The destroyer of the Aztec empire, Cortez, was cursed repeatedly during his lifetime. However, he died in fame and fortune. The curse overtook him after death.
A curse
The Spaniards set fire to brushwood and stepped aside. Hernan Cortez, accompanied by his retinue, silently watched the flames flare up under the feet of the High Priest of the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli, the god of war and the sun.
The priest looked at Cortez without opening his lips. He was silent when he was rudely seized by Spanish soldiers. He was silent when he was tortured. He was silent when the Aztec capital, the beautiful Tenochtitlan, burned.
As the fire engulfed the priest's body, words flew from the flames of the fire. Cortez did not know the Aztec language, but the cry was clearly not a plea for mercy. “What is he screaming?” Cortez turned to Malinche, his concubine and translator. The conqueror's friend bowed her head respectfully: “He curses you, my lord. You will not have peace not only during life, but also after death."
Cortez really did not know peace during his lifetime. But this did not bother him at all. Until the last days of his life, he did not part with the sword, despising a peaceful life. On December 2, 1547, the 62-year-old adventurer and adventurer died in Castilleja de la Cuesta (Seville province, Spain). And the long epic of bones and ashes of the conqueror of Mexico began, predicted by the High Priest.
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Restless descendants and admirers
On December 4, 1547, the conquistador was solemnly buried in Seville in the ancestral crypt of the Spanish dukes of Medina Sedonia in the San Isidoro monastery, although during his lifetime Cortes repeatedly expressed his desire to be buried in Mexico, which he considered his home. Three years later, the remains were disturbed for the first time and moved to the Santa Catarina chapel of the same monastery.
In 1566, the descendants decided to respect the will of the deceased, took out the bones and took them to the New World. The burial place was the San Francisco monastery in Texcoco. In 1629, the rulers of Mexico (still belonging to Spain) decided that the ashes of the national hero should be in the capital. The coffin was opened and solemnly taken to Mexico City. For 9 days, the coffin stood in the governor's palace and the descendants of the Spanish nobles, who once conquered this country with Cortes, went to bow to the ashes of the Great Conquistador. Paying tribute to the deceased, his remains were placed in the center of Mexico City, in the chapel of the church of the San Francisco monastery, in a special niche.
In 1716, admirers of the conqueror considered that the niche was not the most worthy place for their idol, the coffin was taken out and transferred to the altar of the church, thereby equating the killer of thousands of Indians with saints. But this was not enough for the admirers. In 1794, a special mausoleum was built in the hospital of Jesus of Nazareth founded by Cortes. With great fanfare, Cortez's bones were carried there. “But leave me alone!” The remains of the deceased seemed to scream. And from the other world the spirit of the High Priest was grinning.
Revolutionary Tomb Rippers
In the 19th century, Mexico became an independent state. In 1821 - an empire, and in 1823 - a republic. The descendants of the great people of the Aztecs did not feel any respect for the conqueror who once destroyed their state. MPs and revolutionary-minded youth planned to hold a national holiday, during which it was supposed to destroy the crypt of the legendary conquistador, and burn his remains in the Piazza San Lazaro, scattering the ashes to the wind. If the intention were fulfilled, the spirit of Cortez would finally find peace. But the curse still held its own.
The Minister of Internal and Foreign Affairs of the newly formed Mexico, Lucas Alaman, with the help of the hospital chaplain Dr. Joaquin Canales, at the last moment stole an iron box with the remains from the mausoleum and on the night of September 15, they buried it under the floor of the main altar. In 1836, the box was hidden, walled up in the wall of the hospital. To calm the Mexican patriots, a rumor was spread that the box with the remains was sent to Italy to one of Cortez's descendants.
Last reburial
If Lucas Alaman had taken the secret with him to his grave, Cortez's wanderings would have ended there. But the spirit of the High Priest was outraged (and what!) And advised Alaman to draw up and send to Spain a secret memorandum in which to indicate the place where the remains of the conqueror of Mexico are located.
In 1946, two Spanish scientists from the University of Mexico City (undoubtedly with a tip from a burnt Aztec) found this document in the archives and offered to check it for authenticity by opening the alleged burial site. On November 24, 1946, the niche was opened, the box was found to the delight of scientists and, in accordance with the curse, was taken to the National Institute of Anthropology, where scientists disturbed and examined the bones for almost a year.
Since July 9, 1947, the remains of the conquistador have been walled up in the wall niche of the Jesus Nazarene Hospital in Mexico City. There is a brass plate on the wall with the name of Cortes, his coat of arms and dates of life. However, I personally have no confidence that this (already the eighth) reburial was the last.
Author: Klim Podkova