48 pages 1 hour read

Miguel León-Portilla

The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1959

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Index of Terms

Cholula

A Mexican city-state and key political and religious center that was once allied with Tlaxcala. According to Aztec accounts, after Cholula defected to side with the Aztecs, the Tlaxcaltecas led Cortés and his conquistadors there to massacre the Cholultecas in an act of treachery (Chapter 5).

Cihuacoatl

An Aztec goddess of fertility and childbirth, whose weeping and wandering the streets of Tenochtitlan at night was a bad omen for the city (Chapter 1).

Huitzilopochtli

An Aztec sun and war god and patron deity of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. The first Spanish acts of aggression in Tenochtitlan occurred during the fiesta of Toxcatl, the most importance religious festival for Huitzilopochtli (Chapter 9).