and I do not know that they will stop even at your lives. What I pray you to do for the present is to be patient, and I will send to summon all the priests and I will see their reply.”3 Taking Motecuhzoma aside, Cortés suggested that if some accord were not reached, the captains would take matters into their own hands and throw the idols down. After prolonged, tense negotiations in which Motecuhzoma drew upon the full weight of his authority as the earthly manifestation of the god, the priests agreed to the removal of Huitzilopochtli’s idol. Motecuhzoma had “he had survived his honor” 71 [18.116.13.113] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 21:32 GMT) extracted one concession, that the Mexica be allowed “to take it wherever we wished.” Cortés agreed, and “the idols were taken down from there with marvelous skill and ingenuity.” With this victory, all the Spaniards ascended the temple steps and heard mass in the section of the temple, washed clean of blood, now reserved for the Virgin.4 It was not an accommodation that could last. Motecuhzoma was clearly planning for the restoration of the Hummingbird. He entrusted the idol to Tlatoatl, a loyal servant, who placed it in a hidden shrine in the imperial palace.5 Almost immediately, the Mexica priests spread the word that Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca were abandoning Anáhuac, having suffered an intolerable insult by the placement of the shrine and cross. They would remain only if the strangers were killed. The priests and nobles...