8 November 1519 · Tenochtitlan
Moctezuma Greets Cortés
The setting
Having marched inland from the Gulf coast with a few hundred Spaniards and thousands of Indigenous allies, above all from Tlaxcala, Hernán Cortés reached Tenochtitlan, the island capital of the Mexica, in November 1519. The ruler Moctezuma II came out on the causeway to meet him and lodged the Spaniards in his father's palace. Cortés later reported a speech of welcome that Moctezuma made to him there.
In substance
Our ancestors came to this land from far away, led by a lord who later departed, and we have always believed that his descendants would one day return to rule us. Since you come from where the sun rises and speak of a great lord who sent you, we take him to be our natural lord, and we will obey you in his place.
A summary of the speech as Cortés reported it to Charles V in his Second Letter (1520). Historians doubt it: Cortés needed to show that Moctezuma had handed over his realm lawfully, and the Mexica's own accounts tell the meeting differently.
The full speech
"We have known for a long time, from the chronicles of our forefathers, that neither I, nor those who
Monte-
zuma's First
Discourse
to Cortes
inhabit this country, are descendants from the aborigines of it, but from strangers who came to it from very distant parts; and we also hold, that our race was brought to these parts by a lord, whose vassals they all were, and who returned to his native country. After a long time he came back, but it was so long, that those who remained here were married with the native women of the country, and had many descendants, and had built towns where they were living; when, therefore, he wished to take them away with him, they would not go, nor still less receive him as their ruler, so he departed. And we have always held that those who descended from him would come to subjugate this country and us, as his "vassals; and according to the direction from which you say you come, which is where the sun rises, and from what you tell us of your great lord, or king, who has sent you here, we believe, and hold for certain, that he is our rightful sovereign, especially as you tell us that since many days he has had news of us. Hence you may be sure, that we shall obey you, and hold you as the representative of this great lord of whom you speak, and that in this there will be no lack or deception; and throughout the whole country you may command at your will (I speak of what I possess in my dominions), because you will be obeyed, and recognised, and all we possess is at your disposal.
"Since you are in your rightful place, and in your own homes, rejoice and rest, free from all the trouble of the journey, and wars which you have had, for I am well aware of all that has happened to you, between Puntunchan and here, and I know very well, that the people of Cempoal, and Tascaltecal, have told you many evil things respecting me. Do not believe more than you see with your own eyes, especially from those who are my enemies, and were my vassals, yet rebelled against me on your coming (as they say), in order to help you. I know they have told you also that I have houses, with walls of gold, and that the furniture of my halls, and other things of my service, were also of gold, and that I am, or make myself, a god, and many other things. The houses you have seen are of lime and stone and earth." And then he held up his robes, and showing me his body he said to me, "Look at me, and see that I am flesh and bones, the same as you, and everybody, and that I am mortal, and tangible." And touching his arms and body with his hands, "Look how they have lied to you! It is true indeed that I have some things of gold, which have been left to me by my forefathers. All that I possess, you may have whenever you wish. "I shall now go to other houses where I Hve; but you will be provided here with everything necessary for you and your people, and you shall suffer no annoyance, for you are in your own house and country."
Text: Wikisource, as Cortés reported it in his Second Letter (1520), tr. Francis A. MacNutt (1908). The text is in the public domain; the Wikisource transcription is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
What followed
Within a week Moctezuma was a prisoner in his own city. He died in June 1520 during the uprising against the Spaniards, who were driven out with heavy losses on the Noche Triste. Cortés returned with his Indigenous allies and, after a siege of nearly three months, took Tenochtitlan in August 1521, ending the Aztec Empire.