Editing Moctezuma II (section)

==Contact with the Spanish ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Guns, Germs, and Steel]] -->
{{See also|Hernán Cortés|Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire|Fall of Tenochtitlan}}

===First interactions with the Spanish===
{{Spanish colonization of the Americas}}
[[File:Placa moctezuma.jpg|left|thumb|Meeting place of Moctezuma and Hernán Cortés, at [[Calzada de Tlalpan]], [[Mexico City]], the road which connects the southernmost part of the city with the [[Zócalo|central plaza]]. This plaque commemorating the meeting is located at the eastern wall of the {{ill|Church of Jesus the Nazarene|es|Iglesia de Jesús Nazareno (Ciudad de México)}}, in [[Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City|Cuauhtémoc borough]]]]
In 1518,<ref name="Anales" /> Moctezuma received the first reports of Europeans landing on the east coast of his empire; this was the expedition of [[Juan de Grijalva]] who had landed on [[San Juan de Ulúa]], which although within [[Totonac]] territory was under the auspices of the Aztec Empire. Moctezuma ordered that he be kept informed of any new sightings of foreigners at the coast and posted extra watchguards and [[watchtower]]s to accomplish this.{{sfn|Díaz del Castillo|1963|p=220}}

When Cortés arrived in 1519, Moctezuma was immediately informed and he sent emissaries to meet the newcomers; one of them was an Aztec noble named Tentlil in the Nahuatl language but referred to in the writings of Cortés and Bernal Díaz del Castillo as "Tendile". As the Spaniards approached Tenochtitlán they allied with the [[Tlaxcaltec]]a, who were enemies of the Aztec Triple Alliance, and they helped instigate revolt in many towns under Aztec dominion. Moctezuma was aware of this and sent gifts to the Spaniards, probably to show his superiority to the Spaniards and Tlaxcalteca.{{sfn|Restall|2003}}

On 8 November 1519, Moctezuma met Cortés on the causeway leading into Tenochtitlán and the two leaders exchanged gifts. Moctezuma gave Cortés the gift of an Aztec calendar, one disc of crafted gold, and another of silver. Cortés later melted these down for their monetary value.{{sfn|Díaz del Castillo|1963|pp=216–219}}

According to Cortés, Moctezuma immediately volunteered to cede his entire realm to [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], King of Spain. Though some indigenous accounts written in the 1550s partly support this notion, it is still unbelievable for several reasons. As Aztec rulers spoke an overly polite language that needed a translation for their subjects to understand, it was difficult to determine what Moctezuma said. According to an indigenous account, he said to Cortés: "You have come to sit on your seat of authority, which I have kept for a while for you, where I have been in charge for you, for your agents the rulers&nbsp;..." However, these words might be a polite expression that was meant to convey the exact opposite meaning, which was common in Nahua culture; Moctezuma might have intended these words to assert his stature and multigenerational legitimacy. Also, according to Spanish law, the king had no right to demand that foreign peoples become his subjects, but he had every right to bring rebels to heel. Therefore, to give the Spanish the necessary legitimacy to wage war against the indigenous people, Cortés might just have said what the Spanish king needed to hear.<ref>{{cite book|first=Camilla|last=Townsend|title=Malintzin's choices: an Indian woman in the conquest of Mexico|location=Albuquerque|publisher=University of New Mexico Press|year=2007|pages=86–88}}</ref>

===Host and prisoner of the Spaniards===
[[File:Van Beecq - Moctezuma imprisoned by Cortés.jpeg|right|upright=0.7|thumb|Moctezuma captured and imprisoned by Cortés]]
Six days after their arrival, Moctezuma became a prisoner in [[Palace of Axayacatl|his own house]]. Exactly why this happened is not clear from the extant sources.

According to the Spanish, the arrest was made as a result of an attack perpetrated by a tribute collector from [[Nautla, Veracruz|Nautla]] named [[Qualpopoca]] (or Quetzalpopoca) on a Spanish Totonac garrison. The garrison was under the command of a Spanish captain named [[Juan de Escalante]] and the attack was in retaliation for the Totonac rebellion against Moctezuma which started in July 1519 after the Spanish arrived. This attack resulted in the death of many Totonacs and approximately seven Spaniards, including Escalante.{{sfn|Díaz del Castillo|2011|pp=304–305}} Though some Spaniards described that this was the only reason for Moctezuma's arrest, others have suspected that Escalante's death was merely used as an excuse by Cortés to imprison Moctezuma and usurp power over Mexico, positing that Cortés might have planned to imprison Moctezuma before they even met.{{sfn|López de Gómara|2007|p=160}} Cortés himself admitted that he imprisoned Moctezuma primarily to avoid losing control over Mexico, understanding that nearly all of his forces were within his domains.{{sfn|Cortés|1866|p=89}}

Moctezuma claimed innocence for this incident, claiming that though he was aware of the attack as Quetzalpopoca brought him the severed head of a Spaniard as a demonstration of his success, he never ordered it and was highly displeased by these events.{{sfn|Díaz del Castillo|2011|pp=306–308}}

Around 20 days after his arrest, Quetzalpopoca was captured, together with his son and 15 nobles who allegedly participated in the attack, and after a brief interrogation, he admitted that indeed Moctezuma was innocent. He was publicly executed by burning soon after, but Moctezuma remained prisoner regardless.{{sfn|Cortés|1866|p=91}}

Despite his imprisonment, Moctezuma continued to live a somewhat comfortable life, being free to perform many of his daily activities and being respected as a monarch. Cortés himself even ordered for any soldiers who disrespected him to be physically and roughly punished regardless of rank or position. However, despite still being treated as a respected monarch, he had virtually lost most of his power as emperor as the Spaniards oversaw nearly all of his activities.{{sfn|Díaz del Castillo|2011|pp=318–319, 322, 324}}

Moctezuma repeatedly protected the Spaniards against potential threats using the little power he had left, either under the threat of the Spanish or by his own will, such as during the [[#Texcoco crisis|succession crisis in Texcoco mentioned above]], when he ordered for the ruler of Texcoco, Cacamatzin, to be arrested as he was planning to form an army to attack the Spaniards.

The Aztec nobility reportedly became increasingly displeased with the large Spanish army staying in Tenochtitlán, and Moctezuma told Cortés that it would be best if they left. Shortly thereafter, in April 1520, Cortés left to fight [[Pánfilo de Narváez]], who had landed in Mexico to arrest Cortés. During his absence, tensions between Spaniards and Aztecs exploded into the [[Massacre in the Great Temple]], and Moctezuma became a hostage used by the Spaniards to ensure their security.<ref group="N.B.">See the account of Moctezuma's captivity, as given in {{harvtxt|Díaz del Castillo|1963|pp=245–299}}.</ref>

===Death===
[[File:COM V2 D091 2 The swollen tide of their passions broke through all barriers of ancient reverence.png|thumb|upright=0.55|Moctezuma's stoning, illustration by Keith Henderson in ''Montezuma, Lord of the Aztecs'' by Cottie Burland]]

[[File:The Florentine Codex- Moctezuma's Death and Cremation .tif|250px|thumb|upright=0.55|right|Death of Moctezuma and [[Itzquauhtzin]] and cremation of Moctezuma as depicted in the [[Florentine Codex]], Book 12]]
In the subsequent battles with the Spaniards after Cortés' return, Moctezuma was killed. The details of his death are unknown, with different versions of his demise given by different sources.

In his {{lang|es|Historia}}, [[Bernal Díaz del Castillo]] states that on 29 June 1520, the Spanish forced Moctezuma to appear on the balcony of [[Palace of Axayacatl|his palace]],<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Bugos |first=Claire |date=15 July 2020 |title=Aztec Palace and House Built by Hernán Cortés Unearthed in Mexico City |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/aztec-palace-unearthed-180975319/ |access-date=3 May 2025 |website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref> appealing to his countrymen to retreat. Four leaders of the Aztec army met with Moctezuma to talk, urging their countrymen to cease their constant firing upon the stronghold for a time. Díaz states: "Many of the Mexican Chieftains and Captains knew him well and at once ordered their people to be silent and not to discharge darts, stones or arrows, and four of them reached a spot where Montezuma [Moctezuma] could speak to them."{{sfn|Díaz|2008|p=222}}

Díaz alleges that the Aztecs informed Moctezuma that a relative of his had risen to the throne and ordered their attack to continue until all of the Spanish were annihilated, but expressed remorse at Moctezuma's captivity and stated that they intended to revere him even more if they could rescue him. Regardless of the earlier orders to hold fire, however, the discussion between Moctezuma and the Aztec leaders was immediately followed by an outbreak of violence. The Aztecs, disgusted by the actions of their leader, renounced Moctezuma and named his brother [[Cuitláhuac]] ''tlatoani'' in his place. To pacify his people, and undoubtedly pressured by the Spanish, Moctezuma spoke to a crowd but was struck dead by a rock.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Montezuma/|title=Montezuma|last=Cartwright|first=Mark|date=October 10, 2013|website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=October 18, 2018}}</ref> Díaz gives this account:

{{quote|They had hardly finished this speech when suddenly such a shower of stones and darts were discharged that (our men who were shielding him having neglected for a moment their duty because they saw how the attack ceased while he spoke to them) he was hit by three stones, one on the head, another on the arm and another on the leg, and although they begged him to have the wounds dressed and to take food, and spoke kind words to him about it, he would not. Indeed, when we least expected it, they came to say that he was dead.{{sfn|Díaz|2008|p=223}}}}

Franciscan friar [[Bernardino de Sahagún]] oversaw the recording of two versions of the conquest of the Aztec Empire from the Tenochtitlán-Tlatelolco viewpoint. Book 12 of the [[Florentine Codex]], which indigenous scholars composed under Sahagún's tutelage, is an illustrative, Spanish and Nahuatl account of the Conquest which attributes Moctezuma II's death to Spanish conquistadors. According to the Codex, the bodies of Moctezuma and [[Itzquauhtzin]] were cast out of the Palace by the Spanish; the body of Moctezuma was gathered up and cremated at Copulco.

{{quote|And four days after they had been hurled from the [pyramid] temple, [the Spaniards] came to cast away [the bodies of] Moctezuma and Itzquauhtzin, who had died, at the water's edge at a place called Teoayoc. For at that place there was the image of a turtle carved of stone; the stone had an appearance like that of a turtle.<ref>{{cite book |last1=de Sahagún |first1=Bernardino |last2=Anderson |first2=Arthur James Outram |last3=Dibble |first3=Charles E. |title=Florentine Codex Book 12 – The Conquest of Mexico |date=1975 |publisher=University of Utah Press |location=Salt Lake City |isbn=9781607811671 |page=65}}</ref>}}

''History of the Indies of New Spain'' by Dominican friar [[Diego Durán]] references both Spanish and indigenous accounts of Moctezuma II's death. Durán notes that Spanish historians and the former conquistador he interviewed recall Moctezuma dying to Aztec projectiles. However, his indigenous text and a historical informant claimed that Cortés' forces stabbed Moctezuma to death.{{sfn|Durán|1867|p=545}} In other indigenous annals, the Aztecs found Moctezuma strangled to death in his palace.{{sfn|Townsend|2019|p=108}}

===Aftermath===
The Spaniards were forced to flee the city and they took refuge in [[Tlaxcala (Nahua state)|Tlaxcala]] and signed a treaty with the natives there to conquer Tenochtitlán, offering the Tlaxcalans control of Tenochtitlán and freedom from any kind of tribute.{{cn|date=September 2022}}

Moctezuma was then succeeded by his brother [[Cuitláhuac]], who died shortly afterwards during a [[smallpox]] epidemic. He was succeeded by his adolescent nephew, [[Cuauhtémoc]]. During the siege of the city, the sons of Moctezuma were murdered by the Aztecs, possibly because they wanted to surrender. By the following year, the Aztec Empire had fallen to an army of Spanish and their Native American allies, primarily [[Tlaxcaltec|Tlaxcala]]ns, who were traditional enemies of the Aztecs.