|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mesoamerica were not tightly integrated into larger political systems, even potential enemies were often permitted to pass through as long as they were not actively hostile. Moreover the presence of avowed enemies, even in Tenochtitlan, was not unusual. Although Aztec inactivity in the face of the Spanish approach appears naive in retrospect, the nature of the Spaniards was unclear to the Aztecs: they did not appear hostile, despite having defeated the Tlaxcaltecs and the Chololtecs, and they sent no ambassadors declaring war, although they did disregard the messages sent by the Aztecs. Thus their status was ambiguous; they could have been a group approaching to seek an alliance. So instead of meeting the Spaniards at some distance from Tenochtitlan and fighting them there as they would have met an enemy force, the Aztecs permitted them to enter their capital, as they would have if they were peaceful. However, this decision may have been colored by the next factor to be considered. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Third, the timing of Cortés's entry was fortuitous, as it was for many of his later actions. He entered Tenochtitlan toward the end of the harvest season, in early November. The elite military orders would have been available to fight at that time, but most of the army, the commoners, were heavily engaged in harvest activities. Moreover, the Spaniards arrived well before the festival of Panquetzaliztli, which marked the beginning of the first major campaigns. The religious festival was not an absolute brake on military activities, but it was the time that supplies, recruitment, and training were all scheduled for completion. Military activities before then had to contend with the problem of a preoccupied agrarian populace and a military apparatus not fully prepared for battle. This unpreparedness had not been a problem previously, since all Mesoamerican polities shared the same limitations. The Spaniards, however, did not: they lived off the land and were unconcerned with the long-term welfare of the populace, seizing or coercing whatever food or manpower they required from the local leadership. The Tlaxcaltecs suffered from the same logistical shortcomings as the Aztecs, though to a lesser degree, but they would never have attacked Tenochtitlan at this timehad they dared to at allif the choice had been theirs alone. However, prodded by the Spaniards and presented with an unprecedented opportunity, the Tlaxcaltecs sent accompanying troops. Thus, the timing of the Spanish entry was fortuitous: the Aztecs did not expect a major military challenge at this time, and they would have been reluctant to commit the forces necessary to deter one because of |
|
|
|
|
|