Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest

The infamous meeting between Hernán Cortés and the Mexica emperor, Moctezuma, is often represented as a “great encounter” bringing together the “Old” and “New” Worlds: “For the very first time, a Native American emperor greeted a representative of the Europeans who had come to conquer and settle in his lands” (77). This encounter thus brought together two cultures that were soon embroiled in a violent war.

Interpretations of this meeting, and others between conquistadors and Indigenous people, have emphasized superior communication on Cortés’s part while others have centered the problem of miscommunication as leading to Indigenous downfall. Both interpretations are flawed, as the truth lies somewhere in between these presentations.

Surviving primary sources present conflicting accounts of Moctezuma and Cortés’s meeting. Bernal Díaz, for example, claims Moctezuma refused the conquistador’s handshake and instead extended his own. Neither the Nahuatl nor the Spanish versions contained in the Florentine Codex mention a handshake. Instead, the Nahuatl account says that Moctezuma bowed and then looked directly at the Spaniard, breaking with the Mexica traditional taboo that one must not look directly at the ruler, thereby offering Cortés a “cultural halfway point” (80). The Spanish version recounts a similar tale but emphasizes Cortés’s superiority and the submissive nature of the emperor’s bow.