Miguel León-Portilla
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Study Guide
Bibliography
Course Hero. "The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico Study Guide." Course Hero. 31 Jan. 2020. Web. 4 Mar. 2021. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Broken-Spears-The-Aztec-Account-of-the-Conquest-of-Mexico/>.
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Course Hero. (2020, January 31). The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved March 4, 2021, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Broken-Spears-The-Aztec-Account-of-the-Conquest-of-Mexico/
In text
(Course Hero, 2020)
Bibliography
Course Hero. "The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico Study Guide." January 31, 2020. Accessed March 4, 2021. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Broken-Spears-The-Aztec-Account-of-the-Conquest-of-Mexico/.
Footnote
Course Hero, "The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico Study Guide," January 31, 2020, accessed March 4, 2021, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Broken-Spears-The-Aztec-Account-of-the-Conquest-of-Mexico/.
Miguel León-Portilla
1959
Nonfiction
History
For over 400 years the history of the conquest of the Aztec Empire has been related primarily through accounts by the Spanish victors. Beginning in the mid-20th century, Miguel León-Portilla, author of The Broken Spears, worked to provide a more nuanced history of Mesoamerica by including narratives of Aztec survivors and their descendants. Insights related from several historical codices give voice to the religious and cultural events, as well as the triumphs and tragedies experienced by the indigenous peoples of 16th-century central Mexico. Through The Broken Spears, readers can evaluate the final days of Tenochtitlán from the viewpoints of both vanquished and victors.
Based on historical records describing the Spanish conquest of Mexico, The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico is narrated from the third-person perspective of the conquered people. Drawing upon the writings of various authors, it reports events as they take place, in the voice of an observer or witness.
The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico was first published as Visión de los vencidos (Vision of the Vanquished). The broken spears in the later title symbolize the fall of the Aztec Empire to the forces of Hernando Cortés's Spanish conquistadors. Spears were a primary weapon of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Though used to great effect, they were no match for the conquistadors' guns and cannons. The broken spear symbol is found in "Epic Description of the Besieged City" in Chapter 14. This section describes the suffering of the Aztec people in the final days of the conquest.
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