Hello, and welcome to Western Sieve Episode two hundred and thirty eight. Who needs Orders Anyway last time we met Hernan Cortez. So far, there really hasn't been much to distinguish Cortes from his predecessors Cordoba or Grivala. So far, he simply sailed along the coast, met many of the same tribes as Grivala, fought a few minor engagements, and discovered nothing of any real consequence. In this episode, however, Cortez is going to begin to become the
Cortes will come down through history. This is the moment when history changes, the hinge point, when Cortes goes from being a run of the mill explorer to the conquistador we all know. Really the first thing he needs to do in order to get there is jettison Governor Wilasquez his orders. So long as he remains constrained by those, Cortez can never become Cortes. Today, he
takes that momentous step and starts down the road to technosh Declan. Back in the capital of the Mexica Empire, Montezuma, decided to appease these mysterious visitors, whether they were gods, or not, they were to be given everything they wanted, so long as they went away. He sent down the host
more emissaries with more and more elaborate presence. At this point, Montezuma was clearly distressed, supposedly saying, quote, all of us will die at the hands of the new gods, and those who survive will be their slaves and vassals. They are the ones to reign now, and I shall become the last ruler of this land. Even if some of our relations and descendants survive, they will be subordinates, like tax gatherers and quote. In spite of
all this, Montezuma apparently gave a separate order. This one suggests that he didn't know who he was dealing with. He told his agent to quote, discover with absolute certainty, if he's one of our ancestors, a god. If he is, greet him and give him these presents from me. If he eats and drinks which you give him, he is surely one of our gods, as he will be shown to be familiar with our food. Then
tell him to allow me to die. Tell him that after my death he will be welcome to come here and take possession of his kingdom as it is his. But let him allow me to end my days here. Then he can return to enjoy what is his. If by chance, he does not like the food which you have given him, and if he is desirous of eating human flesh and would like to eat you, allow yourself to be eaten. I assure you I will look after your wife, relations, and children.
And quote not exactly the marching orders you want to get from your boss. So when the Mexica emissaries arrived on the coast, they asked for Cortez, who was that day on his ship. Cortez gave worth that the emissary should be brought to him. He dressed as much like a king as he could. The Mexicans bowed before him and kissed the deck. They offered to have ten slaves sacrificed for him then and there, an offer he adamantly refused.
They then made the speech Montezuma had written for him. Quote, pray that the God will hear us, Your lieutenant, Montezuma comes to give homage to you. He has the city of Mexico in his charge. End quote. So far this was a pretty normal exchange for the Mexica Cortes thought it was all beyond bizarre. The Mexicans then got to the heart of it. They asked Cortes point blank whether it was his intention to go to technosht Clan
on his behalf. Marina, his key translator at this point, said that it was his intention to go to Technoshticlan to see Montezuma and quote enjoy his presence end quote, But first he had to organize his affairs on the coast. He hoped for guidance as to the best way to get to technosoty Clan. At this point, the Mexicans insisted on bleeding themselves, probably from their ears or wrists. One of them offered Cortes some blood in the shape of
an eagle. Cortes got angry and gave some Mexicans some blows with the flat of his sword. The emissaries, who were standing much too close to this for comfort, then fell to the deck in shock. The crew picked them up, revived them with some food and drink and wine, but Cortes continued to bully them as best he could. This is all through interpreters, of course, but he said to them, quote, listen, I have known
herd that you Mexica are very strong, exceedingly brave, tremendous people. It has been said that one Mexican can pursue drive on overcome turn back even twenty of his enemies. I wish to test you, to see how strong you are, how powerful. He gave them leathers, shields, and steel swords, and then continued early in the morning, at dawn, we shall fight and try our strengths. We shall joust in pairs and see who falls.
Of course, the emissaries who had gone there to see if they were gods or I guess to be eaten, were terrified, but they responded, quote, this is not what your lieutenant Montezuma commanded us to do. We have only come to salute our lord. We cannot do what you ask of us. If we were to do such a thing, we would annoy Montezuma and he would punish us. Cortes wasn't willing to be pushed off this point.
He wanted his little dog and pony show, so we responded, no, it must be as I say, I wish to marvel at your prowess, for it is known even in cass Steele clearly a lie that you are very powerful and valiant. Now let us eat and in the morning we shall fight with that. He allowed the Mexicans to go back to their canoes. Now, presumably he had no intention of jousting with them. More than anything else, this was courts testing them. Probably he just wanted to observe how they
would react to ruthlessness. But the Mexica instantly set off for shore and rode with energy. When they reached the shore, and the Mexicans did not stop for a moment before starting for a technosoty clan. After arriving in the capitol, the emissaries reported to Montezuma what they had seen. Montezuma quickly called a court council to discuss the situation. After a brief discussion, Montezuma issued his decision. If these men's were gods, then they should be barred from the
capitol at all costs. If they were gods, then they were returning to claim their land and Montezuma would fight them to the death. If the men were well men, on the other hand, and they should be welcomed as guests. It might sound odd to us, but Montezuma was ready to do battle with gods, not men, But the council was not over. Montezuma allowed his brother to speak. He told the emperor, quote, my advice is not to allow into your house someone who will put you out of it.
He was not the only one to offer advice. The King of Texcoco, who was also a nephew of Montezuma, gave this advice quote, my advice is that if you do not admit the embassy of a great lord, such as the King of Spain appears to be, it is a low thing. Since princes have the duty to hear the ambassadors of others. If they come dishonestly, you have in your court brave captains who can defend us. End quote. Now, the Mexica workspery, instant receiving guests. They often
received foreign princes in order to demonstrate their grandeur and on occasion savagery. Vast numbers of people came to their markets, often from remote parts. They had tons of lodgings for visitors. This was a known thing. At the end of the discussion, most of those presents seemed to have taken the view that they should do everything that they can to prevent the arrival of Cortes To technoso decan. They should declare themselves willing to do anything which the visitors wanted,
but they should insist that it was impracticable for Montezuma to meet Cortez. The Emperor would under no circumstances go to the coast. You would be told that the road is long and arduous and full of enemies. They also decided it would be well if the magicians of Mexico could be assembled and ordered to be used, and so Montezuma sent his quote wizard and soothsayers and quote to the coast to see if they could work a spell over the Congista doors. Perhaps
there was a way to well make them I don't know. Vanish, the Mexican governor of the province, appeared before Cortez's camp or Undmay the first You again brought presents, cottons, feather work, but above all two large gold and silver covered wooden disks. Though Montezuma gave the Europeans many gifts, these two discs are the ones that stand out in all the Spanish records. If anyone thought it was a mystery what the Europeans were after, they weren't paying
attention. The governor told Cortes that they could continue to provide gold so that Cortes could heal his sickness. A meeting with Montezuma, however, that was out of the question. Cortez gave the governor a set of Spanish clothing as a present. He then pressed him on the issue of a meeting with Montezuma. Cortes dressed it was essential because if he did not meet with Montezuma, then he Cortes would fall into disfavor with his king. Why this was the
Mexicans problem, I'm not sure, but Cortes seemed certain it was. The governor said he would pass along Cortes's message, though it was unlikely to make a difference. Before going, he tried to convince the Europeans to move their camp inland. While this would have protected them from the mosquitos on the coast, it also would have made them easier to surround. Cortes declined. As soon as the official was gone, Cortes was visited by about twenty Teutonic Indians
from Kempolan, some twenty miles up the coast. These Totanaks seemed taller than those in the towns that he had previously visited. They had come, they said, on behalf of their lord, who had maintained himself independent of Montezuma. This was not true exactly, since though autonomous, he did pay tribute to the Mexico. But Cortes was impressed by the Campollion's desire to distance themselves
from the paramount power of Technoshti Klan. He was positively delighted by their resertion that many peoples who had accepted subservience to Mexico as a result of military defeat during the last hundred years, regretted it. The vassals of the Emperor of Mexico seemed to receive little from him, except vague promises of help in the event of famine, But Cortes remained unsure of his next being. That said,
he found the information pleasing. He knew from history that it had been easier for the Spanish to defeat the Moors during the Riconquista when they were divided. Perhaps he could do the same here. But these were not the only divisions going on. Some of Cortes's men had begun to grumble. They wanted to go home. Some felt Cortes had already overstepped his mandate from Velasquez.
Discipline was becoming a problem. Some sailors had been seen bartering with locals for gold, but pursue into his orders, Cortes had to be the only one who collected gold so that the king might get his fifth. There was trouble brewing, but before this matter came to a head, Montezuma's wizards got to work. They reached Cortes's camp with no difficulty. Presumably there were many Indian
servants running about Mexican at Tutanac, so entry wasn't difficult. The magicians tried all sorts of tricks, but they found that quote if the Spaniards find to flee in their ear, they would kill it end quote. There was another trouble quote the Spanish spent all night talking and at dawn or at their horses again end quote. Their flesh was also just so tough that it was impossible to know where their hearts were. The men of magic ultimately returned to Montezuma
with bad news. Quote we are not equal contenders. We are nothing in respect of them. End quote. Soon after this, the Mexican governor appeared once more for a third time. He told Cortez he might as well go home. He could not see Montezuma and there was no point in trying to do so. Cortez said he absolutely had to see Montezuma and there was no
getting around it. Angry, the governor immediately stopped the provisions the Mexica had been making available to the Europeans. Cortes assumed this was a prelude to an attack. He sent one hundred men armed with crossbows and arquebuses into the interior to look for corn. Cortes had long since used up his supply of munitions. If the men did not find a source of food, they would starve. As these men explored, they again came across what they believed to be
evidence of human sacrifice. The repeated discovery of evidence of human sacrifice served to permanently sour relations between Europeans and the natives of Mesoamerica. This was something new to Europeans. They had not encountered any human sacrifice amongst the Tyanas of the Caribbean. The practice of human sacrifice and the need to stop said practice was often a European justification for how they treated these people. Moving forward, and
spoiler alert that is not going to be positive. But these discoveries also served to fuel the arguments of those who wanted to return to Cuba immediately. While this group continued to agitate and argue for a return, another group wanted to do just the opposite. Cortes seems to have long considered the possibility of establishing
a settlement on the coast. This would have been a direct contravention of the orders Velasquez had given him, but still in Cortes's mind, it was the prudent thing to do, and there were others on the expedition who agreed with him. Cortes wanted to stay, but he didn't want it to look like it was his idea. So what he did next was very clever and likely changed the course of history. Cortez made it known that he had agreed with those who wanted to leave. They were running out of supplies, so they
needed to go home. What this did, though, was give his friends the opportunity to object. Those who wanted to stay now loudly proclaimed their intention to found a settlement, which was what Cortez wanted. They called on him at once quote in the name of God and the King end quote to found a colony. After all, they argued, the Mexica would probably never let them land again. This might be their only chance. Furthermore, if some
people wanted to go home, then let them. Those who had the adventurous spirits would remain. Cortez publicly pretended to hesitate. Privately, he was already searching for the best place to found a colony. He very much wanted a place that had a good port. Cortes recognized that Spanish strength lay at sea, and wherever he built a port, it needed to be able to be
resupplied by the ocean. Cortes did not want to commit to the idea of a settlement until he had picked out a place and then could argue just how prosperous the site might be. While certain representatives who were loyal to Velasquez were
away, Cortes called together a meeting of the rest of the men. He told them all that he was interested in serving the king, serving the King more than anyone else, and in order to effectuate that, he was going to order that they all ceased trading in gold with the natives, as they had been doing up until then. Then, with a show of reluctance, he agreed to found a city to be called via Rica de la Vera Cruz. The men of the expedition would constitute its population. The name derived from
the fact that the land was rich ricca Vera Cruz. The true cross would recall that they had landed there on Good Friday. Cortes continued, addressing as men in sensible terms. It was obvious that the indigenous peoples of Mexico were more civilized, more reasonable, and more intelligent that those of the Caribbean. There was evidently much more territory than what they had seen. They should build
walls and fortifications, as the Portuguese had done in Africa. When they had built the place, they could unload everything and send their ships back to Cuba, the betrayed with the people of Kempolana and other places known to be hostile to Mexico. Each member of the expedition would become a citizen the casino of the new municipality, with the right to vote in elections for the municipal counts. Cortes knew exactly what he was doing. He had studied Velasquez, and
this is exactly how Velasquez had founded new Cuban towns. In fact, Cortes himself had often been the notary confirming these arrangements, but he did something original. Having studied in Salamanca and having worked as a lawyer, he believed that a case could be made for thinking that in the absence of a properly constituted authority, authority would revert to the community, which would then be able to elect its own legal representatives. And so a number of people close to Cortes
were then to be named the first magistrates and counselors of the town. There seems to have been a vote then and there, probably determined by a show of hands. Ultimately, all these men had titles that were identical to those which they might have held in far away Castile. Cortes was then called upon by the councilors, these new councilors of Villa Rica de Vila Cruz, to
show them the instructions with Velasquez had given him. He produced the paper, and this paper showed that well Cortez had completed his mission, he had no authority to act anymore, and therefore the town councilors, who had been elected ten minutes earlier, declared that his mission was concluded. He therefore resigned his
offices. But of course this resignation was a charade, because immediately afterwards, and most assuredly by prior arrangement, the town council nominated Cortes as chief Justice Sie of Villa Rica, as well as captain of His Majesty's armies until the king should decide other wise. Now, Cortez in his writings would always refer to these nominations as a quote unquote election, but in reality, the men who had just picked Cortes to lead this new settlement had themselves been hand picked.
But then again, as Bo's appearance as matters we went through the motions, the character of the expedition now changed absolutely and decisively. He was not merely an explorer working on behalf of Governor of Alaskaz. Once Cortez established his own settlement and town council, you could effectively argue that there was no need to correspond with the governor at all, because they were now outside his jurisdiction.
Cortes's enemies would later denounce all these actions as a rebellion. Cortes's argument was different. Traditional Spanish medieval law provided that a populace could form a municipal council, all laws could also be set aside by the demand of the good men in the community. In Mexico, this quote ute community was the expedition itself, in which Cortes's friends were in the majority and Velasquez his friends the minority. Now, none of the conquisadors since the very first journey of Columbus
had considered acting as Cortes was doing right now. The only one who had come close was Balboa, who had allowed himself to think of independence from Castile, but he had not thought of asserting autonomy while bypassing the governors incented Domingo and insisting on direct dependence on the crown. Moreover, he got killed by Native Americans, rendering the whole question moot. In Cuba, Velasquez had founded towns which developed their own identities, but he had consulted with the authorities in
Hispaniola before making his plans. Perhaps Cortes knew he was breaking the law. Later on he was often heard to say, quote, if laws have to be broken in order to reign, then let them be broken. End quote. Once the council elected Cortes to his position, that did something else unusual. They decided that once the royal fifth had been deducted from any treasure, then Cortes would take a fifth for himself. Cortes was now effectively equivalent to
the king. This decision had a tangential impact. It was much easier to divide up gold and silver if it was first melted down. As a result, almost no pre Columbian gold work from Mexico remains today. Again, blame Cortez if you are angry about that. He would later explain his system as follows quote. So they had set up a settlement, they had no way of maintaining themselves saved by relying on what they had taken with them. Cortez,
like Caesar, he oftentimes refers to himself in the third person. Therefore, would take what he needed for himself and his staff, while the rest would be valued at the right price and then distributed among the men of the expedition. Quote. Cortes liked to think that all of this was decided by some sort of consensus vote. In reality, the exchanges he had with the quote men of the expedition end quote were of a very limited nature. The
rank and file and sailors were likely never consulted at all. Some of the men would later say that Cortes had quote done what he should not have done, but they did not talk of it for fear of being hanged endquote. Like any self serving explanation or excuse, it's impossible to know just how true this statement was. Cortes had decided to found Via de Rica de la Vera Cruz, a site that would later become Vera Cruz, Mexico. To effect this, he led himself four hundred men, the horses, and four pieces
of artillery to that place of land. In the end, he had done it. That's the bottom line. Cortes had crossed his rubicon. He had violated velasquez his orders in a way that no one could question. Depending on the outcome of the years ahead, he would either be a hero or a traitor, the line between the two often being razor. Then, the failure of Montezuma's magicians to make the conquistadors disappear disheartened the emperor. According to one
source quote, there was weeping dejection and tearful greetings end quote. Excepting for the moment that the Europeans were going to march on technosht Khan, Montezuma decided he would do everything in his power to slow them down. Maybe he reasoned if he threw enough discomfort in their path, they would turn back. He does not seem to have considered the idea that he might send a massive military force to just wipe them out again. They might be gods, but they
might be emissaries of some distant and powerful king. Was not willing to take that risk yet. Montezuma stationed messengers along the road to technosh declan to bring news of any developments, and the first news he would have gotten would have been that Cortes had set out for Verna Cruz. I'm generally going to just use the modern name for the city, just for simplicity, and they did so honor, about June seventh, fifteen nineteen. The journey was about forty
miles if you could draw a straight line, which you couldn't. Still, it should have taken Cortez about two days, and it took much much longer. This is because Cortez stopped at the village of Campalan, the seat of the Totanas, whose chief was an enemy of Montezuma. Cortez was still looking for allies, and he was not disappointed. The Indians welcomed the Europeans with gifts of turkeys and tortillas. One hundred or so came out to greet Cortes
and his men. The people there were utterly fascinated by the horses. At first, they believed the men were some kind of centaurs, that they and the horses were won. The mistakes went both ways, however, Cortez's men reported back that the homes within the town were roofed entirely with silver. They weren't. It was white paint gleaming in the sun. But I can say, man, know, sometimes you see what you want to see. The
city of Kemplan was large, about fourteen thousand souls. All told, The Totnox could count about two hundred thousand people within their realm and dependent kingdoms. Cortez very much wanted to have these people on his side. The chief asked Cortez to stay and be gladly accepted. In fact, the reception was so warm that Cortez assumed it must be a trick and stationed men at exits as though garrisoning a fortress. Several days passed and nothing happened. False alarm.
I guess they're just nice After several days, Cortez decided to make a formal call on the chief to see what information he could find. The chief told him that, disappointingly, technosoty Clan was all but impregnable. It was surrounded by water and the bridges could be pulled up at any moment. But the chief added two other peoples, the Tlascala and the Husuinto, hated the Mexica. If Cortes needed allies, they were there for the taking. This seems
to have changed things within Cortes and his plans. For the first time, he seems to have thought that perhaps conquest was a viable option. Ultimately, Cortes and his crew spent comfortable two weeks in Keppelan. Then he moved up the coast to what would be one day Vera Cruz and a change that would impact the rest of the Spanish conquest. The chief at Kempalan gave the Europeans
four hundred indigenous porters. From this point on, the Spanish would always have the benefit of such forced muscle to move their guns, ammunition, and supplies. The benefit to speed and combat effectiveness was immense. There was already a small town where Vera Cruz would once be. Cortez was surprised at discover his supply ships had not yet reached the town. All the same, the expedition was well received. Then, by honestly sheer coincidence, at almost the same
time, a Mexica delegation arrived to collect tribute. Cortes and his men were fascinated by the appearance of these Grand Mexica bureaucrats. To the lord of the village, though this was just business as usual. The lord went on to arrange for the tribute collector's reception in the usual fashion, but Cortes detained him. He suggested that he should seize the wards, tied them to polls,
and imprisoned them in a room next to his own. The lord of the village was aghast, but facing Cortez's overwhelming military might, he did as he was asked. Then, during the night, Cortes executed part two of his plan. He ordered his guards to secretly release two of the stewards and bring them to him. He then required his two translators to figure out who they were. The stewards declared themselves shock to be treated as they had been.
Cortes told the officials that it was he who had freed them, because he did not like to think of Montezuma's agents being mistreated. It was the people of the village who were barbarous. He personally liked what he had heard of Montezuma. He would be grateful if they, the two stewards, could go and tell the Emperor that he Cortes considered Montezuma his friend. He hoped that Montezuma would not spurn his friendship. He believed that Montezuma would be happy to
see him and become a brother of the King of Castile. Finally, he added, he would do all he could to prevent the other collectors of tribute from being killed. But then again, I mean, the people of the village were just devious and barbarous. What could he what could he possibly do? Whereupon he released the two men. He had them carried in the darkness by sailors to a small boat up the coast just outside Tatsanach territory. From
there they returned to technosh Declan as fast as they could. When the lord of the village awoke the next morning, he was angry, obviously, to discover that several of his prisoners were gone. He probably would have put the rest of them to death had Cortez not intervened. Cortez offered to imprison them on his ships, which had now just arrived offshore. That solution was acceptable.
After some hemming and hawing, the ruler of the town agreed that he would go into bold against Montezuma if and only if Cortes was willing to lead their army. Cortez was only too happy to agree. Cortes was now feeling a lot more confident. His plan was now to turn as many dependent tribes against Montezuma as possible. As he marched to Technostclan. He reasoned that by the time they reached the capital he would have a sizeable force. But of
course, first he needed to finish founding his new town. Bierca de la Vercruz was formerly founded on July the twenty eighth, fifteen nineteen. Cortez is said to have helped to dig the foundations himself. More ambassadors from Montezuma arrived in the interim. They told Cortes that Montezuma was both ill and busy and could not see him now. They could not say when he might be able to see courte. They added that if Cortez still determined to make the track
to Technosodyclon, then he should travel slowly. Montezuma would send guides to help him, but traveling too quickly, they added, would be bad for his health. I don't think they said that with like a gangster style ominousness or anything like, oh, don't do that, it'll be bad for your health. The ambassadors seemed to have meant it literally. Still, the Mexica ambassadors would have been amazed at the site before the mat Vera Cruz. This was
definitive evidence that the Europeans were determined to stay. The Mexican ambassadors quickly departed. However, shortly thereafter, Cortez was for the first time called upon to prove his support for the Tussanac people. A tributary town not far away declared independence, and now it seemed likely that the Mexica were planning a punitive counterstrike. Cortes's reaction was instant. He set off immediately for the designated town,
accompanied by most of the conquistadors and his sixteen horses. Together with a force of Toutsanacs, the Mexica came out to meet Cortes in full battle array, feathers, paint shields, but they appeared to have panicked at the mere sights of the Spaniards and their horses. Interestingly, according to the sources, at least the beards of the conquistadors seemed to have caused as much fear as the horses. Cortes's cavalry followed the retreating Mexica and cut the bof the horses.
However, were unable to climb the rock on which the town was sent, and so Cortes and some others dismounted. They forced open the gates of the town with their swords, and Quartz entered, disarming the few remaining Mexicans who remained, and handed them over to the town chief of Kempala. He stipulated that no one should be killed, and then he withdrew Tabaca de Valla Cruz.
The speed of this victory greatly impressed the Totanax and naturally had the effect of extending the rebellion against Mexico. It also made Cortes even more self confident, for it suggested to him and his captains at the Mexico, despite their fame in arms, had no special military qualities, no secret weapons, and it seemed to them very little discipline. Cortes returned to the coast on July the first. He was delighted to find that there was a relief force from
Cuba, a caravel bearing sixty men and several horses. Though the reinforcement was
welcome, the news which came with it was less. So this was that in the spring a letter had reached Cuba to say that the Council of cast Deal, meeting on the eighteenth of November, ironically, the very day that Cortez had left, Santiago, had agreed to give the Governor, Diego Velasquez quote, a license to seek at his own cost islands and mainland territory which had up till now not been discovered, provided of course, that these were
outside the limits of the King of Portugal. The license spoke of land neighborhood of Cosmomel and Yucatan. The nomination was ascouraging for Velasquez, as it was discouraging for Cortez. Yet it gave Velasquez less than he hoped for. He would still be hoping to be formed with the what's called Arilanto, but he wasn't because he was not made Arilanto, he was still subject to the Supreme Court in Santo Domingo. As a result, he couldn't go as far as
maybe he wanted. Still, Velasquez was to have numerous rights in the Yucatan. The profits of the edition were to go to him and his heirs. Cortes had no choice but to try to counteract these measures back in Spain. As a result, he hand picked several men with the goal of sending them back to cass Stile and arguing for his expedition to see if he could get
the same legitimacy that Velasquez had just achieved. Cortes would send these men home on his flagship, and their goal was ultimately just to convince King Ferdinand. To prove their mission, Cortes sent papers and three letters with his men. The first letter was from the Council of Viarica describing what had been done so far. The second was a letter from the army at Viarica. The third was a private letter from Cortes to the King. Of the three, only
the first survives today. We know of the other two only by reference. The surviving letter summarizes the journeys of Cordoba and Grivada in dismissive terms. The letter also demanded at the royal court make an inquiry into the affairs of Governor Velasquez on the grounds he had mismanaged his resources. The strategy here is obvious. Cortes needed the king to believe him and not Velasquez. None of his actions were going to be any good if Ferdinand did not ultimately approve them.
The letter also added human sacrifice. Aside that the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica were much more advanced and much more sophisticated than those of the Caribbean, there were references to human sacrifice, and these references were deliberate. Cortes and the Spanish in general still needed to justify their conquest. Describing the horrors of the Mexican religion was how Cortes planned to do this. I probably don't need to tell
you this, but it's going to work. The instructions Cortes gave to his men making the return voyage were similar. He told them to stress how badly Velasquez had mismanaged things, how he would do better, and specifically, how he would treat the Indians better. This is, of course ironic, given how Cortes had once rebelled against Velasquez because he Cortes wanted to expand the quasi slavery and commienda system. The instructions also made it clear that Cortes did not
anticipate returning to Cuba. Oh and for good measure, Cortez sent the king a good deal of treasure, worth about twenty three thousand paces at the time. If you're saying you're going to do a better job than the person who currently does it, I suppose it certainly doesn't hurt to send along a little
proof. Still, there are almost no historians who today believe Cortez actually handed over to the king one hundred percent of his fifth The list of what was sent back is pretty extensive, though, Quote item two colors of gold and stones, one of which with the figure of a monster in the center, has eight strings, and in them two hundred and thirty two red stones and one hundred and sixty three green stones, And hanging from the said collar and
from the said border twenty seven golden bells, in the center of which are four figures made of large stones set in gold, And from each of the two in the center hang simple pendants and those at the ends have four pendants each, and the other collar has four strings with one hundred and two red stones and one hundred and seventy two apparently green and around two greenstones are twenty six gold bells, and in the said collar ten large stones set in gold.
Also two other pieces of colored featherwork which were for two pieces of gold, and which they wear on their heads as if they were shells end quote. While all this was going on, Cortez faced his first internal plot. Velasquez still had a lot of friends on the expedition, friends who knew exactly what Cortez was up to. Now, they decided they were going to try
to stop him. Their plan was to try to take over one of the ships and sail back to Cuba. From there, they would tell Velasquez what was going on so he could intercept Cortez's messengers before they got to Spain. Had they succeeded, history might have turned out very differently. They didn't. Cortes found out and arrested the men. He pardoned most he needed the manpower, but he had the two ring leaders hanged as an example. Cortez left
the gallows standing for over a year. A garish reminder of what might happen to those who challenge him. Cortes's next action was more audacious. He ordered the masters of nine of the twelve ships anchored off via Rica to sail them on to the shore and break them down for their component parts. He planned to use the lumber to build houses. Cortes's real goal here was to add the defeatist talk of going back to Cuba. I mean, no point in
talking about it, guys, there aren't any boats. Had Cortes not done this, it would have been much harder for him to take such a higher percentage of the men inland, which is precisely what he planned do. Of course, this was a huge risk for Cortez and the expedition. There was no going back now, There was no safety net. It was conquer or die. We know that Cortez made a speech about the same time about the importance of the expedition. He struggled, however, to explain to his men
exactly what the expedition was going to do when it reached Technosh Declan. He made a few vague references to taking Montezuma quote unquote dead or alive, but that was about it. In reality, he seems to have hoped to win Montezuma over so that he Cortez could act as the emperor's prime minister going forward. Plan B was capturing Montezuma and just forcing him to act in Spanish interests. Cortes realized that conquering a major empire was different from taking control of a
largely uninhabited island in the Caribbean. He needed a plan. He couldn't just improvise his way through this, like Columbus had largely done. All of this explains why Cortez acted so decisively when he finally did reach Technostyclan. As we're going to see, Cortes also wanted to make sure that his flank was guarded. He left behind his reliable friend Juan de Escalante at Vera Cruz. He told Escalante to defend the town at all costs, but interestingly, his fear
was not the Mexica. Rather, he told Escalante to defend the town from Velasquez. What he was worried about was a rival expedition. Primarily, this was a race against time. Cortez had to prove that he could do the job or, just like Cordoba and grivala you would find himself replaced next time Cortez sets out for history and technoshity Colon. If you've enjoyed the episode, you can check out the website Western Civ podcast dot com. There's tons of
additional content available there. If you'd like add free versions of the show, or would just like to support what we're doing, check out the Patreon feed Patreon dot com, forward slash Western ci Podcast. For just one dollar per month, you get all the shows with no ads. You can also check out Western Civ two point oh. There's a link in the show notes to a free seven day trial. This is a rehashing of a lot of the
original episodes back from the Ancient world and the classical world. We're in the midst at this point of the Peloponnesian Wars and beyond. All of them are much more detailed with much better audio quality because some of the early shows in the feed, let's just say, we were still figuring it out. Check it out. It's a free seven day trial if you'd like it. Finally, for those of viewer are teachers, I have a link to all my
teaching resources in these show notes as well. If that's something that you're so inclined and interested in until next week