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La Noche Triste ("The Night of Sorrows", literally "The Sad Night"), officially re-branded in Mexico as La Noche Victoriosa [2] ("The Victorious Night"), was an important event during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, wherein Hernán Cortés, his army of Spanish conquistadors, and their native allies were driven out of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.
Sacrifice was a common theme in the Aztec culture. In the Aztec "Legend of the Five Suns", all the gods sacrificed themselves so that mankind could live.Some years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, a body of the Franciscans confronted the remaining Aztec priesthood and demanded, under threat of death, that they desist from this traditional practice.
Killed in a flood of Tenochtitlan [14] Moctezuma II Motēuczōma Xōcoyōtl: 1502–1520 [14] (18 years) Son of Axayacatl (1472–1481). Oversaw a period of centralization and strengthening of the Aztec Empire. Disciplined and highly successful ruler before he made contact with the Spaniards in 1519, whereafter the Spanish conquest of the Aztec ...
Unlike the men, Aztec women were not forced to participate in the military. [1] They were not put into military school as young children like all of their male counterparts. This meant that while women were denied access to one of the largest sources of wealth and prestige within Aztec society, they were less likely to be killed in battle.
Although hard-pressed, the Spanish infantry was able to hold off the overwhelming numbers of enemy warriors, while the Spanish cavalry under the leadership of Cortés charged through the enemy ranks again and again. When Cortés and his men killed one of the Aztec leaders, the Aztecs broke off the battle and left the field. [49]: 303–05
The Aztecs, meanwhile, had not encountered Castilians in battle, despite their long exposure to them during the Spaniards' time in Tenochtitlan. They were unfamiliar with the use of troops mounted on horses as shock troops and were taken aback when mounted Spanish soldiers continually charged at them.
When Cortés and his men, including those who had come under Narváez, returned, the Aztecs began full-scale hostilities against the Spaniards. The Spaniards had no choice but to retreat from the city, which they did on what is called the Sad Night ( La Noche Triste ), losing most of their men, who were either killed in the battle or were ...
These women were accompanied by a group of young boys, also naked, and wailing. The Tenochcas, dismayed by the crudity, were ordered not to harm the women nor boys but rather take them prisoner - which they did successfully. Cecilia Klein has looked at this account in the context of the way gender was understood within Aztec warfare.