In November 1519, Cortés visited the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan. His letter and Bernal Díaz’s later account identify its two richly adorned images as Huitzilopochtli, god of war and the sun, and Tlaloc, god of rain and fertility. The video argues for Tezcatlipoca and obsidian-mirror eyes, but that is not the identification in the primary accounts. Cortés reported blood-blackened walls, called the images devil-like and sought their removal; Montezuma objected. The idols were destroyed, the precinct dismantled, and its stone reused in colonial Mexico City. Their descriptions survive in Cortés and Díaz—not only Díaz.
Templo Mayor’s 1519 idols: Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, not Tezcatlipoca
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Key facts
- Cortés visited the Templo Mayor in November 1519. His later letter to Charles V and Bernal Díaz’s history describe its two richly adorned shrine images.
- The pair was Huitzilopochtli, god of war and the sun, and Tlaloc, god of rain and fertility—not Tezcatlipoca.
- The video’s Tezcatlipoca and obsidian-mirror-eye identification is the presenter’s claim; Cortés and Díaz identify the second image as Tlaloc.
- Cortés reported blood-blackened walls, gold adornment and devil-like features, and sought the images’ removal. Montezuma objected.
- The original idols did not survive intact. Their descriptions survive in Cortés’s letter as well as Díaz’s history, while temple stone was reused in colonial Mexico City.
Sources
Inside Templo Mayor, The Aztec Temple Of Tenochtitlanallthatsinteresting.com
Beneath Mexico City lies what the Aztecs believed to be the center of the universe: Templo Mayor. It was obliterated by Spanish invaders in 1521.
The Fall of Tenochtitlan | Originsorigins.osu.edu
After a brutal 75-day siege, the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan surrendered on August 13, 1521. The war cost tens of thousands of lives, civilian and warrior ...
Massacre in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlanen.wikipedia.org
After the festivities had started, Alvarado turned on the Mexica, killing performers, spectators, and nobles celebrating inside Tenochtitlan's Great Temple.
The Cholula Massacre by Cortesthoughtco.com
In 1519, Cortes led a deadly attack in Cholula, killing thousands and demonstrating Spanish power in Mexico. Cortes believed the city's leaders ...
Spaniards Destroy Idols and Set Fire to the Great Templehistorians.org
We set fire to their Idols and a good part of the chamber with the Idols Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca was burned. On that occasion the ...
Map of Tenochtitlán published with a letter from Hernán ...nypl.org
Cortés's second letter to Charles V is the first European depiction of a city in the Americas.
Narrative Letter by Hernán Cortés.loc.gov
the letter describes the province of Culua, with its great cities, especially "Tenustitlan" Cortés speaks with great admiration about the Aztec king, Moctezuma ...
Letters from Hernán Cortés – AHAhistorians.org
This was the major source of Cortés's letters. Especially important were his descriptions of the Valley of Mexico, particularly Tenochtitlan, and his ...
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