By late December 1520, when the first wave of smallpox infections was diminishing, news arrived at Tenochtitlan that invaders were marching back through the Valley of Mexico. Between January and April 1521, the attacking armies—an alliance of Tlaxcalteca, Tetzcoca, and Spanish forces—had achieved multiple victories within the Tenochtitlan sphere of influence. Without time to recover from the epidemic outbreak, the city braced for imminent attack.
On May 10, Tenochtitlan was besieged and its supplies and potable water cut off. This drawing depicts the return of the invaders to the city. To the left, the invading forces, composed of Tlaxcalteca and Tetzcoca warriors accompanied by a lone Spanish soldier on horseback, approach the city. To the right awaits a regiment of Tenochtitlan defenders, greatly diminished by the recent epidemic, armed with lances and shields. The city bravely resisted for more than four months, until mid-August 1521, when the invaders entered the city, committing unspeakable atrocities. Tenochtitlan, having survived one of the worst epidemic outbreaks in history, fell at the hands of the invading armies.
The resulting power vacuum led to three decades of instability and warfare as Mesoamerican forces grappled for supremacy. By 1550, the Spanish emerged victorious, establishing the foundations of a colonial empire that would rule for three centuries. No one could have imagined this result: the Spanish armies, hailing from a small, seafaring nation, hardly seemed a match for the warriors of Mesoamerica. Epidemics brought by Europeans that had ravaged Native Americans while sparing most foreign invaders were the decisive factor in paving the way for the eventual Spanish rule.
Image Source
- Diego Muñoz Camargo. Historia de Tlaxcala. 1585. University of Glasgow Library, Scotland, MS Hunter 242 (U.3.15), 274v. By permission of University of Glasgow Library, Archives & Special Collections.
Further Reading
- Cook, Noble David. Born to Die: Disease and New World Conquest, 1492–1650. New Approaches to the Americas. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
- Restall, Matthew. When Montezuma Met Cortés: The True Story of the Meeting That Changed History. New York: Ecco, 2018.
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