The fact is, by all accounts, Moctezuma, for one, had already reconciled himself and his responsibilities - however and by whomever those were measured - to their collective fates. He gave up all this, it seems, very early on (maybe even May-June) and without having even met the newcomers, who at this point, hadn't yet definitively decided to march inland. They were then scheming to incorporate a town on the east coast, which would become Vera Cruz (and which story will also be told here later).
So why had Moctezuma 'reconciled' himself to such a fate? He seemed to believe his messengers and his advisors, and they in turn, had good reason, thereatened with their lives, to tell him the truth as far as they knew. He seemed to think early on that maybe the strangers on the coast were the gods returning like they said they would. This, despite the evidence reported of the strangers fishing for food and wearing discernible clothing of mortals etc. He seems not to notice these reports and turns instead to constructing gifts of great worth for the newcomers. Then when the Spaniards did arrive, he allowed himself to be 'captured' and eventually, killed.
But I think it bears some scrutiny to look again at the motivations for Moctezuma relinquishing his power, reconciling himself to some fate of unknown consequences -- like a conquest of the entire region. So much depended on it. After all, we know, or can determine clearly, so little of Mexica belief, or the beliefs it's leader held. Much of the story depends on absences of evidence, even in anthropology, which can be supported by a great deal of physical evidence and sociological models and methodologies, etc. But in abstract cultural attitudes like religion, the evidence or absence of evidence provides far less.
Can psychology say Moctezuma was just a weak, paranoid, megalomaniac with a thirst for human blood and dreams of vengeance? Sure, it probably could. Or was he some nihilistic demon set upon the destruction of his own people, happy to call the strangers 'gods' and let them have their way with all their riches? Some sixteenth century Franciscan friar might even make a case for that.
But these suppositions and assumptions don't really get us any closer to Moctezuma's mindset. They are interpretations, based on outsider's assumptions and premises which may not have existed at all for Moctezuma or in the culture of the greater mesoamerican region. It is too tempting (crucially, for us in the west, in the 21st century) to provide belief in some kind of 'liberation theology' for Moctezuma, in order to explain his seeming abdication of responsibility. Some narrative that attempts to placate and persuade, saying, 'The Gods have returned! They have us outgunned and will at last give us the truth!'. Too tempting because it may work in a modern day narrative,or an evangelizing christian, back in the day, but wildly misses the actual story that has come down to us. Those advisors around him at the time, as far as we can tell, seem to have been crucial for determining Moctezuma's course of action. But how, we can only guess.
These various stories, instead, tell us a story that fits a narrative that another audience (and even, specific audiences), might recognize and then in turn, find useful, as an explanation, a story that they can then use elsewhere, for other ends. Just like today.
With this as mere introduction what follows are excerpts from the Codex Florentino transcribed by friar Sahagun with locals giving their remembrances many years after the fact.
"Motecuhzoma was distraught and bewildered, he was filled with terror, not knowing what would happen to the city. The people were also terrified, debating the news among themselves. There were meetings and arguments and gossip in the street; there was weeping and lamenting. The people were downcast: they went about with their heads bowed down and greeted each other with tears.
But theer were some who attempted to encourage their neighbors, and the children were caressed and comforted by their fathers and mothers. The chiefs said to Motecuhzoma, to fortify his heart: "The strangers are accompanied by a woman from this land, whos peaks our Nahuatl tongue. She is called La Malinche, and she is from Teticpac. They found her there on the coast....""[page thirty-five]
Motecuzoma also had heard the strangers were inquiring about his person and wished to see him. Was he old or young, mature, white haired? This scrutiny was more than Motecuzoma could bear.
"... when he learned that the "gods" wished to see him face to face, his heart shrank within him and he was filled with anguish. He wanted to run away and hide; he thought of evading the "gods," of escaping to hide in a cave." [page thirty-five]
Some of his closest advisors, whose "... hearts were still firm and resolute," told him he could go to a few temples or other places of ceremony and honor and stay there. So he decided to go to the temple of the corn goddess and this was told to the people.
"And his desire was made known; it was revealed to the people.
But he could not do it. He could not run away, could not go into hiding. He had lost his strength and his spirit, and could do nothing. The magician's words had overwhelmed his heart; they had vanquished his heart and thrown him into confusion, so that now he was so weak and listless and too uncertain to make a decision.
Therefore he did nothing but wait. He did nothing but resign himself and wait for them to come. He mastered his heart at last, and waited for whatever was to happen." [thirty-six]He depended on advisors to guide and support and defend him. And they just confused him.
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from The Broken Spears: the Aztec account of the conquest of Mexico, translated, edited with an introduction by Miguel León-Portilla, expanded and with a postscript, Beacon Press, 2006.
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