Tenochtitlán: A Retelling of the Conquest (2021)

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Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 16.4K Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

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Summary

In a sense, 1521 is Mexico's 1619. A foundational moment that for centuries has been shaped by just one perspective: a European one. The story of how Hernán Cortés and a few hundred Spaniards conquered the mighty Aztec Empire, in the heart of what's now modern Mexico City, has become a foundational myth of European dominance in the Americas. And for a long time it was largely accepted as truth. But in recent decades researchers have pieced together a more nuanced, complicated version based on Indigenous accounts: a version that challenges what one historian calls "the greatest PR job in the history of the West." In this episode, the real story of the fall of Tenochtitlán.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from NPR, sponsor Honeywell, helping meet your sustainability goals with
0:05.2	their consultative approach and technologies that are ready to support you wherever you
0:09.2	are in the journey.
0:10.5	Learn more at Honeywell.com slash NPR.
0:14.7	A warning before we get started.
0:16.7	This episode contains descriptions of violence.
0:41.2	Many years ago, it is said that the God of sun and war instructed the people of
0:46.7	a valley in what's now Mexico's capital to build a new city wherever they saw an
0:52.3	eagle perched on a cactus eating a snake.
0:56.3	They searched and searched until finally they came across that eagle on an island in the
1:02.2	middle of a lake.
1:04.0	And it was there they built the floating city, Tenochtitna.
1:12.0	Over the next 175 years, this city grew, becoming an economic and political powerhouse.
1:18.6	And by the year 1500, Tenochtitlan was the beating heart of a great civilization, the
1:25.1	Aztec Empire.
1:38.8	So in the year 1500, Tenochtitlan is one of the largest cities in the world at that time.
1:44.8	It has probably about 150,000 people.
1:49.8	At this point, London might have like 60,000 Rome has maybe 25,000.
1:58.4	Tenochtitlan hummed with life.
2:04.8	It had enormous markets where tons of goods were bought and sold.
2:09.4	Traders and customers came for the goods, but stayed for the gossip.
2:16.4	Festive celebrations marked the calendar, inspiring song and dance.
	...

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