How Did Montezuma Contribute To The Downfall Of The Aztecs?

“Be reassured, Motecuhzoma, have no fear. We have great affection for you. Today our hearts are at peace. We see your face, we hear you. For a long time now we have wanted to see you.” (Portilla, 160) Montezuma II, also known as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotizin in the Nahuatl Language, lived 1466-1520 CE (Cottril). He was the 9th and final leader of the Aztecs. He met the famous conquistador of Spain, Hernando Cortes. Montezuma II was a very dynamic, militaristic, and theological leader of the Aztecs, his legacy led to the downfall of the Aztecs, as a reminder for developing civilizations. Montezuma II was a very militaristic leader, whom was feared by his enemies. Montezuma’s armies were very brutal when in the time of attack (Hassig). According

He was priest in the temple of the war god Huitzilopochi (Encyclopedia of World). He believed in the art of sacrificing. He offered people, infants, youth, and warriors to the gods. He once offered twelve thousand warriors to the god Huitzilopochi (Gale). He would offer many kinds of people. Young, old, newborn, middle age, and especially warriors. He would go to war just to capture warriors (Gale). He sacrificed many people for his religion. He believed that the gods needed the sacrifices. Montezuma also believed in omens and prophecies, even his people. He saw many signs, one including a comet that referred to the return of the banished god Quetzalcoatl (PBS "Fall of the…"). They believed that Quetzalcoatl was to return in 1519 CE.Montezuma feared of these omens, and was afraid of the return of Quetzalcoatl. He and his people believed it was going to happen. The god Quetzalcoatl is tied to the year Ce Acatl or One Reed. This year is correlated to the year 1519, coincidently the year the Spanish, subjects of King Charles V, of Spain landed the coast of modern-day Mexico (Townsend) Montezuma learned of their arrival in 1519 CE (Encyclopedia of World). Montezuma and his people believed in the omens predicting the arrival of the bearded, fair-skinned god. It came true when the bearded, fair-skinned Spanish came to the Aztec's

Cortés would talk to Montezuma about many things. Montezuma would usually refuse to talk about his religion to him (Gale). Cortés and the Spanish had a strong feeling toward the Aztec’s religion, he did not enjoy the sacrifices that were happening regularly. Since the Spanish were Catholic, they wanted to put an end to the sacrifices (Gale). One day, Cortés was out walking around the city, when he passed a statue of one of the Aztec’s gods. It had three hearts under it from previous sacrifices. Cortés became angry at the Aztec’s evilness, he grabbed a metal bar and broke the statue’s face (Gale). When the leader of the Spanish did so, the Aztec’s took it as an insult to their religion (Gale). Cortés made the Aztecs angry toward the Spanish. It lead to many revolts and riots against the Spanish. Montezuma was forced to become a subject of King Charles V (Cartwright). Cortés felt strongly against Montezuma's religion, involving sacrifices. He used Montezuma's weaknesses to bring down the empire. Many weeks later, Cortés had to leave to fight in a war against Cuba, and left a Spaniard named Pedro de Alvarado in charge (Gale). While Alvarado was in charge, the Aztecs were having a religious festival. He shut the gates, attacked and killed many Aztec nobles and chiefs (Gale, Montezuma II Robinson). Many were killed, and it made the Aztecs revolt and want