In the meantime, an agent of the Spanish government had arrived in Mexico to investigate the accusations against Cortes and to take over the civil administration of the country. The enemies of Cortes had been tirelessly at work, claiming that he was spending the state’s funds on unnecessary enterprises, even striving to separate from Spain completely, to become the ruler of his own independent kingdom. Cortes didn’t have to wait long before he experienced all kinds of humiliation from the new commander. He decided to go to Spain to purify himself, took with him his most faithful comrades-in-arms, especially Sandoval, the sons of the princes of Tlaxcala, Indian revelers, dancers and dwarfs, some of whom were later presented to the Pope, samples of the wonderful products of the country, an excellent collection of precious gems, and much gold and silver. They happily sailed across the ocean in 41 days and landed in December 1527 in the harbor of Palos near the monastery of La Rabida. Sandoval, Cortes’ most loyal and gallant comrade-in-arms, died there, only 31 years old. Through his straightforward open-minded behavior, his chivalrous generosity in the distribution of booty, his moderation in danger, he had won the boundless confidence of the soldiers. True, they sometimes imitated him, for he slurred when he spoke, but no one’s orders were obeyed more precisely. Cortes mourned sincerely for his friend, who had experienced such wonderful adventures with him, and had assisted him in so great a great work. Cortes’ most loyal and gallant comrade-in-arms, only 31 years old. Through his straightforward open-minded behavior, his chivalrous generosity in the distribution of booty, his moderation in danger, he had won the boundless confidence of the soldiers. True, they sometimes imitated him, for he slurred when he spoke, but no one’s orders were obeyed more precisely. Cortes mourned sincerely for his friend, who had experienced such wonderful adventures with him, and had assisted him in so great a great work. Cortes’ most loyal and gallant comrade-in-arms, only 31 years old. Through his straightforward open-minded behavior, his chivalrous generosity in the distribution of booty, his moderation in danger, he had won the boundless confidence of the soldiers. True, they sometimes imitated him, for he slurred when he spoke, but no one’s orders were obeyed more precisely. Cortes mourned sincerely for his friend, who had experienced such wonderful adventures with him, and had assisted him in so great a great work.
The arrival of Cortes put an end to all rumors that he had rebellious intentions. All Spain rushed to see the hero, whose fame had spread to the remotest parts of the country, and along the way he was received with an enthusiasm reminiscent of Columbus’s return from his first voyage. In the past, representatives of the families came to greet him at the party. Charles V received him at Toledo with splendid honours, raised him to the marquisate, and gave him extensive possessions in the valley of Oaxaca, Mexico; hence Cortes’ new name: Marquis Del Valle. But he was no longer able to regain the civil administration of Mexico, even though he was appointed commander-in-chief of the military forces there. While in Spain, Cortes married a woman who belonged to one of the country’s oldest families, and returned to Mexico in 1530.
Cortes sea tours.
Even though Cortes had been ousted from the government of Mexico, he didn’t have to be. While he managed his vast affairs, he sent ships at his own expense to the Pacific Ocean on voyages of discovery. His nephew Mendoza sailed in 1532 as far as Cape California, where the crew mutinied; Mendoza was killed, one ship disappeared at sea, the other only returned. The following year, another expedition went to the same regions. There were two ships, but they got separated in the storm right at the beginning. The captain of the other ship was killed by the hand of the pilot; the pilot in turn, together with a few dozen men, fell into an Indian ambush at Cape California. However, the ship was able to return to Mexico. Another ship found the Revilla Gigedo islands in the sea. V. 1535 Cortes himself set out to sea with three ships, sailing them to the Californian peninsula, where, however, it was impossible to establish a colony due to the barrenness of the country and the poverty of the inhabitants. After being away for a couple of years, he came back somehow empty-handed. Nevertheless, the next year he sent off to Ulloa, who arrived on the western shore of Cape California, having lost one ship at the very beginning. Another ship returned from California and Ulloa alone continued the journey on the third, but then lost to the unknown.
Death of Cortes.
Cortes had spent a large part of his fortune on these enterprises and had also quarreled with the Viceroy of Mexico, which caused him to go to Spain again in 1540 to get justice and defense from the ruler. But Charles V received him coldly this time, in the end he hardly even got to speak with the ruler. After taking part in Charles V’s unfortunate campaign to Algiers in 1541, which would have ended differently if his advice had been followed, Cortes still stayed in Spain year after year, waiting for a more favorable turn of events, until he 2 d. Dec. in 1547 died in a village near Seville at the age of 63. His fate resembled that of Columbus. Corteskin was forgotten at the end of his life, he too died, like Columbus, waiting for compensation. The great conqueror was buried in Seville, but from there his bones were later transferred to Mexico. During the rebellion of 1823, when the rebels were about to break into the cathedral to open the tomb of the conqueror, a few brave men preceded the scene and took the coffin secretly to Italy. There, the last descendant of the family, an Italian nobleman, gave the bones of Fernando Cortes a place of honor in his family grave.
Cortes’ name and property were inherited by his children. He had an illegitimate son with the Mexican Doña Marina, who received a good upbringing and rose to a high position. Marina spent the rest of her life on the orders she had received from her master and lover. Montezuma’s daughters, whom Cortes took with him from the capital on the “night of sorrow”, must have been married to Spanish nobles, and it is an old family memory to know that Countess Montijo, the wife of Napoleon III, was descended from the daughter of the unfortunate ruler of the Aztecs.
Indian culture of Mexico and Central America.
Due to its climate, the highlands of Mexico were particularly suitable for the development of civilization, because even though it mostly belongs to the hot zone, the climate is nevertheless remarkably mild due to the altitude of the country. In the regions of the capital (2265 meters above sea level), summer is not hotter than in Central Europe, winter is not colder than in Algiers. We can therefore assume that the old Indian civilization that we have seen above developed precisely in the upland valley of Anahuac, which included the regions of the capital with its lakes and grain fields, although its older forms were found when the Spaniards arrived in the hot Yucatan and other borderlands of Mexico. Nowhere else did nature offer such good conditions for human development as in that highland, where the heat was not too strenuous, where there was no knowledge of frost, where the food plants of the temperate climate thrived best, but which at the same time was so close to the lushness of the hot climate. However, our knowledge of the early stages and roots of the Anahuak culture is very incomplete, although there are hopes that as ancient research progresses, they will still receive additional illumination.
The Aztecs, or Mexica, were the main people of the highlands of Mexico when the Spaniards came to the country. They appear to have founded Tenochtitlan in the early fourteenth century. We have seen to what a high degree of prosperity this city had risen in the course of a few centuries. It filled the first Spaniards with wonder and curiosity and many works were written about it. Others of the writers of that time thought that the large fossils of bones found in Mexico were the remains of giants who lived before the flood, and that since there were giants living on earth before the flood, Mexico had already received its inhabitants from the Old World then. On the other hand, it was concluded from the large number of American languages that this transition had taken place after the Babel confusion of languages. Siguenza probably came to that conclusion, that the Mexicans were descended from Naphtuhim, the son of Mizraim and the grandson of Noah, who had left Egypt shortly after the confusion of languages took place. These hobbies even had the benefit that through them a lot of Aztec fables, lore and customs were collected right after the conquest and their language was studied. It is true that our time no longer thinks of the Mexicans as the lost tribes of Israel, but the more we delve into their past, the more commonly the opinion prevails that the roots of the old civilization of Mexico and Central America came from the Old World. traditions and customs were collected immediately after the conquest and their language was studied. It is true that our time no longer thinks of the Mexicans as the lost tribes of Israel, but the more we delve into their past, the more commonly the opinion prevails that the roots of the old civilization of Mexico and Central America came from the Old World. traditions and customs were collected immediately after the conquest and their language was studied. It is true that our time no longer thinks of the Mexicans as the lost tribes of Israel, but the more we delve into their past, the more commonly the opinion prevails that the roots of the old civilization of Mexico and Central America came from the Old World.
Most researchers think that both Americas got their original population from the Old World via Alaska and that the Indians have the same Mongoloid ancestry as the Suur’khan’s subjects. If that is the case, then the move has nevertheless taken place very early, as no kind of kinship of the languages has been demonstrated. And racial characteristics have also changed greatly in the New World, depending on the place of residence. Even the American languages no longer have any kinship that would show that they branched off from the same parent language. According to it, America would have received its population from the Old World already in those early times, when there was still a land connection between Asia and America.
If there really are Asian elements in American culture, then their importation must have happened in another way. America has later received new population additions from across the ocean, who, although they could not change the race, have all the more influenced its conditions as cultural importers. This is not as impossible as it seems. Even in the last century, the currents of the Pacific Ocean brought Japanese ships caught in the wind to California every year, and often the shipwrecked were still alive. This is how the relatively late cultural influences that have been thought to be present in the Indian culture of Mexico could have come from Asia. Just like the Mongols and the Chinese, the old time calculation of the Mexicans is also based on some kind of zodiac system. The Mexicans learned about the four ages of the world, water, earth, of the age of air and fire is similar to that of the Hindus. The Mexicans thought there were nine layers in heaven and manala, as did the Brahmanas. In Mexico, at the time when Cortes conquered the country, a dice game was played with colored stones, which was somewhat complicated, but nevertheless exactly similar to a Hindu dice game.
Hieroglyphics in Mexico was so advanced that it could be used to inscribe the names of persons and places and the dates of events, and with the help of these notes, the professional historians of the Aztecs could preserve in their memory the phases of past times from generation to generation. After the conquest, the Spanish-educated natives interpreted these inscriptions and recorded their contents in memory. Probably the sculptural hieroglyphs preserved in the ruins of Central America had a similar meaning. The documents created in this way therefore have the value of history, although they contain a lot of fiction, which is difficult to distinguish from real cases.
Popol-Vuh.
The strangest books created in this way are the Guatemalan “Popol-Vuh”, or “people’s book”, in which the Quiché Indians, who are part of the Mayan people and who learned the art of engraving and converted to Christianity, collected the fables and memories of their people, embellishing them with biblical themes as well. The book begins with the time when there was nothing but the sky and its boundaries in the four winds, but there was still no piece, nothing that would have stuck to another, nothing that would have flown or crashed against another or made a sound. There was nothing below but the calm sea in the dark. Alone were the Creator, the Shaper, the Ruler, and the Feathered Serpent, those who give being, and whose name is Gucumatz. Creation took place when the creators said “earth”; the earth was formed like a cloud or a mist, and the mountains rose from the water like crustaceans, cypresses and pines covered the mountains and valleys, and animals and birds came into the forests. But these could not pronounce the name of their creator, nothing but liveries and rattling. Therefore, the first man was created from clay, but he was powerless and numb and dissolved in water. After that, human-like ones were made of wood, but these were quite unfit, for they had neither heart nor mind, but perished in the great flood and the rain of heaven, and those who survived were changed into monkeys, which are still seen in the forests. After these, four men and their wives were created, and from them the Quiché people descend. This people moved to Tulan, which is also called the “seven caves”, and from there across the sea, the water of which divided as they passed. and animals and birds came into the forests. But these could not pronounce the name of their creator, nothing but liveries and rattling. Therefore, the first man was created from clay, but he was powerless and numb and dissolved in water. After that, human-like ones were made of wood, but these were quite unfit, for they had neither heart nor mind, but perished in the great flood and the rain of heaven, and those who survived were changed into monkeys, which are still seen in the forests. After these, four men and their wives were created, and from them the Quiché people descend. This people moved to Tulan, which is also called the “seven caves”, and from there across the sea, the water of which divided as they passed. and animals and birds came into the forests. But these could not pronounce the name of their creator, nothing but liveries and rattling. Therefore, the first man was created from clay, but he was powerless and numb and dissolved in water. After that, human-like ones were made of wood, but these were quite unfit, for they had neither heart nor mind, but perished in the great flood and the rain of heaven, and those who survived were changed into monkeys, which are still seen in the forests. After these, four men and their wives were created, and from them the Quiché people descend. This people moved to Tulan, which is also called the “seven caves”, and from there across the sea, the water of which divided as they passed. Therefore, the first man was created from clay, but he was powerless and numb and dissolved in water. After that, human-like ones were made of wood, but these were quite unfit, for they had neither heart nor mind, but perished in the great flood and the rain of heaven, and those who survived were changed into monkeys, which are still seen in the forests. After these, four men and their wives were created, and from them the Quiché people descend. This people moved to Tulan, which is also called the “seven caves”, and from there across the sea, the water of which divided as they passed. Therefore, the first man was created from clay, but he was powerless and numb and dissolved in water. After that, human-like ones were made of wood, but these were quite unfit, for they had neither heart nor mind, but perished in the great flood and the rain of heaven, and those who survived were changed into monkeys, which are still seen in the forests. After these, four men and their wives were created, and from them the Quiché people descend. This people moved to Tulan, which is also called the “seven caves”, and from there across the sea, the water of which divided as they passed. but they perished in a great flood and rain from heaven, and those who survived were turned into apes, which are still to be seen in the forests. After these, four men and their wives were created, and from them the Quiché people descend. This people moved to Tulan, which is also called the “seven caves”, and from there across the sea, the water of which divided as they passed. but they perished in a great flood and rain from heaven, and those who survived were turned into apes, which are still to be seen in the forests. After these, four men and their wives were created, and from them the Quiché people descend. This people moved to Tulan, which is also called the “seven caves”, and from there across the sea, the water of which divided as they passed.
»Popol-Vuh», this Central American work, which was discovered and translated into Spanish by Father Ximenes in the 1700s, is important, despite its legendary origin, because it mentions similar names that are also found in the old records of Mexico. Gucumatz or »Feathered Serpent» corresponds to the Mexican god Quetzalcoatl; Tulan and “seven caves” are common words in Aztec wandering tales, and let’s also mention a chief named Toltecat, whose name is obviously the same as the old famous Toltec people. »Popol-Vuh» thus confirms the conclusions of later studies that there was a cultural connection between Mexico and Central America, even though the languages were foreign to each other. »Popo-lVuh» lists a long series of chiefs up to the time when these began to have Spanish names and the great Quiché city fell into ruins.
Similar memorials have been recovered from the Mayans of Yucatan, which also tell about the prehistoric migration from Tula, Mexico. The name of the four leaders of this expedition was Tutul-xui, meaning “bird tree”, which is the Aztec language. That also somehow refers to old connections.
