What really happened when Cortes and Moctezuma met? When Cortes and Monctezuma met, the Aztecs treated Cortes kindly because in their culture, they welcome anyone with open arms. According to document c that was written by Matthew Restall, a history professor at Penn State University, “and to function as a courteous welcome to an important guest.” In other words, this means that it didn’t matter who they met, they would have treated them the same with open arms. In addition, Matthew Restall states “Motolinia appears to have invented the Cortes-Quetzalcoatl identification after conquest.” This means that the Aztecs were forced to believe that Cortes was a God by the Spanish because they were religious. This source is the…show more content… However, in document a, written by Cortes himself in 1520, he states “we believe that your king is our natural leader. therefore be assured that we will obey you.” Cortes states that Moctezuma said these words to him. This source is not reliable because it comes from a Spanish perspective. Additionally, since this was written by Cortes, he might have changed the story. In contrast, in the textbook passage, they say “Cortes resembled the God's Description from the legend. thinking that the God had returned, Moctezuma sent Cortes gifts, including gold.” In other words, Moctezuma thought Cortes was a God and gave him gold. Although this would seem like a reasonable explanation, I believe that this is not a reliable source because this textbook was written in 2006, which means that it is very outdated. Moreover, in document b, written by Mexican natives around 1570-1585, they state “Our lord, you are very welcome on your arrival in this land. go enjoy your palace, rest your body. Welcome our lords to this land.” In other words, this means that Moctezuma welcomed Cortes believing he was God. Although this would be a reliable source since it was written by Mexican natives, it is not because when the Mexican natives were writing this document, it was being supervised by Bernardio de Sahagun, a Catholic priest, and it was written 50 years after
