Awestruck Conquistador Describes Alien World of Tenochtitlan (1519) // Memoir of Bernal Diaz
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2021
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Extracts taken from "THE MEMOIRS OF THE CONQUISTADOR BERNAL DÍAZ DEL CASTILLO
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF CONTAINING A TRUE AND FULL ACCOUNT
OF THE DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST OF MEXICO AND NEW SPAIN."
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL SPANISH BY
JOHN INGRAM LOCKHART, F.R.A.S.
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32475
Image credits:
Cortes destroying his ships By AlejandroLinaresGarcia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Cortes and his soldiers By José Luis Pescador - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Feathered Serpent Statue By Jami Dwyer - www.flickr.com/photos/jamidwy..., CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
The Conquistadors encountering the Aztecs has never been made into a major motion picture and yet is the most incredible historical story of the past 1000 years.
Apocalypto
Cortez’s quest to the Aztec capital matches what Alexander the Great did. But now it would get too politically sensitive to make a truly good film on these events.
@@elliottjames671 That wasn't Cortez, it was some other Spaniard or explorer.
They really didn't Conquer them, they eradicated them by exposing them to Diseases which they had no immunity to. 🤷🏾♂️
There was a movie made in the seventies I had to watch in college. It was extremely okay.
They say that the best accounts of history aren’t the ones that pretend to be unbiased, but the ones that openly state their bias. That’s why Diaz’s account is so good.
How is that better?
@@chetsenior7253 Historians looking back can account much easier for bias when they know what they’re looking for.
@markusandrews1607 I do not believe the conquest accounts of history, specially when rounded up, specific numbers are thrown around, more than bias propaganda is key here, it exists now, obviously backthen too.
@@chetsenior7253 Because they freely admit what they did and what happened. They have no reason soften their story, or make excuses or lie about what they did. They are proud of it. It's like .. if you really want to know what Hamas did, just look at their livestreams and the stuff they say they did. They too don't give a rip about human rights or what people will think of their stories. In the case of the Aztecs, however, I side with the Spanish overall. Human sacrifice, particularly of children .. and not just sacrifice but ritual torture before their little hearts are ripped out .. is evil incarnate. The Spanish had their issues, but look at what they had encountered.
@@tapewerm6716 It was lile the movie Dumb and Dumber. Both were awful Lmao
It’s amazing how much they had in common and how much was different.
I can imagine a Spanish soldier having a great time at the banquet, reminded of feasts back in Spain, and then a hush falls over the table and their veins turn to ice as human flesh is presented on a platter.
And then he's like "how barbaric, back home we just burn them alive"
@arbaazshaw8123 and then the Spaniard goes on a raping spree, completely wiping out local culture and having people now identify as "Latin" when they are really Indigenous Americans or mixed 😂😂
biased
@@arbaazshaw8123Un tipo de apellido inglés condenando por quemar gente, te tienes que reír.
@@potatheadd yes. I have a bias against cannibalism and human sacrifice.
Imagine how on edge all those veteran conquistadors would have been around all that human sacrifice, idol worship, and extravagance.
They are appaled at human sacrifice but not at burning people at the stake. Very mixed morals.
It’s so interesting that Moctezuma had dwarfs as buffoons in his court, because the Spanish Habsburgs did the same
Maybe they got it from the Aztecs
So did Freddie Mercury!
@@callumbush1 🤣
This makes me wonder how much of this story is made up by the Spanish captain.
@@juandoe1146 it makes me wonder such too. Either that, or we humans share in such vulgar humor and fascination with the giants and dwarves born among us.
I love stuff like this. People talk about history as a sequence of objective events over hundreds of years but hardly anyone ever contextualises what it was like to live at those times. Being able to hear what they thought and understand what motivated them to do what they did makes it seem a lot more real and grounded in the world we can see today.
They were racists and evil, obviously.
@@sdsd2e2321 People who see historical events as good vs evil are stupid and hopeless propagandists. Usually because they have their own egos and self esteem wrapped up in events that have nothing to do with them. As bad as people who try to use history to push modern day political agendas by misrepresenting and not contextualising what happened. Yes they were racist but so was everyone else and you can see why they thought the way they did based on their circumstances.
@@sdsd2e2321 i think racist ideologies were more of a later development
Mrkmas
I recommend the book Aztec, by Gary Jennings. A great book that will provide you with a window into Aztec society. It will really show what it was like in Mesoamerica those days. I know because I'm a student of said societies and my father had the honor of going there as part of a archeological team, to study their society.
@@firedragon4794 that is definitely an excellent book! Highly recommend!
I honestly have a lot of respect for Bernal Diaz. He was no scholar and definitely was no historian but he was a soldier and I want to say, as much as the average conquistador had, an appreciation for who the Aztecs were
At least he was literate unlike the yoyos enlisting in the Michigan Militia 😂
I have read Bernal Diaz's "The Conquest of New Spain". It is a fantastic read, and it is amazing how accurate his memory was, 50+ years after the events.
It was humorous that each successive tribe pointed the Spaniards to the next city state when they asked for gold as they began their exploration.
It is truly epic. Bernal Diaz's narrative captures the grandeur of this empire without the usual European chest-pounding about the "savages" encountered. Bernal was an excellent eyewitness.
His-Story = History 😂😂😂😂😂😂 . As the old saying goes : Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see. 😮😮😮😮
I have also read the book, it’s crazy how ill prepared they were, how they forged Cuba and took all the horses and provisions, which were limited to explore Mexico, we forget the spaniards were poor, they went to Mexico looking for wealth which they found. I agree Bernals story and account was amazing
@@JoseSanchez-sd7ct Many of the leaders were second sons, hijos de algo or hidalgos. European countries had established primogeniture laws, in which only the first sons inherited the entire estate, which did reduce the warfare that went on between sons as the estate value shrank after being subdivided.
The explorations were approved by local representatives of the Crown, often with money or equipment or both. Contracts included a grant of land, natives and resources found, after the Crown got it's due.
The economic and logistics of the discovery and settling of the New World were very different between Spain, France and England, who came at different time periods.
You really shouldn't take the acounts of the conquistadores anywhere near at face value. Diaz was a politically motivated person with an imperfect memory. its not remarkable at all how incredible his memory was. If your wondering I have read the book, in addition to works by prominant/paramount modern Aztec historians such as "when Moctezuma met Cortes" which help shed light on the fact that the conquistadores were consciously altering their descriptions/timeline of events in Tenochtitlan to legally justify the war/takeoever.
For example, there is no evidence or reason to believe that Moctezuma surrendored himself or his empire to the Spanish when Cortes arrived at the city gates. Historians looking at his actions & mobility clearly demonstrate he was not in fact kept prisoner in the palace until many months after the initial beginning of contact. Prior to that he'd of viewed the Spanish as another oddity in his zoo.
@heremapping4484 thank you . Unfortunately History is told by the Conquerors and Victors of War. 1 sided mostly
Oh, how I wish I could go back in time and just see Tenochtitlan from afar, it sounds like the most beautiful city... unless you're being sacrificed...
Minus the human sacrdifice?
Mayb thats bullshit...ever thought about that...who showed us proff ....the conquistadorS....mmmmmm
@@thatesedog805 look at recent archeological discoveries. It all was true. They located the displays of hundreds of skull remains of sacrificed humans...including women and children.
@@thatesedog805 we always knew about the sacrifices , since forever .
@@thatesedog805 oh shut up pro-savage. U cant get your gold back get over with it already .
must've been so crazy to see a completely alien world... what a sight it must've been
“They got these weird kinda llama beasts they ride that goes crazy fast and use sticks that throw pebbles as fast as a lightening bolt, and with the same noise.” -random conversation at the local Aztec bar
@@brokeneyes6615 No llamas in Mexico. That's Peru.
Absolutely!
Imagine the Mexica seeing some short dirty bearded guy on a horse, in armor, holding a pike or a musket.
@@doodoobrn Europeans would've been much taller, but yeah they might be dirty after a month long march in the jungle
This is amazing, thank you. When my father died I was given some of his Folio Society hard back books and I chose those of this kind - I was reading one which is the words of Columbus with pictures. This film is like the 100x better super version of that book - a contemporary account as it happened in those days.
Fascinating, I’ve always looked for first had accounts of the ancient world, excellent channel
It's likely no human will ever experience anything like this again.
The only comparison would be stepping on an alien world never before seen by human eyes.
Which is something that will very likely happen someday.
Maybe humans will spread far out across the galaxy, and become sperated from each other for thousands of years. Then one day one group discovers another group and a similar course of events takes place.
I dunno......maybe a venture into Portland or Seattle Wa. might be comparatively weird experience ?
@@joevines3428 nice thought
Maybe North Sentinel Island, but not like this, nothing like explorers discovering an empire.
Diaz was so traumatized by the continuous running battle and the ferocity of the Aztec warriors that he slept in his clothes, on the floor until he died in Guatemala when he was well into his eighty's. He had a bad case of PTSD from all the things he saw and did.
Interesting.
@@Thehabanero_ sure buddy. At least he wasn't a baby eating savage
@@tarsicio2426 the Spaniards were just as brutal as the natives.
@@Thehabanero_ were they literal fucking cannibals though. Didn't think so
@@tarsicio2426 might have not been but they literally did many other brutal things. Not sure why you’re trying to defend them as some sort of “white saviors” when they literally enslaved countries. At the end of the day, they weren’t any better either.
Fascinating! I loved it thank you ❤️
The end quote brought me to tears for some reason. You explained this so well, thank you!
Cry
Goofy
This story is absolutely insane because it really happened. One of those times in history that you wonder what it would be like to live through, and you wonder if you’d realize the historical magnitude of what you’re experiencing.
Kinda like now
Probably not, most of those there on both sides were illiterate, finding weird shit back then was not uncommon since people rarely travel. North Spain at those times was bastly different from South Spain. People forget America was discovered the same year Reconquista ended (1492). Greetings from a Spaniard to any muslim or Hispanic reading, be proud of your history and ancestors.
Absolutely. Like what we are going thru now, back then while the conquest was going on, back in Europe the Reformation was happening. Crazy times to have been alive.
It would suck to live back then unless you were very wealthy
@@manumanitas161 the Spanish side was illiterate, but the nahua people had a very efficient education system, the calpulis and the calmecacs, one were for trade learning like agriculture, stone masonry, wood carving, etc. The calmecac was the warrior and priests school, here nobles came to learn the ways of "wisdom" and would literally serve in their youth as labourers in temples and other important projects. Everybody had a role and were free to pursue what they wanted. There's even a story were netzahualcoyotl (an aztec emperor) captured a man that was stealing food, when he questioned him he argued that his family was hungry and that he rather die than see then suffer the pain of hunger, after hearing this, he opened the royal granaries and ordered his troops to plant on the side of the roads all kinds of vegetables and fruits, so if his people had hunger they could all eat for free. There are several stories about the morals and ethics of the prehispanic people that would amaze you. So many battles, love stories, dramas and gruesome deaths, game of thrones looks like teletubies next to reality
there are things in Bernal Dias' work that have the ring of truth where imagination could not have produced them: one in particular, Dias describes, as an aside, how difficult it is to see and avoid arrows and darts (from atl atl) in a battle in a corn field that by chance occurred during a plague of flying locusts. No author, novelist or screen writer could ever imagine such a thing.
Also Bernal Diaz's account jibes pretty closely with Cortez's own account. I've read both.
@@CoIoneIPanic Snap. I read Bernals account first and was transported back five hundred years in time into the jungle. He said that he could not write in such flowery terms as others and thank goodness as it was such an easy read after the first twenty or thirty pages.
What is the name of the book(s) I'm definitely interested in reading them. Thank you in advance fellas
@@josephcosta5382 the discovery and conquest of Mexico.
One thing that stuck out to me in his account, where everything else in the book was 100% realistic, is when the natives told them about a giant people who lived there a long time ago, and Bernal said the thigh bone was as tall as him!
How lucky are we to have the ability to hear these stories
I read this book years ago after getting the Gary Jennings Aztec trilogy and becoming fascinated by the subject of the America's before Europeans arrived. I've read a number of books on the Aztec's but none quite compares to Diaz's tale which really captures that last moment of innocense and wonder before and after the fall of the Aztec empire. This is very straight forward story from Diaz's point of view as he experienced it.
"Then, the great lord Moctetsoma did take a hit of the royal bong and fell into a deep sleep..."
It had to be weed
Wacky Tobaccy
theres plenty stronger than weed to smoke in south america
A royal bong on the head by his own people*
@@HazeyCazeyTv and It was the Spanish who brought weed to the American Continent. They had received It hundreds of years before from the arabs.
There's an eyewitness account of a Spaniard that I read in which they described the human sacrifice ceremonies of the Aztecs in great detail. The priests would dance around wearing the flayed skin of the victims. The blood was collected in gourds. The flesh was cooked in a special dish. Really dark stuff. Entire sections of the city covered in human skulls.
Do you know the name? Would like to check it out.
@@chofi9986 It was covered in 'Aztecs' by Inga Clendinnen. That book deep dives into all aspects of Aztec civilization. It was basically a culture that revolved around almost never ending sacrificial festivals. Bernal Diaz is one of the sources in the book, but i think this video may have left out the most gruesome bits. There's also the account of another conquistador, Andres De Tapia.
@@soapmaker2263 The sacrifices served a valuable purpose -- they controlled the population and ensured that there was always enough wealth to be shared among the people while still allowing the nobility to siphon great amounts of wealth. Think of it as an extreme form of taxation. The reason it fell apart was due to European diseases taking their place -- suddenly population control was no longer a problem. The Spanish had no need to enforce their ban on human sacrifice as nature was already taking 90% of the population on its own. This could have potentially brought great wealth to Mexico if the Spanish nobility had not been even more rapacious in its extraction than the Aztec had been.
i.e. they were basically implementing the Thanos snap.
From what I remember, the Aztecs had a festival for each of their gods in which human sacrifices were made. The specific killing methods and other ritual customs varied for each god. Children were often involved and sometimes needed to be of a specific age and phenotype for certain ceremonies, among other details.
They also performed mass sacrifices for other occasions such as days of commemoration, celebrating victory, asking for favor before a military expedition, etc. On one instance, when they rededicated the great temple in tenochtitaln, they sacrificed 80,000 prisoners of war. The neighbors of the Aztecs hated them for good reason
@@NozomuYume A VERY extreme an inhumane form of “taxation” very interesting nevertheless.
I love your main channel, but I'm quickly falling in love with this channel, too. I would love if you did longer texts. I know some channels have attempted this, but their quality isn't good and they're old.
I am not History Time, I am his brother.
@@VoicesofthePast Well I love both your channels. It would be interesting if you could do some slightly longer texts.
I read his book about a decade ago. It was shockingly brutal, & truthful. Absent of the propaganda of "glorious victory" of most military histories. He had a steel trap mind for memory. He is so detailed in his account, reporting failure as much as success, that the account rings true.
And this is why we can’t have nice things. It’s well known that the conquistadors’ accounts are well exaggerated to fit their narrative
This video does not mention the nearly 20,000 native combat troops that joined the Spanish to overthrow the hated Aztecs. Bernal Dias describes that the style of Aztec war was designed to acquire living captives for sacrifice and that bravery in battle lead to military promotion for Aztecs, therefore each elite Aztec officer had many non-combatant assistants for securing prisoners and taking them to the rear of the battle. In such battles Aztecs were trying to incapacitate the opponent in a manner that they could survive for sacrifice, rather than kill them in combat. The veteran Spanish who were with Cortes the longest had very tight combat discipline. The second wave of Spanish troops (those sent to arrest Cortes) had a much higher casualty rate.
Truth never expires. So maybe it wasn't true? I've never heard of it
@JA-ru3il maybe, maybe not. Nations (or whatever grouping we assign to civilizations) always have enemies, Aztecs being no different, it stands to reason that their enemies would allie with a stronger group against them. It's not at all an uncommon occurrence in history.
@@JA-ru3il It is common knowledge nowadays. The tlaxcalans helped the spanish defeat the aztec and Tlaxcalan nobility kept their lands and tittles in return. Many Tlaxcalan and hispanic families were sent to the north to help colonize what is today New Mexico.
The Purepecha on the West Coast has been warring with the Aztecs for centuries but were never conquered (they had metallurgy and even kept Aztecs as slaves). When the Spaniards began fighting the Aztecs, the Aztecs begged them to join forces. The Purepecha said, "Get fucked" and signed a treaty that allowed them to remain a sovereign territory now known as Michoacan.
@@youtubecensors5419jajajajajaja
It's truly one of the most remarkable things I'd ever read. Right up there with Caesar's Gallic Wars, which, as mentioned here, Cortes had studied. Same with John Smith's accounts of VA and New England. Unbelievable audacity.
Even more remarkable is that Bernal Diaz del Castillo was more of an ordinary soldier, or very poor rital nobility, basically a peasant. He wrote the memoir in his old age at his tanching and farming estate in what is now Guatemala, where he settled with his Native American wife and family after a lifetime of hard work and adventure.
@@brianmccarthy5557 It´s not what it looks like to foreigners. In the Crown of Castilla didn´t exist servitude, like in the rest of feudal Europe. European friends or enemies of spaniards at that time tended to consider plain spaniards as arrogants, as if they were servants, half slaves, that behave inappropriately, like those existing in England, France or even Prusia or Rusia in XIX century. Castillians were born free, the difference between the noble people and the rest, the so called "pecheros" is that "pecheros" had to pay personal taxes like those paid today for the incomes of your workd, "pecheros" were the working class that very often were richer than some noble people and as free as them. Noble people didn´t paid those taxes, but in turn they had forbidden to work in ordinary jobs and had to serve the King (the State today) in whatever place they were orderd to do. Díaz del Castillo was what is called an "hidalgo", a low rank noble, but even if he was a peasant he would be as free as an hidalgo. And a low rank noble was the one that wasn´t very rich. And that thing of a "native amrican" has connotations in USA or anglophone world that don´t have in Spain. By the time Bernal was and old man, all the natives of Indian origin were subjects of the king of Spain the same that those born in Zamora or Naples, except those who lived in "indigenous reductions", but this isn´t the place to explain it.
Add to this Graham Hancock books and much of these civilizations take on an even more magical tint.
What unfathomable balls it must have taken to usurp Montezuma in his own stronghold surrounded by hundreds of thousands of his people.
Go back and listen again. According to this account, Montezuma acquiesced willingly and excitedly, because of a prophecy from his ancestors.
Excellent reading!!! I love these stories
This is so absolutely incredible! The fact that it’s a true story is amazing
True???
HBO has been itching for a series to match the success of Game of Thrones. Well...here you go. This would be epic!
no, the pagans get conquered...that will never do for HBO
@@seanautilis15 spot-on
Yes!!!
Watch the series, ''Hernan'' in Amazon Prime, it's perfect.
@@giuliorobertoful is it good? Closed captions?
I read this book in English , loved it. In Spanish it’s even better. Quite funny , too. Written by an 84 year old!
Gary Jennings also has great books...not real but cool...
@Mr. Shark Tooth suggesting a book
I read it too. Great.
Como se llama el libro? Tengo que mejorar mi español jaja
5:29 creo que es el título, Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España
Both Cortes as well as Montezuma are such enigmatic personalities. It’s like no matter how many pov’s and versions of these matters I hear, there is no deeper insight into the thought processes and intentions or reasons for each actions and words spoken by either of these men. Montezuma more so, but still, their interactions with one another are very uncanny and difficult to interpret. Even though everything about this episode of human history is amazing and mind blowing, the two heads of each side in this most alien story of first contact make the stories so much more bizarre and even further from the experience of most people. If they met in 2023 at a Yankee’s game, having adjacent seats, I wonder if the things said by each of them would still be so full of countless often contradicting emotions, and impenetrable intent
Word jargon
A movie of this seriously needs to be made definitely one of the biggest events in human history period.
We history nerds & ethnologists will get upset when the screenwriters & prop-masters get things wrong… I’d be soooooo into it if every single person working on the movie thoroughly read Díaz before beginning the project… 🤔 I’m gonna hafta re-listen to Daniele Bolelli’s multi-episode podcast series about Cortés showing up in Mexico (it’s very, very, good…I’ve already listened to that bundle like 4 or more times 🤟)
Not everything should be prostituted and turned into some bullshit fictional movie. Real life is so much interesting than a stupid ass movie. Horrible idea.
deviations to plot are fine, but too much anachronistic injection or outright inaccuracy ruins the setting.@@miahconnell23
Nothing compared to trump's sinister family dynasty.
Hell china's history pales in comparison.and it's going on in our modern times.😁🏴☠️🥸
Descendants of the last Aztec _tlatoani,_ the ruler all currently live in Spain since Spain is a Constitutional Monarchy that allows for nobility, while Mexico is a Republic.
That sounds like bullshit. How/why would the Spanish crown even recognize such a farcical ‘nobility’ as that?
@@thebrocialist8300 apparently the Spanish just decided that they were like the other noble houses in their empire, it apparently still exists.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Moctezuma_de_Tultengo
@@sergpie,
I believe it was the same with the Inca nobility, in Peru'.
@@thebrocialist8300 How do you determine which nobility is farcical and which it isn’t?
@@sergpie The link on the previous comment shows that they did recognize it, in fact. The Wikipedia article has referencies from external sources like university papers. What sources do you have to claim otherwise?
I have his book but had to watch the video because you always do such a great job.
Who's book?
@@daveeol1987 "The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico" - Bernal Diaz del Castillo. It's available in paperback for about $15.
@@kylebarton778 thanks
@dev null Not sure if you're setting up a joke or something, but that book was written almost 400 years ago, by the same guy, also known as Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. Even its first English translation was more than a century ago.
@dev null chill out karen
What a brilliant channel this is.
History is all about perspective, and this channel is so underrated and deserves more praise due to depicting history that way.
Perspective? History isn't a poem, it's about facts. The winners usually write history, and you can bet the Spaniards only wrote a fraction of the really horrifying things the aztecs/mayans were up to.
This was an amazing video as always. Also I would LOVE a video on the 80 year war, or anything about The Netherlands before they became United.
This is amazing. What a spectacular moment in history.
I think the Aztecs say the exact opposite lmao
@@zechariahross1444Everyone who was sacrificed by the Aztecs would say the opposite of that.😂
6:47
Very eerie to learn that Montezuma spoke of his ancestors saying that. After all, that is exactly what happened. Eerie, but fascinating.
Imagine being an explorer in those days, seeing all those new lands for the first time
And then being ordered to destroy all of the beauty, in the name of Spain.
@@dellcoc 1st, they didn't have the orders to destroy any beauty, they allied with literally all the tribes to defeat the Aztecs, who were enslaving and sacrificing the other natives.
2- eventually queen Isabella forbid slavery of natives (though not African slavery) and granted them the rights any 'Spanish' had.
3- there's no Spain yet at that point, it was the Castillian empire, in fact it had a much different flag, for instance.
4- you have been fed BS by protestants, and I have to be this blunt. What happened in the late XV or early XVI century can't be judged with current morals or seen under 2020+ lens, that's idiotic to say the least and you perfectly know it.
The 'Spanish' forbid slavery of natives (although it was still allowed in some cases, such as cannibals and enemy soldiers), built schools, universities and churchs, and also invested about 80% of the richness generated there in those American cities instead of bringing everything to Spain. This all happened gradually, of course. About 2/3rds of latin Americans are natives to some degree, compare that to North America...
Do yourself a favour and read one or two (neutral if possible) books about the Spanish empire or better yet, read whatever authors you prefer and use your critical thinking to judge if this was a particularly evil or destructive empire. I'm honestly glad it was the Spanish who got there 'first' and I'm not even a patriot, at all. I think I know what would've happened to those lands if it was the British, for instance. Probably the same or worse.
@@dellcoc those poor child sacrificers....
@@michaelkirby5272 The Conquistadors saved the children, only to rape them all.
michaelkirby5272 The spanish were way more brutal and caused the death and suffering of way more.
Absolutely fascinating, what a gem of an upload this is.
Surely one or more of the big TV companies have talent spotted this YT channel and sought to enlist the makers. The content is amazing, the narrator's voice is perfect. Very impressive.
This was your best work yet. Congratulations! I was thrilled until the very last sentence
he just READ from somebody else's WORK.............
Yes
Excellent narration, I also learned something thank you!
Absolutely incredible. Makes you feel like you’re right there with them
That a tv or streaming series has not yet been produced about this visceral tapestry of history is truly a great injustice. To witness one of the greatest cities ever built in the ancient world must have been overwhelming.
There was an enormous amount of violence in the subjugation of the Aztecs. Not fictional violence. People will be disgusted and shocked if they watch a faithful representation.
Apocalypto is the closest we will get, too political.
There has, it's called "Hernan" only on Amazon Latin America. You can see a few episodes on CZcams, it's an eight part miniseries.
They made a series named Hernan based on all of this in 2019 you can find it with English subtitles
black legend at work
This was fascinating. Your best video yet!
Why do I keep seeing your comments everywhere?
Hey! Do you have Instagram?
I guess we're on a similar algorithm.
Works like this, if you would record audio-books of this quality, I would certainly be interested in buying audio-books, if Voices of the Past would publish them.
Moctezuma’s descendants can still be found in Spain today - they were given their own nobility title and there’s a statue in his honor at the entrance of Madrid’s Royal Palace. One of his descendants was actually the founder of Spain’s Guardia Civil.
Bernal was like 21 or 23 or something like that while this took place. Do you imagine your selves conquering the modern equivalent to Mars at this age? What where you doing when you where 22? xD
Most people are stuck at home doing nothing because of their own jobs. Bernal was born into nobility here and plus there was the option of going to unexplored place. If I had that option I would go.
I was doing a lot more stuff when I was 22 or even 15 than now that I am almost 53. Also in those days someone of my age would be considered quite old and in many cases dead. The real life is between 15 and 35, 45 at most. All the rest is epilogue.
Also remember that Castro and Che were not still 30 when they took Cuba, and that was less than a century ago.
@@LuisAldamiz true, didn't think about It, but think they knew what they where doing, Bernal, Hernán etc where sailing into the unknown. Don't you think ?
@@fidelgonzalezlopez9342 - But so are many migrants crossing the Sahara at risk of their lives, etc. You have a lot of energy (and testosterone if male) in your teens and 20s, even in your 30s...
In regards to the notion that the Aztecs thought of the Spaniards as gods: This is likely a myth that arose after the conquest. It's not mentioned in Cortés's letters to the King of Spain or other sources close to the conquest itself. Bernal Diaz del Castillo (a Spanish soldier who wrote an account of the conquest) does mention it, but he's writing many decades after the fact. The idea that Cortés was seen as a reincarnation of Quetzalcoatl Topiltzin can be traced to the work of Sahagun, who claimed that the Aztecs supposedly believed this and that's why they didn't take action against Cortés sooner. The problem is that Sahagun's Aztec informants were all recent converts to Christianity. Early missionaries, like Motolinia, had found it easier to convert the natives if they saw the conquest as divinely ordained. As a result, they went around collecting "doomsday" prophecies that were supposedly made before the Spanish arrival, and they stressed these in their narratives of the
conquest. So by the time that Sahagun was writing his account, this idea of the Spaniards being seen as gods had been accepted as fact for a few decades.
But like I said, Cortés doesn't mention it, and Diaz del Castillo only mentions it in passing. It seems likely that Diaz del Castillo only mentioned it at all because Sahagun did. Furthermore, there are a few passages in Cortés's and Diaz del Castillo's work which seem to directly contradict this notion. For example, in this passage from Diaz del Castillo Motecuzoma explicitly states that he knows both he and Cortés are mortals:
[Motecuzoma's subjects] were terrified by the reports they heard of us, such as that we carried with us thunder and lightning, that our horses killed men, that we were furious [gods], with other follies of that kind; adding that he [Motecuzoma] saw that we were men, that we were valiant and wise, for which he esteemed us, and would give us proofs thereof... He then addressed himself to Cortés in a laughing manner... saying, "Malintzin [name of Cortés's translator], the Tlaxcalans, your new friends, have told you that I am like a god, and that all about me is gold and silver and precious stones. But now you see that I am flesh and blood, and that my houses are built like other houses, of lime and stone, and timber. It is true that I am a great king, and inherit the riches of my ancestors; but for these ridiculous falsehoods, you treat them with the same contempt that I do the stories I was told of you commanding the elements." To which Cortés good-humoredly replied, that the accounts of enemies were not to be relied on.
In Cortés's second letter to Charles the V, he gives almost the exact same event. The Spanish, earlier in the conquest, had attempted to present their gunpowder weapons as magic and tried to convince the natives that the horses were intelligent, angry beasts. It is in this context that the idea of the Spaniards-as-gods was first proposed. Yet when the Spaniards get to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, Motecuzoma tells them unequivocally that he doesn't buy it at all.
Interesting
Sahagun mentions this as omens, something that Montezuma would have thought after hearing about Cortes' landing. It doesn't say that he still thought the same after meeting him.
Cortes wouldn't have known about any deliberations the Aztecs would have had before meeting him.
You sound like a history revisionist with an agenda. Why the H*LL should we believe YOU over someone who was writing about it only a few DECADES LATER. You are writing about it 500 Years later, DORK!
@@oriraykai3610 Yikes. Useless contribution to an otherwise interesting post. Please tell me, what would that agenda be exactly?
@@stsk1061 Yes Cortes would have known about any deliberations the Aztecs had about him when the two people's translators met for the first time and greetings/questions/diplomatic proceedings were exchanged. If the Aztecs thought of the Spaniards as gods why would they keep that to themselves?
This channel very sneakily grew on me. I love these things
I listened to this after reading Buddy Levy's book 'Conquistador'. A well written book on an almost otherwise unimaginable series of events. Thank you for posting this.
It´s better reading the original memories of those that were there. Bernal´s book is more interesting than any other novel I could think of, besides is well written and funny at times.
@@Alvar2001 That's interesting to hear - do you have the exact name of his book?
@@TariqMK "Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España" of Bernal Díaz del Castillo (or translated like "The True History of The Conquest of New Spain"). It´s a famous book, actually it´s still the main historial source for historians today.
This is a great channel listening to original first hand accounts of the past.
czcams.com/video/f8JVdpWCKeM/video.html
This is a lot lot better
@@jsivna He is the best history channel on youtube, he really puts you in there as he tells the stories of 12 or 13 ancient lost civilisations from all over the world, he has a huge following now and if you take the time to read the comments to his shows you will see that everyone who watches is just as amazed at his knowledge, his story telling abilities and generally everything that he does on his channel.
But his depictions of the Aztecs, Maya, Inca, Easter Islanders and Sumarians is second to none.
This was written decades later with material that was added to make it more interesting to the reader.
But it still counts as a first hand account as the person was involved in the conquest of Mexico.
" _reasonable reasonable relatable agreed well-done good-guy mhm commendable I-agree reasonable valid relatable yes_ *and they were burned to death in front of Montezuma's palace* "
Well that escalated quickly
Did I miss it or did the narrator act like they spoke the same language
@@ohgeereadmore they had a translator
@@sr.cosmos4543 so was that someone who had been with another explorer or had been exposed to other Europeans before?
@@ohgeereadmore The narrator just said that there was a translator but no further explanation was given. So I honestly don't know.
@@ohgeereadmore On the coast they picked up a woman who could speak Mayan as well as the language of the Aztecs and also a Spaniard who have been previously ship wrecked and learned to speak Mayan. The Aztecs would say something to the woman, who would translate it into Mayan and it would then be translated into Spanish by the Spaniard: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche
This IS awesome. What a great means, previously likely only having been limitied to the most exclusive prepatory schools or advanced study programs, to LEARN and APPRECIATE.
GREAT JOB!
Very well done video. Thanks!
Soooooo interesting. Especially with the pictures.
I absolutely love listening to these. I also can't help but feel angry at what I'm hearing sometimes lol. But that is life, both the good and bad. Its amazing we get glimpses into these parts of our past.
Diaz del Castillo wrote one of the greatest books I've ever read. Every historian of the Conquest from Prescott on recommended it as the one book to read. It would be on that desert island that everybody gets stranded on with 3 books.
It was plainly written but you are there in the middle of everything from leaving Cuba on and you can see it through his eyes as he could still see it in his mind and incredible memory decades later. He wanted to tell the simple truth and when there's a controversy about what happened at some point, he's almost invariably found to be right but most of all he was a naturally talented, honest, visual story teller.
When somebody asks me what books I recommend, this is always the first one that comes to mind.
I love the songs of ice and fire and while reading the books many descriptions of banquets seem outrageous. Learning about this makes me see that George did his research and that the descriptions in the books are fairly grounded in reality.
Moctezuma pulling up in the sedan
The OG: We rollin', they be hatin' 😅
Monte was rockin teh big body Cutlass
With his eyes low, and hydro leaking out thy Tahoe
Puffin endo blazin fat
Ridin on 24 slaves while the drums bumpin like thunder
Imagine the kind of character build Cortes must have to be able to lead his party through this quest
Cortez’s greatness is mythologized, Spanish reports indicate that he wasn’t even the conquistador leader at all.
Psychopathy comes to mind!
Typical Evil ◻ man comes to mind
@@lh2823 typical deluded woke ideologue comes to mind
Cry harder LH.
The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz is an excellent read for all those who wish to know that history. Prescott's history of the Conquest of Mexico is a very comprehensive read in which he uses much of Bernal Diaz's story.
The True History was written because he'd read all the other's self-glorifying accounts and wanted to be honest about what happened. We need more writers like that. I enjoyed Prescott too. There are histories written by Washington Irving that are worth reading too.
@@neilreynolds3858 Most of the authors were from Iberia, Spain came much later, and had every reason to paint the native population as savages to justify the atrocities they committed in order to steal the wealth they found in what is now known as Latin America.
There are many that claim that pretty much all native Americans practised blood rituals which contradicts any assertions that Iberians wrote about pacifist native populations; it seems they tarred all indigenous people with the same brush.
It’s pretty typical for both sides of a conflict to write about the other in disparaging terms, it’s a sort of common propaganda tactic that has existed for centuries.
This is spectacular content.
Wow! This was absolutely fascinating…
Few moments in history hace fascinated me so much as the conquest of the Aztecs. To have seen Tenochtitlan!
It must have been the most beautiful city in the world.
It's cool to hate on these men but what they did was so difficult. Took a lot of strength, bravery, resiliency, and intelligence to step into the unknown and endure all the hardships they did in the name of exploration and glory.
and the did everything gave him gold, slaves, women and converted to Christianity just to then be grouped into the 'undesirables" with blacks arabs indians aboriginiese. so much for the white mans kindess, the aztecs went from pagan to christian yet you prefer fuckers that go from sand pagan to jew to Islam like most of the non european old world
@@YOYO-xy3yg When the Aztecs sacrificed people in front of the Conquistadores, they made a judgement call to end it. It was the right call to F them up.🤷♂ You can't blame us for labeling evil f-ers like that "undesirable"...
It was for God who judged this evil nation.
Why is cool to hate then?
I'm only 2 stories in and this channel has turned into one of favorites, lol.. this channel is amazing!
Hey, i reccomend that you should do a video about General Grants World tour , he visited countries like china and japan it will be quite interesting to hear his views.
Just wow... What a vivid and disturbing 1st hand account of a pivotal moment in history. If only we could have such a simultaneous account from the other side in order to get a more complete picture of the atmosphere and underlying tension, on both sides, during the subtle but world changing events that were occurring amid this short period of history. Absolutely fascinating... Thanks for all your hard work in providing this excellent content for our consumption.
There is a written Aztec account! And it is very interesting!
@@chriscrane1541 how do we find said account?
Bump
@@chriscrane1541 I ask where I may find this account?
@@chriscrane1541 where?
Excellent content here! Amazing story.
This is absolutely incredible stuff
look up "gutenberg bernal dias", read the entire memoire, Dias survived >100 battles and has some amazing descriptions
It would be cool if you do a video about Alexander von Humbolt's journeys through the Americas!
"The Conquest of New Spain" by Bernal Diaz is probably the most fascinating book I've ever read.
Have you ever read Harry Potter?
@@user-zy9yg2eu5t Harry Potter doesn’t even come close.
@@viper2148 Its about wizards and magic spells. Way more fascinating. Fact.
@@user-zy9yg2eu5t the Conquest of New Spain is about one of the largest city on Earth, entirely hidden from the Africa, Europe and Asia. The citizens of this city committed human sacrifice in an industrial scale, and even sold human ‘meat’ in markets. Their priests were described as unkempt wild men whose long hair was so clotted with blood that it would have been impossible groom w/o cutting it off. Cortez burned his ships so his men (numbering only a few hundred) had no other option than to go forward, where they successfully defeated armies that numbered in the tens of thousands, finally conquering the Aztec Empire itself. Now if you think a fictional account of English school children flying around on brooms and waving wands is more fascinating than that I recommend you move out of your mom’s basement and experience the real world a bit.
@@viper2148 Yeah all that is cool but literally people flying on brooms and taking on evil wizards like voldemort is crazy. So so interesting. Especially things like three headed dogs and dobby the elf. Literally blows my mind. You probably can't understand it tbh.
You guys should do one on “A Land so Strange” by Andres Resendez. Another amazing story catalogued so well by the Conquistadors.
Im from south america, the spanish conquest of america was absolutely unique, you can see their character and spirit in their institutions, compared with the british
I would like to see another one of these to cover the events that followed, including the death of Montezuma and the Aztec revolt.
I read the book back in 1980, it was very eye opening.
You're an old man.
Wild that they went from "wow, the most important royal of this land is showing us all of the splendor of his kingdom that rivals anything we've ever seen back home, how gracious" to "we gotta kidnap this dude right now, don't qsk questions" basically on the same day
This was amazing
I really have been loving the series of firsthand accounts [of the Spanish conquest of Atzlán] you’ve done over the past year or so.
Keep up the great work!
It’s pretty standard practice for both sides in a conflict to write about the other in disparaging terms, it’s a sort of common propaganda tactic that has existed for centuries.
Therefore it’s highly unlikely that people who profited greatly from those events would ever give an honest accurate account, it would almost certainly be self aggrandizing while dehumanising their rivals at every opportunity.
European clergymen actually disputed a lot of these claims and were labelled as traitors for doing so. So I’d always take what’s written in one source, or sources from one side, with a grain of salt.
What I find very interesting is how democratic Cortez seems to be. He always held council and gave in to the demands of his men when they were in the majority. People made it seem like he was a ruthless warlord but he seemed more diplomatic and pragmatic than anything.
His men had already proven mutinous. They were taking on an empire with less than 700 men. They needed unity of intention and purpose.
That was after he'd ordered the ships scuttled, and I'm sure that didn't have majority consent.
@@fuferito And even that wasn't even his idea at first but proposed by his closest men.
"Pragmatic" lol
Dictators often give in to the majority if they aren't capable of overpowering the masses.
Outstanding! Most excellent indeed!
This really changes my perspective on how this all happened pretty crazy
I'm a descendant of Juan de Aguilar de Olorzano one of the many Spanish Conquistadors that arrived in Mexico to conquer tenochtitlan so watching videos like these fill me up with pride 🇲🇽🇪🇸
Pero porqué tendrías que tener tú orgullo?
Tu antepasado fue quien hizo algo memorable en la historia, tú no has hecho nada 😆
But why should you have your pride? Your ancestor was the one who did something memorable in history, you have not done anything 😆
@@salvaariv2943 eres muy ignorante o espero sea broma te daré un ejemplo cuando tu hijo hace algo estas orgulloso de él aunque no hayas sido tu igual con tu padre o madre algún logro es algo de estar orgulloso es lo mismo
PRIDEFUL spaniards used blankets full of smallpox and other tribes ,by bribery lol not only were they cowards but scared little bitches who couldnt fight even with armor crossbows and handguns 😂
Every Mexican is a descendant pf conquistadors 🤡
surely you're not proud of all the human
"climbing those steps must have tired you :)"
"it is not possible for anything to tire us."
That's such a badass answer
no. it a BULLSHITTER's answer....... Tssss!!!
Humans can literally run all day if properly conditioned
Montezuma was really out of shape. He smoked a lot and barely did any physical activity. He got tired very easy. He must have assumed Cortez was in similar position since he was a leader.
I interpreted that as a power play. I think they wanted to see how he would respond to saying something so profoundly disrespectful in its implications. Mont left him get away with it, instead of tossing all of them in a dungeon somewhere. Rest as they say, is history.
@@hairywiener9336 wow, Montezuma seems quite relatable lol
The Conquest of New Spain is one of my favorite books.
It’s pretty standard practice for both sides in a conflict to write about the other in disparaging terms, it’s a sort of common propaganda tactic that has existed for centuries.
Therefore it’s highly unlikely that people who profited greatly from those events would ever give an honest accurate account, it would almost certainly be self aggrandizing while dehumanising their rivals at every opportunity.
European clergymen actually disputed a lot of these claims and were labelled as traitors for doing so. So I’d always take what’s written in one source, or sources from one side, with a grain of salt.
Imagine seeing such a sight for the first time ever! The emotion and awe they must have felt in that moment when they first laid eyes on the pyramids and the beautiful metropolis.
The Conquest of New Spain is one of the best books I have ever read, and more trustworthy than Cortez's own account or those written by non-eyewitnesses. Bernal Diaz seems quite open minded for someone of his time, he generally praises Moctezuma and other Mexica nobles. If you read between the lines of his account it suggests Malinche was in charge, he repeatedly references locals negotiating with her and Cortez as one entity.
Wouldn't they have to always negotiate through Malinche? As far as I am aware Cortez spoke none of the native languages so the only way negotiation could occur would be through a translator. I am not sure it implies she was in charge.
@@MaxThomas79 1a 1b
Come on man, "Malinche was in charge"
What are you smoking?
U got to be pretty open minded to praise somebody who eats children for breakfast
Unless you realize that Bernal is also Cortés.
Bernal Dias also describes how the Spanish adopted the use of Aztec cotton armour as it was more effective than steel. Not all troops were equally equipped, as they had to pay for it themselves. The 500 Spanish crossbow men were more useful than the arquebus troops (a 15th century gun) due to rate of fire. The Aztec weapons were highly effective, in one battle an Aztec soldier cut off a horse's head in one strike of the Aztec sword (a terrifying device lined with scalpel-sharp obsidian). Yes, apart from cannon, the other Aztec weapons were a match for Spanish steel.
Not really "more effective" , but better suited for the hot and rainy weather they encountered. We all know what moisture and water do to iron.
No, the Aztec weapons were not up to the Spanish steel, you just have to see who won.
@@benicabanas9793The weapons were no longer effective, the Spanish cut off the water supplies and besieged the canals using their brigs on the lake, famine and disease weakened the city too much.
If I had a time machine I would personally go back and witness this event in person
Idk man sounds kind of stressful
I’ve always daydreamed something like this
I just want to be a fly on the wall seeing it first hand
Until they eat you
Deeply pondered on is a understatement.
How could such detailed verbal communications be made between parties speaking completely different languages?
😂 probably because whomever wrote it is exaggerating or lying. Keep in mind that these people had to justify wiping out the whole nation.
Cortes was lucky to have two translators: the Spaniard Geronimo de Aguilar, who understood Mayan and the indigenous Dona Marina who could speak both Mayan and Nahuatl. So Marina translated from Nahuatl to Mayan and de Aguilar from Mayan to Castilian.
@@robbylebotha The Aztecs didn't make the justifications hard for the Spaniards and its native allies
Live by the sword, die by the sword. Suck it Aztecs!
Love,
The Purepecha People
they had a translator from a previous shipwreck
Interesting that they had ancient prophecies about their own downfall which came to pass exactly as they had predicted.
@Barbie Blues this unironically
@Barbie Blues the most manipulative man created religion ever.
@@edp3202 a man in the desert is so manipulative 🥱
@@edp3202 you suffer from the dunning-kruger effect...
Dismissed child.
@@edp3202 no arguements whatsoever but just nonsensical rantings of idiocy...
And such is the folly of appeasement. Hard to believe Moctezuma was so naive and trusting to think his kindness and tolerance would be enough to appease these strangers despite continued outrages. Lessons for us today.
He was probably afraid of them.
First he believed they came from the skies then realized they were basically criminals
@@kingkoi6542 Yeah, I'm sure those cannibals were shocked by the lack of morality displayed by those terrible Spaniards.
@@glumberty1 well they were criminals of the Spanish Empire, Cortez was supposed to have returned to Spain. Montezuma became aware they were mortal is what I'm saying. Obviously the Aztecs aren't peace loving hippies...
@@glumberty1 These blood rituals were mainly carried out by the indigenous ruling elite and not every common subject necessarily participated or agreed with these practices. It would be akin to blaming every single German for the millions of Jews the Nazis gassed in the 1940s.
In any event most of these claims are mostly conjecture based on interpretations of artefacts and archeological sites. They could easily have been burial sites where dead bodies were mutilated and artwork that were meant to intimidate enemies, not necessarily accurate records of events.
If these estimates of blood rituals were accurate the Aztecs would have run out of victims within a decade.
In Europe the Inquisition was responsible for thousands of deaths over hundreds of years, Romans killed for entertainment in the Coliseums, witches and heretics were burnt at the stake, and millions of people were gassed and experimented on by the Nazis as recently as the 1940s.
However these European cultural practices were eventually phased out. Cultures are constantly changing and it’s quite likely that similar barbaric practices in other parts of the world would have gone the same way without any outside interference.
Had the indigenous allies known what lay ahead in the future they may have made different decisions.
In this story, he mentions that his earliest forefathers wrote about a people who will come from across the waters and conquer their lands. Is there any primary source to those legends from the Indigineous forefathers?? I would LOVE to hear THAT
Me too
The prophecy mentioned in the video was mentioned in an earlier section of book not featured in this video. It’s an amazing scene when some chiefs explain the prophecy to them for the first time and they literally cannot believe their good fortune.
It’s a great read.
This book is the greatest adventure ive ever read, fiction included
Jason, I couldn’t agree more. This book is unparalleled.
Well then you would probably like "AZTECS" by Gary Jennings. Historical fiction
Ya read it in university, it was awesome.
You should also read Hans Staden's book on his colonial Brazil's adventures. Man witnessed cannibalism by Brazilian native tribes, also lived with them for a while before escaping being eaten by the natives. It's wild.
@@marcusbenhurr I'll check it out...btw have you read the Jesuit memoirs? The Martyrdom of St Jean Brebeuf is intense. The novel "Black Robe" is also great.
This should be a movie! Holy goddamn shit
Cortes’ expedition of Mexico is partly explored in the Spanish series Carlos, Rey, Emperor
It wouldn’t fit the Hollywood narrative of “wipipo bad,” so execs would never green-light it lmao
@@Goosnav The ending of the story still fits the narrative of "white people bad" since the Aztecs were defeated and the diseases brought by the Europeans ended up decimating the indigenous population, but Hollywood still wouldn't like the fact that the Spaniards were pretty much just normal people, with shades of gray like everyone else. And they would struggle with the fact that the Aztecs were basically brutalizing other indigenous people in the region. "Wipipo bad, but can't show brown being bad too," is basically the rule now.
@@Goosnav you need to get over this victim complex holy shit
Mel Gibson would be the right man to make it.
R. Lee Ermey as Cortez in the recreation of the gang climbing the temple steps.
He makes his troops climb in double time, "Diaz! You climb stairs like old people fuck!" "Hernandez! What in the holy hell is this?! Are you telling me you can't climb one God damned step?!"
Montezuma: "You must be tired after a long climb."
Cortez: "Negative, sir! It is impossible to tire us."
Try climbing a Mexican pyramid in Spanish armor!
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