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Xxix.: The A
Xxix.: The A
4
Scurrilous epistles were sent anonymously, among them this quartette:
Por Marina, soy testigo,
gano esta tierra un buen hombre,
y por otra, deste nombre
la perdera quieii yo digo.
The marquis had, it seems, laid himself open to criticism by his relations with
a lady of the same name as the great Cortes famous mistress, and by favoring
her relatives, who were the sons of his father s bitter enemies, to the utter
neglect of the offspring of his warmest friends. These likewise became hos
tile to the marquis, and were afterward found among his accusers. Peralta,
199-200.
Juan Suarez Peralta s Noticias Histdricas de la Nueva Espana, Madrid,
1878, folio, i.-xxiv. 1-392, the work last cited, was published under the
auspices of the minister of Fomento of Spain, and as a part of the Cartas
de Indias, by Justo Zaragoza, who changed its title from that given by the
writer, which was long and not so appropriate. The author was an eye
witness of most of the events that he relates. What he says of things that
happened before this is of little weight; but his descriptions of the con
spiracy of the second marques del Valle and its consequences; of the expe
ditions carried out during the rules of Mendoza and Velasco; of general
affairs in New Spain from the induction into office of the latter; of the land
ing of Hawkins and fighting at Vera Cruz, and treatment of the English pris
oners in Mexico; of the acts of the several rulers down to the administration
of the marques de Villamanrique, including the wars with England and
Drake s career these are interesting and valuable. The style is careless,
unpretentious, but withal superior to that of some writers of reputation.
From page 287 to the end are given notes.
The Cartas de Indias, Madrid, 1877, large folio, x.-xiv. 1-877, and 208
unnumbered, with fac-similes, cuts, maps, indexes, and three chromo-litho-
graphic charts, was issued under the auspices of the department of Fomento
of Spain and dedicated to King Alfonso XII. It contains letters from Colum
bus, Vespucci, Las Casas, and Bernal Diaz; a collection of letters from New
Spain, Central America, Peru, Rio de la Plata, and the Philippine Islands-
all such letters being of the 15th and 16th centuries. Several of them and
a considerable number of signatures of the men that figured in those times
are also given in fac-simile. To the above are added about 224 pages of
geographical notes, vocabulary*, biographical data, a glossary, and cuts, maps,
and indexes. The letters and fac-similes, from the first to the last, are valu
able in a historic sense, and the vocabulary is useful; but the biographical
and historical data are not always reliable, numerous errors having been de
tected in comparing their contents with official records, and with the memo
randa of witnesses of the events related.
THE KING S DECISION. 607
senoria!" and
"Accept
the crown, marchioness!" In
their hands Montezuma s attendants held flowers with
couplets conspicuous, some on gallantry and love,
others hinting at intended revolt. The motto on the
xo chitl given to Cortes bore words of encouragement,
6
saying
"
Fear not."
7
exceedingly dangerous for Avila.
Two days afterward the conspirators held a meet
ing at Avila s house to perfect their plans. Accord
to the of the informers it was then arranged
ing report
that on Friday, the audiencia s government council
day, they would divide themselves into groups, each
under a determined leader and that while one band
;
7
Avila that evening told Espinosa and Aguilar, todo era aplicado para
lo que estaba concertado, according to Zamacois, Hist. Mej., 80. Torque-
mada, i. 029-30, wrongly places this feast later, after the birth of twins to
the marquis. He has been followed by Alaman, Disert., ii. Ill; Cavo, 7 m*
T
Siglos, i. 178-9; Mora, Mej. Rev., iii. 208-9, and others. But the proceed
ings against the conspirators fix the time plainly enough. Peralta, Not. Hist.,
205, agrees with Torquemada, but speaks of the birth of one son, Pedro, now
christened. He adds that neither Luis de Velasco nor his friends were at the
festival, which was something very fine; that on some of the earthen vases
was the R under a crown; and that Avila gave the marchioness one
letter
bearing a crown over *, which the informer at once interpreted as Reinards,
thou wilt reign. This, if true, would signify prearrangernent, which could
hardly have been the case. During the feasts Dr Orozco, he concludes, sallied
out with a number of followers, carrying concealed arms to prevent a possible
revolt. The real fact was that the feast in question was long before the
marchioness bore twins, which occurred in 1566, their christening taking
place with great pomp on the 30th of June. This was subsequent to the
receipt of the supreme government s final decision, unfavorable to the per
petuation of the encomiendas. It is possible that Torquemada and his fol
lowers have unwittingly confounded the two feasts, and quite probable that
the follies of the first were wholly or
partially repeated at the second.
612 THE AVILA-CORT3S CONSPIRACY.
8
Para tratar con la real persona que le hiziese de le dar en los reyiios
de en trueque de su marquesado la renta y vasallos que la pareciese
castilla,
aunque f uese la mitad menos. Orozco y Berra, Not. Conj. 90.
,
616 THE iVILA-CORTES CONSPIRACY.
10
A raised wooden passage-way four yards wide was constructed between
the marquis house and the pardon-gate of the cathedral. On both sides his
Indian vassals had placed platforms with flags and showy ornaments. Luis
de Castilla and Juana de Sosa, his wife, acted as sponsors, and the children
were taken to the church in the arms of two gentlemen, Carlos de Ziiuiga
and Pedro de Luna. Dean Chico de Molina officiated. Salvos of artillery
were fired as the cortege entered and left the church; a tournament, games,
and banquet followed. The common people were also munificently remem
bered. Orozco y Berra, Not. Conj., 46-7.
11
Luis Cortes, knight of Calatrava, Martin Cortes, knight of Santiago, and
the brothers Avila. Peralta, Not. Hist., 207. Valderrama, the visitador, in
1564 made Martin alguacil mayor, and his half-brother, Juan Jaramillo, became
the same year one of the two alcaldes de la mesta of Mexico. Cavo, Tres
Siylos, i. 175.
618 THE A VILA-CORTES CONSPIRACY
12
He wore a summer dress of damask, a black cloak, and a sword. The
author quoted saw him enter and heard him exclaim: Ea, que buenas nuevas
emos de tener. Peralta, Not. Hist., 208.
13
Marques, sed preso por el Rey. Orozco y Berra, Not. Conj., 48; Tor-
quemada, i. 631.
14
Mentis, que yo 110 soi traidor & mi Rei, ni los ha avido en mi linage. Id.
According to Peralta, Not. Hist., 208-9, the marquis was commanded to
deliver his sword, and on asking the reason, was answered, luego se dira;
and that Cortes did not then learn the cause of his arrest, but believed the
order for it had come in the despatches just received from the king.
10
Dean Chico de Molina and another clergyman named Maldonado, and
Friar Luis Cal, guardian of the convent of Santiago Tlatelulco, appear among
the number. Those placed under arrest in their own houses, under penalty of
death should escape be attempted, were Luis and Pedro Lorenzo de Castilla,
Hernan Gutierrez Altamirano, Lope de Sosa, Alonso Estrada and his brothers,
Juan de Guzman, Bernardino Pacheco de Bocanegra, Diego Rodriguez Orozco,
Juan de Valdivieso, Nuno de Chavez, Luis Ponce de Leon, Antonio de Car-
bajal, Fernando cle Cordoba, Juan Villafana, Juan de la Torre, and several
others. All these were of the nobility and
gentry.^ Their papers were searched,
and abundance of evidence was found against Avila. According to Torque-
mada, i. 631-2, some of the strongest evidence was in ladies billets to him.
Orozco y Berra, Not. Conj., 49; Vetancvrt, Trat. Mex., 9; Cavo, Tres Sly los,
i. 180.
EXECUTION OF THE AVILAS. 613
16
Soldiers attended divine service at church with the matches for their
arquebuses burning, to the great scandal of worshippers. The excitement
was such as had never been witnessed in Mexico. Peralta, Not. Hist., 212.
17
Alonso de Avila was dressed in black, and had on a Turkish robe of gray
damask, a velvet cap with a gold plume, and a gold chain round his neck,
this being the same apparel he wore when taken to i.
prison. Torquemada,
632.
18
Peralta, after describing the scene when the sentence was read to Alonso
620 THE A VILA-CORTES CONSPIRACY.
22
Antonio Ruiz de Castaneda full of wrath swore to revenge Gil s death
if it cost him his whole estate. For this he was brought to trial, when he
qualified the remark, saying he meant juridically, even if he spent his estate,
and had to go from door to door begging for funds to carry an appeal to the
crown. Orozco y JSerra, Not. Conj., 401.
23
Sugeto de particulares prendas, y virtud. Lorenzana, in Cortts, Hist.
N. Esp.. 15. Hombre prudente y enemigo de persecuciones. Mora, Mej.
Jtev., iii. 216.
622 THE A VILA-CORTES CONSPIRACY.
24
According to his report the monthly cost of the guard was 2,060 pesos,
without including the captain s pay, the powder, and other necessary expenses.
Falces, Informe, in Mora, Mej. Rev., iii. 429. Ceinos, the senior oidor, and
Dthers tried to persuade him that a revolution was certain, and referred to
the Franciscan friar Diego Cornejo to corroborate their statement, but he
that no revolt was intended. Id., 431-4.
felt satisfied
20
Much kind attention was paid Cortes by Falces, who allowed his friends
to see him at all hours, day and
night, and even visited and was visited by
him. This offended the oidores. The marquis also became reconciled with
Baltasar de Aguilar Cervantes and others of his former enemies who made
advances on hearing th&tjuecexpesquisidores would soon come out from Spain.
PUNISHMENTS OF THE OTHERS. 623
Ayala de Espinosa said to the audiencia that society was treating him
30
with contumely for what he had done, and that the object was to make the
evidence of himself and others appear as unworthy of credence. Pedro de
Aguilar was allowed to leave for Spain. Orozco y Berra, Not. Conj., Doc., 161;
Palces, Inf., in Mora, Mej. Rev., iii. 445-6.
624 THE A VILA-CORTES CONSPIRACY.
31
Hebased his action not solely on the reasons given in the text, but also
on the fact that Cortes high rank entitled him to trust; pues principes, gale-
ras, fortalezas, oficios, y otras cosas de gran calidad se fiaban y eatregaban a
caballeros hijos dalgo con un pleyto homenage, el cual tenia tanta fuerza de
fidelidad y obligacion. The old chivalrous spirit animated him, it seems.
Falces, Informe al Rey, in Mora, Mcj. Rev., 424-48; and Falces, Proceso, in
Orozco y Berra, Not. Conj., 411^0. The official report of the marques de
Falces, viceroy ofNew Spain, on the alleged conspiracy of the second marquis
del Valle and others to wrest the country from the Spanish crown, is a clear
and detailed account of political affairs as he found them on hi3 arrival, and
as they continued to the time it was written in 1567. As such it is, judging
from the writer s character, well deserving of consideration and credence. It
was the same document, wilfully kept back by the king s factor, from which
resulted Falces temporary disgrace and untold evils to Mexico. In the Re-
gistro Tri^nestre, and also in Mora, Mcj. Rev., it is stated that the memorial
was delivered to the king. But as a matter of fact it was presented to the
royal commissioners Dec. 6, 1567, when the fiscal of the audiencia in Mexico
preferred charges against Falces.
32
In Madrid he was subjected to the torture, by which he lost the use of
one arm. He was also deprived of his rank. Peralta, Not. Hist., 255.
TWO ATROCIOUS JUDGES. *
625
33
All the authorities agree
upon the time except Vetancvrt, Trot. Max., 9,
who gives their arrival in March 1568.
14
Queria hacer guerra al Cielo. .no sabia baxar la cabe?a a la Tierra. .
.
.
spoken."
The executioners then proceeded to bind
with cords the fleshy parts of the arms, thighs, calves,
and large toes, and gradually to tighten them all at
Speak the truth," they said.
"
once. is
spoken,"
"It
42
No avia Hombre con Hombre en la Tierra, y de tal modo vivian todos,
que no sabian de si, ni como defenderse, ni ampararse de taiitas crueldades, y
tiranias, como hacia. Torquemada, i. 636. It must be here stated, however,
that the Franciscan province of the Santo Evangelic, to which Torquemada
afterward belonged, had by this time changed its opinion respecting the
political condition of the country. It may have been from an honest belief,
or from a feeling of gratitude to Munoz for favors received, that fathers Mi
guel Navarro, provincial, and Diego de Mendoza, Juan Focher, and Joan
Ramirez, definidores, in a letter of May 24, 1568, commend in glowing terms
his rule, adding that if he could have retained his powers two or three years,
the country would be in much better state than it ever had been since the
conquest. He had already set everything in order in both spiritual and tem
poral concerns, and his name stood now very high, In the prosecution of the
marques del Valle and others, both Munoz and Carrillo had done their duty
like good Christians, using no more severity than was needful, and tho
evidence produced at the trials should be considered dispassionately: si eu-
sangrentaron algo las manos no devia conuenir otra cosa para la entera pacifi-
cacion destos reinos. They conclude wishing for Munoz return, or the
coming of some one possessed of his spirit, and with freedom of action.
Navarro et al. in Cartas de Indias, 159.
f
630 THE A VILA-CORTES CONSPIRACY.
old man went his way, and that same night was found
dead, sitting on a chair with his head resting on his
45
hand.
ores was repealed much later, when Fernando, the third marquis, married
Mencia de la Cerda y Bobadilla, a lady of honor of the princess Isabel.
The Cortes family remained in Spain till Pedro, the fourth marquis, a
brother of his predecessor and whose wife was Ana de Pacheco de la Cerda,
a sister of the coiide de Montalvan, came to Mexico, where he died January
30, 1629, without issue. It is said that at his funeral were in attendance 300
Franciscan friars from the city of Mexico and neighboring towns. The entail
went to his niece, Estefania Cortes, wife of the Neapolitan nobleman duke of
Terranova and Monteleone. The estates and seignorial rights remained in the
house till the war of succession to the Spanish crown, when, the duke having
taken sides with the house of Austria, they were placed under sequestration.
This was raised after the peace of Utrecht confirmed Felipe V., the first Bour
bon to wear the Spanish crown. Ihey were again sequestered at the time
of the invasion of Napoleon, and restored to the family after Fernando VII.
recovered his throne. The family retained the estates till 1820, with the
DEATH OF THE MARQUES DEL VALLE. 635
exception of the seignorial privileges, the Spanish cortes having abolished all
such. Upon the independence of Mexico the estates were sequestered a
fourth time, for awhile, during Iturbide s short imperial sway. In 1833 they
were declared national property, and in 1834 restored to the owner. Such
has been the devious course of tenure in the Cortes estates. Terranova y
Monlekone, Espos., 63; Mora, Mej. Rev., iii. 226-7; Datos in Carlos de
io<j.,
I would here offer my tribute of respect for the prominent writer and
trymen and by scholars everywhere. Enjoying the fullest facilities, with the
confidence of the government, and of all who held in possession materials for
history; with a sound mind, a facile pen, and a generous sympathy for the
just and humane on all questions relating to society and civilization, he was
a manof whose name his country may well be proud.
Most important in writing the present chapter, and a work I have freely
used, is his Noticia Historica de la Conjuracion del Marques del Voile, Anos de
1565-1568, Mex. 1853, Svo, xii. 72, 505 pp. It contains an historical ac
count of the affair which has hitherto somewhat improperly been known as the
Martin Cortes conspiracy, some having attributed it to the second marques del
Valle. A sketch of his early life is also given, accompanied by copies of the
legal processes against the persons implicated, including the deposed viceroy,
the marques de Falces. I notice that the greater part of the legal proceed
ings, many of the answers of witnesses, and the pleadings of the accusation
and defence are omitted, probably on the ground that they would have
636 THE AVILA-CORTES CONSPIRACY.
thrown but little light upon the subject. More valuable is an extract giving
the confessions of the prisoners and the sentences decreed against them,
together with interesting acts and documents, in which the original orthog
raphy and punctuation are retained. The editor also gives foot-notes wher
ever he regarded them necessary. At the end of the volume is a ballad or
romance in verse, the subject of which is the execution of the two brothers
Avlla, written about the beginning of the seventeenth century.
Subsequently Orozco y Berra s studies were directed to scientific subjects,
and he published several valuable treatises on ethnography, hydrography,
and kindred topics. Still later, however, as the fruit of many years of dili
gent researches during his leisure hours, a work appeared which entitles him
to be numbered among the distinguished historians of his country. It bears
the title Historia Antigua y de la Conquista de Mexico, Mexico, 1880, 8vo, 4
vols., pp. 603, 527, 694, and comprises four parts: La Civilizacion,
ix. 584,
prehistorical inhabitants, their relations to those of the Old World; the his
tory of the different regions, beginning with the early traditions of the Mayas,
and ending with the Anahuac empire previous to its overthrow by the Span
iards. Numerous foot-notes are given in support of the text; also interesting
and essays on ancient laws, taken from unpublished
bibliographical notices,
documents, and on hieroglyphic writings and chronology of the Aztecs and
Mayas, all of which gives indubitable evidence of the author s painstaking
labor. The fourth volume, remarkable, like the third part, for a great num
ber of explanatory notes, begins with the earliest expeditions, from which
originated the final conquest of the Mexican empire, and concludes with the
departure of Cristobal de Tapia.
It is to be regretted that the narrative of this eventful period should have
been given so largely in extracts, rather than in the author s own words. His
interpretations are usually fair, and his criticisms on Prescott and others
searching and pertinent. Perhaps for the early part of the conquest he is in
clined to favor unduly the somewhat prejudiced narrative of Las Casas, and
the statements of various persons made during the residencia of Cortes are
frequently given more credit than they deserve, though here the letters of
the conqueror himself and the versions of Bernal Diaz, Herrera, Gomara, and
other standard chroniclers have been used, and also the native records. Taken
as a whole, it is a work reflecting the highest credit both on the author, and
on the government which in just appreciation facilitated its publication.