The belief that Cortez was Quetzalcoatl sent fear through the Aztecs and caused them to hesitate to attack when they could have overwhelmed the Spanish. It also gave Cortes time to formulate his plan. Why did the Aztecs think that Cortez was Quetzalcoatl? A. He came from the east in a winged ship.
Full Answer
The belief that Cortez was Quetzalcoatl sent fear through the Aztecs and caused them to hesitate to attack when they could have overwhelmed the Spanish. A. He came from the east in a winged ship. His gifts actually made them want to find more gold, silver, not to leave.
At first they thought Hernan Cortes was indeed Quetzalcoatl who came to seek revenge upon the Aztecs. But soon the Aztecs found out it was not true. Spaniards bled and ate and they spoke a foreign tongue. However, Moctezuma still thought they were messengers of Quetzalcoatl and he treated them with respect (gave them gifts, etc).
A pious man, Montezuma proclaimed Cortes was in fact Quetzalcoatl himself, come to fulfill the prophecy. He then graciously handed over the keys to his empire to the bearded, white god. This tale has become so pervasive in the modern ethos that I even learned it in my 9th grade world history class.
Additionally, in the midst of the battle for that conquest, the Aztec did not sit passively by and watch the Spanish take their capital of Tenochtitlan. While they found Spanish horses and guns rather fascinating, the Spaniards themselves had quickly worn out their welcome.
An unnerving series of coincidences led Montezuma to believe that perhaps Cortés was the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, who had promised to return one day to reclaim his kingdom. Quetzalcoatl, "the feathered serpent," stood for the solar light, the morning star. He symbolized knowledge, arts, and religion.
Many within the Aztec Empire came to believe that Cortés was Quetzalcoatl the god who would return to overthrow the god Tezcatlipoca, who demanded human sacrifice. Cortés was aided by an Indian woman La Malinche or Malintzin, who became an invaluable interpreter for and mistress and confidant of Cortés.
Montezuma's decision to welcome Cortés into his city reflected his strength and intelligence, not his weakness. Years of reports of Spaniards along the coastline suggested they were in the Americas to stay.
Physically, Quetzalcoatl was described in two forms; one a flying feathered serpent and the other a white -skinned man with a beard. Cortez fit into two of the four descriptions; he sailed from the east and was white-skinned with a beard. Quetzalcoatl had a Jesus Christ persona; a loving and beneficent god.
The worship of Quetzalcoatl sometimes included animal sacrifices, and in other traditions Quetzalcoatl was said to oppose human sacrifice. Mesoamerican priests and kings would sometimes take the name of a deity they were associated with, so Quetzalcoatl and Kukulcan are also the names of historical persons.
conquistador Hernan CortésAs an Aztec deity, he was one of four sons of the creator god Ometeotl, associated with the wind god, and the patron god of arts and knowledge. A persistent myth about the conquistador Hernan Cortés being mistaken for Quetzalcoatl is almost certainly false.
Unbeknownst to Cortés, his arrival coincided with an important Aztec prophecy. The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, whom they credited with the creation of humans among other notable feats, was set to return to Earth. Thinking that Cortés could be Quetzalcoatl, Montezuma greeted the party with great honor.
The Aztec emperor, Moctezuma II, invited the Spanish into his city for two main reasons: he was curious about them and he didn't see them as a threat.... See full answer below.
Cortes heard of the gold and treasures of the Aztecs. He wanted to conquer them and take their treasure for Spain. He requested a meeting with the Aztec Emperor, Montezuma II, but was repeatedly turned down.
Quetzalcóatl (pron. Quet-zal-co-at) or 'Plumed Serpent' was one of the most important gods in ancient Mesoamerica. A mix of bird and rattlesnake, his name is a combination of the Nahuatl words quetzal (the emerald plumed bird) and coatl (serpent).
In Aztec culture To the Aztecs, Quetzalcoatl was, as his name indicates, a feathered serpent. He was a creator deity having contributed essentially to the creation of mankind. He also had anthropomorphic forms, for example in his aspects as Ehecatl the wind god.
Quetzalcoatl May Be Based on a Historical Person According to a Toltec legend, their civilization (which dominated Central Mexico from approximately 900-1150 A.D.) was founded by a great hero, Ce Acatl Topiltzín Quetzalcoatl.
The problem that some ethnocentric scholars seem to have with the previously accepted belief that Montezuma II, ruler of the Aztecs, put up little resistance to the Spaniards because he thought their arrival was the fulfillment of the Quetzalcoatl prophecy has to do with the fact that history is written by the victors.
Whether by shear luck or by providence, the time of Cortés’ arrival coincided with the prophesied return of the Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl. During the 16th century, Quetzalcoatl – whose name in the Nahuatl language means “feathered serpent” or “plumed serpent”, was one of the principle Aztec deities. According to one of the legends, Quetzalcoatl, who was among the gods of creation, was forced into exile by Tezcatlipoca; another principal Aztec god. Quetzalcoatl sailed away into the Atlantic on a raft made of snakes with a promise to return on his year, the First Year of the Reed (this occurs once every 52 years).
Sailing further up along the east coast of Mexico, Hernán Cortés and his men took Veracruz, claiming it for the Spanish crown. Cortés had already separated himself from Cuban governor Velazquez de Cuéllar, but by the taking of Veracruz, Cortés placed himself directly under the command of King Carlos V of Spain.
According to one of the legends, Quetzalcoatl, who was among the gods of creation, was forced into exile by Tezcatlipoca; another principal Aztec god. Quetzalcoatl sailed away into the Atlantic on a raft made of snakes with a promise to return on his year, the First Year of the Reed (this occurs once every 52 years).
4024. Hernán Cortés. With the stars lining up for him, Hernan Cortes ’ conquest of Mexico may have been made easier by the centuries old prophecy of a returning bearded god from the east. Less than 30 years after Christopher Columbus landed on the Western Hemisphere and claimed it for Spain, another Spanish explorer, ...
Towards the end of the 15th century, Pope Alexander VI decreed that Spain could claim any lands in the New World for itself under the condition that the natives were converted to Christianity. Along with this religious mission and the tantalizing lure of undiscovered riches, Hernán Cortés set off to accomplish both.
Cortes Appointed Leader of Third Mexican Expedition. After commissioning two previous expeditions of Mexico headed first by Francisco Fernandez de Cordova and then Juan de Grijalva, the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, decided on a third Mexican expedition in 1518. This one was to be headed by 34 year old Cortés.
Even though the form of the Cortes-as-Quetzalcoatl myth so many of us were taught as children didn’t come about until the 1560s, some forty years following the fall of the Aztec empire, both European and Nahua populations had reason to buy into it.
Known as the Florentine Codex , this gargantuan work comprised 12 books that took around 45 years to compile.
The Aztecs also drew upon long standing traditions that associated Quetzalcoatl with science, arts, and learning, as well as the planet Venus.
Impressed by the horses and goods the Spanish brought with them, the people who met Cortes on his march inland surmised the Europeans were important people . And, lacking any other way to distinguish them in speech, used the word ‘teotl’ to denote this, which later Spanish chroniclers misinterpreted as ‘god.’.
The site contains three large pyramids: the Pyramid of the Sun, the Citadel, and the Temple of Feathered Serpent. Built around 150 AD, the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, ...
The Real Story of the ‘Bearded God’ Named Quetzalcoatl. Many myths have cropped up in the centuries since Columbus landed upon the shores of Hispaniola. While some of these myths have come to be seen for what they are, many more persist in the zeitgeist as fact. One such myth is that the Aztecs believed that Hernan Cortes, ...
When the Spanish recorded the interactions they had with the various peoples of central Mexico, they noted that these people called them ‘teotl. ’.