Cortés and Montezuma

by Maurice Collis

Book Overview

Landing on the Mexican coast on Good Friday, 1519, Hern n Cort s felt himself the bearer of a divine burden to conquer and convert the first advanced civilization Europeans had yet encountered in the West. For Montezuma, leader of the Mexicans, April 21, 1519 (known in their sophisticated astronomical system as 9 Wind Day) was the precise date of a dire prophesy: the return of Quetzalcoatl, a fearsome god predicted to arrive by ship, from the East,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811214230
• ISBN13: 9780811214230
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Must-Read whether interested in pre-Hispanic Mexico or not

If you¡¯re interested in pre-Hispanic America this book is a must read. Maurice Collis tells it in a way that makes you see the real thinking of both Montezuma and Cortez. And if you aren¡¯t already interested in ancient Mexico this book is still a great read. It reads like a novel rather than a history. There are things that are hard to imagine until you compile the Cortez letters, the friar¡¯s notes, and previous historical documents as Mr. Collis has expertly done. For example there¡¯s a section about how the Spanish soldiers were wearing chain-mail so they were burning up under the desert sun during day and then (when the temperature dived down as desert weather is apt to do) froze at night. This book is filled with the harsh realities that both sides faced. This gives a reader a greater understanding of the rationales for decisions. Also, Mr. Collis has a great cultural- or anthropological-sensitivity so we see how Aztec cosmology, predictions, and religion influenced Montezuma¡¯s standpoint. At the time of invasion, the Aztec army could have quickly destroyed the Spanish soldiers. The forces that prevented this outcome are beyond common Western thinking.This book shares the complexities that both of these great men faced. And it treats Moctezuma deservedly as one of the world¡¯s great men. Often books have a pro-Spanish feel to them. This book is as close to fair as I have seen. Also, consider Broken Spears by Miguel Leon-Portilla.

One of the very best!

I have read other accounts of the Mixica, most notably by Michael D. Coe, but none of them hit upon the complexity involving the meeting of Cortes and Montecuzoma as this book did. Drawing on dialog from Bernal Diaz (The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico-also another great read), Collis has stripped away the dryness of other books, on this subject, that were written primarily for academia, leaving the intimate human perspective to the greatness of both of these men and the circumstances that caused each to react as he did. As did Diaz's book, this book made me feel as though I were sitting beside Cortes and Montecuzoma as the drama of their meeting unfolded. For those who are students, as a vocation or avocation, of the ancient cultures that inhabited this continent this is a must book to read and have on hand to reread over and again because you won't want it to end.

The Esoteric Drama of the Conquest of Mexico

The incredible chain of events that led to the conquest of Mexico by a small group of Spaniards is wonderfull told by Maurice Collis in this fascinating book. Well organised and stylishly written, the book includes many quotations from contemporary sources, as well as some very vivid descriptions of the places and persons involved. Collis's understanding of the events and his clear and involving style make Cortes and Montezuma an extraordinary piece of historical writing.The complex characters and motivations of both central figures are explained in detail. According to Collis, Montezuma was a generous, devout and able ruler, but at the same time he was a tyrannical monster who indulged in endless orgies of ritual murder; Cortes was a civilized and enterprising explorer who brought enlightenment to a oppressed land but he was also the bringer of death and destruction to a complex and fascinating civilization. The author also explains the amazing astrological-magical religion of the Mexicans and how it made the conquest possible.This is probably the best book on the subjet, a veritable page turner that will help you understand one of the most incredible events in history.

A New Perspective on an Incredible Story

The story of the conquest of the remarkable Aztec civilization by Cortes' handful of Spaniards is an incredible drama. The accounts of Bernal Diaz and Prescott tell it well, but at considerable length, and with only a superficial comprehension of what motivated the Mexicans' responses to Cortes' invasion. What makes Corliss's succinct and compelling account so insightful and remarkable, to me, is his sympathetic understanding of the Mexicans' and Montezuma's complex astrological-magical religion, and how it decisively shaped their actions. He understands a pre-modern time when religious beliefs were the predominant context for social and individual actions, as well as the importance of Cortes' religious faith, and he notes the fascinating paradoxes and ironies that resulted from the primary actors' actions based on their respective religious convictions. But regardless of that, this is simply a wonderful read. My one regret is that the book wasn't accompanied by illustrations to convey the extraordinary richness (and horror) of the Aztec civilization, as well as the difficult and stunning terrain where the action took place.As a footnote, it is fascinating to contrast the ethos of the Conquistadores with that of the North American settlers so well described in Albion's Seed.

A Great Story and a Great Tragedy

My best friend's wife was in the hospital, and I was put in charge of their son for a few hours. I decided to tell him the story from memory of how Hernan de Cortez, with a handful of men, brought down an entire world. I had just finished reading Collis's book, and also Bernal Diaz's first-hand account of the same story and Prescott's able retelling in THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO, so it was still fresh in my mind. The boy was entranced. Maurice Collis's is by far the best telling of the story as such. (Prescott and Diaz are both worth reading if you have the chance.) I collect Collis and love everything I have ever read by him. There are, of course, two sides to every story. Cortez's gain was Montezuma's loss: And it was the Aztecs' loss. According to J. Eric S. Thompson in MAYA HISTORY AND RELIGION, approximately 80% of the population of what is now Mexico died of measles, smallpox, malaria and other diseases brought by the Spanish within a very short time. The Aztecs' sacred books were burned as heresy; their language (Nahuatl) is dying out; and the name and image of Montezuma are absent in the Mexico of today. Only Cuauhtemoc, who resisted Cortez and his lieutenants, is honored. Read this book and marvel at how tenuous a civilzation can be. It took Rome over a thousand years to fall: Tenochtitlan fell in a year.