In May 1520, Tenochtitlan celebrated the Festival of Toxcatl, the highest day in the Aztec calendar. As an act of diplomacy, the city residents invited the Spanish guests to witness the festivities. At the height of celebration, when the bravest captains and warriors performed a ritual known as the Dance of the Serpent, the Spanish launched a surprise attack: soldiers in full body armor surrounded the palace. The Spanish spared no brutality, including beheadings, dismemberments, and widespread destruction. Those who tried to flee found all means of egress blocked. A survivor recalled that “the blood of the warriors flowed like water and gathered into pools. The pools widened, and the stench of blood and entrails filled the air” (León-Portilla 2006:76). Emperor Montezuma was taken captive, betrayed by his guests. In the blink of an eye, Tenochtitlan saw its leaders butchered, its holy sites desecrated, and its warriors torn asunder.
Image Source
- Diego Durán. Historia de las Indias de Nueva-España e islas de la tierra firme. 1579–1581. Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid, Vitr/26/11, fol. 211r. Courtesy of the collections of the Biblioteca Nacional de España.
Further Reading
- León Portilla, Miguel. The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico. Translated by Lysander Kemp. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006.
- Olivier, Guilhem. “Pedro de Alvarado, Eva y la serpiente: ¿Cuáles fueron las causas de la ‘matanza de Tóxcatl’?” Arqueología Mexicana 163 (2020): 24–33.
- Restall, Matthew. When Montezuma Met Cortés: The True Story of the Meeting That Changed History. New York: Ecco, 2018.
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