In the Year of our Lord 1524, a dozen Catholic friars confronted a number of Aztec wise men, who debated the validity of Christianity, even in the face of the most terrible reprisals. So, before following Bernal Diaz’ tale of adventure in the service of Hernan Cortez, at the close of which he would mourn the destruction of the Aztec civilization he had helped topple, it might be fitting to view the Spanish actions through the prism of the Aztecs in defeat, in their own words, as a measure of the men that Cortez, Bernal and the others faced.
Extracts from an Aztec versus Catholic Debate
“Perhaps we shall fall into ruin, to our destruction. But where are we to go?
“We are ordinary people. We are subject to death and destruction. We are mortals; permit us then to die, let us perish at this time, for our gods are already slain.
“You claim we know not the Lord of the Close Vicinity, to Whom the heavens and the earth are enthralled. You claim that our gods are not true gods. New words to us do you now speak. These words of yours disturb us. Because of them we are troubled.
“Our ancestors who came into this earth before us spoke of this. From them we have inherited our way of life, which they held as the true way. In reverence they held to these truths and honored the gods, our gods. They taught us all their rules of worship, their various ways for honoring the gods.
“Before these gods do we prostrate ourselves; in their names we bleed ourselves, our oaths we keep, incense we burn, and sacrifices we offer. It was the doctrine of our elders that life exists because of the gods; with their sacrifice. They gave us life.
“And know we are to destroy the ancient life order? We know on Whom life depends, on Whom the perpetuation of our race depends, by Whom begetting is determined, by Whom growth is made possible, Who it is that one must invoke, how it is that one must pray.
“Hear us, Lords, do nothing to our people that will bring bad fortune, that will cause them to perish. We cannot remain tranquil, cannot believe, do not accept, your teachings as truth, even though this may bring offense…”
Notes
The priesthood of the Mexica was drawn from the upper class. Rather than persecute these stalwart believers, the Christian monks and priests established schools in which the elite boys were taught. Twelve years later, with the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition in New Spain in the year 1536, the sons of these men were spying on their parents for keeping true to their ancestral gods, smashing idols in their home, and witnessing against them before the Inquisition. Despite this ruthless persecution, syncretism of Aztec deities and Catholic saints still occurred, most prominently in the case of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
