La expedición de Hernán Cortés a su paso por Tabascoel preludio de la conquista de México

Resumo

On March 12, 1519, several weeks after leaving Cuba, the exploration expedition commanded by Hernán Cortés arrived to the mouth of the Grijalva River and made contact with the Chontal Maya, being received by them in a hostile way. The present work focuses its attention on analyzing the importance of the encounter between both realities, crystallized in one of the key moments for the subsequent conquest of the Mexican empire, the battle of Centla, because it can be treated as the first formal episode of this conquest, considering that in this armed confrontation there were the first effects of the clash between the West and Mesoamerica. The consequences of the meeting were of remarkable relevance for various reasons. In the first place, because the conquerors received great gifts after the victory, among which was a group of slave women, with Malitzin (La Malinche) at the head, baptized by the Spaniards as Marina, who would become the interpreter and minister of Hernán Cortés and, without a doubt, in a key piece for the conquest of Mexico. Secondly, because thanks to the questions that Cortes asked the chief Tabscoob and the rest of the indigenous authorities about the origin of the gold and jewels they had been given, they had news for the first time of the existence of the imposing Aztec empire. And, thirdly, because a few days after the battle, on March 25, the Spaniards founded the town of Santa María de la Victoria, the first Spanish settlement in the mainland, at the place of the fight, thereby strengthening their power in area