Cover photo: Episodes of the Conquest [of Mexico]: The massacre of Cholula (1519) (oil on canvas) by Félix Parra, 1877.

Text by Ilias Anagnostakis.

Cholula was the largest city in Mexico after Tenochtitlan, with a population of over 200,000. It was a significant commercial center but above all, it was the most sacred city in Central America, closely associated with the worship of the god Quetzalcoatl. It was a major religious center, with over 1,000 temples, and its focal point was the largest pyramid in the world (larger, but not taller than the one in Giza). Crowds of natives flocked every year to this great city, which was allied with Tenochtitlan, despite not having a Mexica garrison in its territory. Its aristocracy had completely aligned its interests with the Aztecs. However, all this changed in November 1519, when cataclysmic events occurred.

Around mid-October, Hernán Cortés left (now allied tribe) Tlaxcala with 400 foot soldiers, 15 horses, 50 Totonac porters, and 4,000 Tlaxcalan allies, whose contribution would be decisive. On October 25, he arrived on the outskirts of Cholula, where a delegation of priests and city nobles greeted him with quantities of corn and turkey. According to the eyewitness Díaz: “They came in the night, dressed like demons, holding torches, there were over 200 of them.” Despite the initial surprise, they tried to reassure Cortés, telling him “Not to believe what the spiteful Tlaxcalans say about them and Montezuma, and that they are ‘welcome’ under the strict condition that the 4,000 Tlaxcalans camp outside the city.”

Indeed, the Spaniards entered the city around 3:00 AM on October 26, despite repeated warnings from the Tlaxcalan ruler Xicotencatl to Cortés “Not to enter because the whole situation smelled like a trap.” However, Cortés entered, as he had no other choice once he left the Veracruz coast and decided to penetrate the interior of Mexico. The Spaniards quartered in two large buildings, and Cortés placed double guards “and the cannons loaded.” In any case, from the second day, food distribution was done very poorly (as noted by Cortés’ majordomo/groom, Joan de Caceres: “We told them to bring us oats for the horses, they brought us water, we told them to bring grass then, they brought us some…roots”).

On the third day, food supplies stopped entirely. The Tlaxcalans’ fears began to be confirmed. Cortés learned something even worse from Doña Marina: During those days, she had formed friendly relations with some of the city’s noblewomen, who had confided in her “to leave the Spaniards, seek refuge with them, they would hide her, as everyone would be slaughtered.” Other events also convinced Cortés that the Indians of Cholula were planning something: The thunderstruck Díaz, while searching for food in the city’s market, saw “Indians preparing pots with chili and tomatoes to eat the Spaniards,” as they told him since Díaz spoke some Nahuatl, while Cortés himself saw stacks of stones on rooftops, some streets being barricaded, and weapons gathering in the temples.

In the afternoon, around 18:00, some Tlaxcalans entered the city and informed Cortés that “an attack by the natives was imminent.” Cortés summoned the two most prominent priests of the city for “discussions,” and after leading them into a room with eight other Spaniards, he broke their hands, forcing them to confess that: “At a predetermined time, they would fall upon the Spaniards and slaughter them. However, if possible, they would capture as many as they could alive. They had gathered leather handcuffs and collars to bind them, as well as stretchers to transport them. 20,000 Mexica would be waiting on the road so that the captives could be taken to Tenochtitlan for further actions… As a reward, Montezuma would allow them to keep 20 Spaniards for sacrifice.“

Cortés didn’t need to learn anything more and decided to act first, as usual. After kicking all his men awake and ordering them to arm themselves, he summoned all the nobles of Cholula (about 100 people) for a farewell meeting “as he had to depart for the coast” and positioned his armed men at predetermined points. Once the unsuspecting natives gathered in a courtyard, Cortés ordered his men “to slaughter them all as quietly as possible.”

As soon as this was done, the Spaniards rushed into the city, simultaneously opening the gates to the 4,000 raging Tlaxcalans who “went from house to house, slaughtering everyone.” Within 3 hours, the Spaniards and their allies had cleared out 3,000 people and had avoided a very difficult situation, justifying Cortés once again. Montezuma was now panicked, realizing that “these strange foreigners were a great threat and had no choice but to accept them into his capital.

Cholula no longer participated in any movement against the Spaniards and succumbed to its fate. After the conquest, the Spaniards demolished all the temples in the city, building a church on almost every temple site, transforming modern-day Cholula into the “city of 1,000 churches” in today’s Mexico. At the very top of the huge pyramid, now covered by soil deposits, a magnificent church dedicated to the Virgin Mary was built. It was a tremendous victory for Cortés, crucial for his subsequent journey, and indicative of his character.

Sources:

Bernal Diaz del Castillo, “The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo: Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain”, vol. I, ch. LXXXIII.

L. Buddy, “Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs” publ. Bantam, New York, 2008.

For more articles about Conquistadores, The illusion of Conquistador wealth, examining the reality of New World conquests and “Huey Tzompantli”, a chilling glimpse into Aztec sacrificial rituals