(Mesoameric's Classic Heritage)
The Spanish's Reaction to Cannibalism and Sacrifice
The Spanish Arrival in 1519 changed how the Aztecs continued with their sacrificial ways. Hernan Cortes and the Spanish were glad when King Motecuhzoma sent representatives of the city to see Cortes, but were appalled at the sight of them sacrificing a small boy right there on the beach. After this, Cortes banned all sacrifice in Mesoamerica because it was gruesome and barbaric. Cortes made his way to Tenochtitlan with allied troops of enemy villagers from neighboring towns in the empire. Upon reaching Tenochtitlan and entering the capital for the first time, Cortes explicitly forbade the practice of human sacrifice to Aztec deities. This meant that after Cortez's arrival there almost was no mention of a single soul being sacrificed or eaten during the Spaniards initial stay in Tenochtitlan (Arens 1979).
There
is little documentation of Aztec cannibalism. There are only four accounts of
cannibalism from the date of the conquest, none of them particularly suggestive
of widespread ritual cannibalism, and only one, the Ramírez codex, ties
cannibalism to ritual sacrifice. The four specific accounts of cannibalism
are:
- Cortés
wrote in one of his letters that his soldiers had captured an Aztec who had a
roasted baby ready for breakfast. (Reeves 1986)
- Gomarra,
reported that during the siege of Tenochtitlan,
the Spaniards had asked the Aztecs to surrender since they had no food. The
Aztecs answered, asking the Spaniards to try to attack, so they could be taken
as prisoners, and then served with "molli" sauce.
- In the books of
Bernardino de Sahagún, there is an illustration of an Aztec being cooked by an
unknown tribe. This was reported as one of the dangers that Aztec traders
faced. The Ramírez codex reports that after the sacrifices the flesh from the hands of the
victim were given as gift to the warrior who made the capture. According to the
codex this was supposedly eaten, but was in fact discarded and replaced with
turkey.(Ramierz codex)
- Juan Bautista de Pomar
states that after the sacrifice, the body of the victim was given to the
warrior resposible of the capture, he would boil the body to be able to cut
small pieces of meat, to be offered as gifts to important people in exchange
for presents and slaves, but it was rarely eaten, since they considered it had
no value; instead it was replaced by turkey, or just thrown away. It is at
least interesting that the one account by an Aztec and the account by a
"meztizo" of supposed cannibalism following ritual sacrifice claim
that the apparent cannibalism was a sham. This is congruent with the Laurette
Séjourné and Miguel León-Portilla's theory that the upper classes were aware
that the religion created by Tlacalel was something of a forgery. (Leon -Portilla,1963)
