In 1519, Hernan Cortes and his greedy band of some 600 conquistadors began their audacious assault on the Mexica (Aztec) Empire. By 1521 the Mexica capital city of Tenochtitlan was in ashes, Emperor Montezuma was dead and the Spanish were firmly in control of what they took to calling “New Spain.” Along the way, Cortes and his men collected thousands of pounds of gold, silver, jewels and priceless pieces of Aztec art. Whatever became of this unimaginable treasure?
Cortes Sends Treasure to the King
In April of 1519, the Cortes expedition landed near present-day Veracruz: they had already visited the Maya area of Potonchan, where they picked up some gold and the invaluable interpreter Malinche. From the town they founded in Veracruz they made friendly relationships with the coastal tribes. The Spanish offered to ally themselves with these disgruntled vassals, who agreed and often gave them gifts of gold, feathers and cotton cloth.
In addition, emissaries from Montezuma occasionally appeared, bringing great gifts with them. The first emissaries gave the Spanish some rich clothes, an obsidian mirror, a tray and jar of gold, some fans and a shield made from mother-of-pearl. Subsequent emissaries brought a gold-plated wheel six and a half feet across, weighing some thirty-five pounds, and a smaller silver one: these represented the sun and moon.
Later emissaries brought back a Spanish helmet which had been sent to Montezuma; the generous ruler had filled the helm with gold dust as the Spanish had requested. He did this because he had been made to believe that the Spanish suffered from an illness which could only be cured by gold.
In July of 1519, Cortes decided to send some of this treasure to the King of Spain, in part because the king was entitled to a fifth of any treasure found and in part because Cortes needed the king’s support for his venture, which was on questionable legal ground. The Spanish put together all of the treasures they had accumulated, inventoried it and sent much of it to Spain on a ship. They estimated that the gold and silver was worth about 22,500 pesos: this estimate was based on its worth as a raw material, not as artistic treasures.
A long list of the inventory survives: it details every item. One example: “the other collar has four strings with 102 red stones and 172 apparently green, and around the two green stones are 26 golden bells and, in the said collar, ten large stones set in gold…” (qtd. in Thomas). Detailed as this list is, it appears that Cortes and his lieutenants held much back: it is likely that the king received only one-tenth of the treasure taken thus far.
The Treasures of Tenochtitlan
Between July and November of 1519, Cortes and his men made their way to Tenochtitlan. Along their way, they picked up more treasure in the form of more gifts from Montezuma, loot from the Cholula Massacre and gifts from the leader of Tlaxcala, who in addition entered into an important alliance with Cortes.
In early November, the conquistadors entered Tenochtitlan and Montezuma made them welcome. A week or so into their stay, the Spanish arrested Montezuma on a pretext and kept him in their heavily defended compound. Thus began the plunder of the great city. The Spaniards continually demanded gold, and their captive, Montezuma, told his people to bring it. Many great treasures of gold, silver jewels and featherwork were laid at the feet of the invaders.
Furthermore, Cortes asked Montezuma where the gold came from. The captive emperor freely admitted that there were several places in the Empire where gold could be found: it was usually panned from streams and smelted for use. Cortes immediately sent his men to those places to investigate.
Montezuma had allowed the Spaniards to stay at the lavish palace of Axayacatl, a former tlatoani of the empire and Montezuma’s father. One day, the Spanish discovered a vast treasure behind one of the walls: gold, jewels, idols, jade, feathers and more. It was added to the invaders’ ever-growing pile of loot.
Legacy of the Treasure of Montezuma
In spite of the losses of the Night of Sorrows, Cortes and his men were able to take a staggering amount of gold out of Mexico: only Francisco Pizarro’s looting of the Inca Empire produced a greater amount of wealth. The audacious conquest inspired thousands of Europeans to flock to the New World, hoping to be on the next expedition to conquer a rich empire. After Pizarro’s conquest of the Inca, however, there were no more great empires to find, although legends of the city of El Dorado persisted for centuries.
It is a great tragedy that the Spanish preferred their gold in coins and bars: countless priceless golden ornaments were melted down and the cultural and artistic loss is incalculable. According to the Spanish who saw these golden works, Aztec goldsmiths were more skilled than their European counterparts.
