Chapter Ten: VERA CRUZ

Chapter Ten: VERA CRUZ

Malinali and Bernal returned to the camp to find all the Spaniards assembled in front of Cortez’s tent, talking loudly and arguing amongst themselves. In response to Malinali’s questioning glance, Bernal smiled. “Ah, the Captain’s trap is being sprung.”

Taking her aside, he explained. “Remember that I told you my cousin, Don Diego Velasquez, was governor of Cuba? The truth is that he is a greedy fat man who has many friends and many enemies – and our soldiers here are made up of both. Those who are friends of Velasquez want to return to their haciendas in Cuba. They think that Velasquez will share most of the gold Montezuma has given us with them. The enemies of Velasquez want to stay and found a colony with lands and haciendas of their own. They will get nothing from Velasquez if they return to Cuba.”

“And which side is Captain Cortez on?” Malinali wanted to know.

Bernal laughed long and hard. “Ah, Doña Marina, the stories of Cortez and Don Diego are already legendary in Cuba! I must tell them to you someday, then you will laugh as well. No, Cortez made such a fool of Don Diego that he has no thought of returning to Cuba. That is why a few days ago he asked for my help, which I was happy to give.

“Have you noticed that the Captain has sent two ships with fifty men each, one led by Francisco de Montejo, the other by Rodrigo Alvarez Chico, to explore the northern coast? That he sent another contingent led by Velasquez de Leon to explore the interior? All these men are loyal to Don Diego. With them gone, we have more men here loyal to Cortez than to Don Diego. Do not be alarmed now when we get angry with the Captain, for it is like a drama, but only we know the script.”

Bernal walked over to join a group of men standing in front of Cortez. Malinali knew them all by name. In addition to her Don Alonso, there were all five Alvarado brothers – Pedro, Jorge, Gonzalo, Gomez, and Juan – Cristobal de Olid, Alonso de Avila, Juan de Escalante, Francisco de Lugo, and Gonzalo de Sandoval. Enraged shouts emerged from the Velasquez men: “Return to Cuba! Return to Cuba!”

Cortez looked out at the men and suddenly there was silence. They knew he was about to announce his decision. “You leave me no choice,” he proclaimed. “I now order that our entire fleet set sail and return to Cuba at once!”

Cortez’s confederates in front of him exploded in anger. “You have betrayed us!” they yelled at him. “This land has untold riches and you want us to leave! You want us to abandon the people who live here to the butchery of Montezuma’s devil-gods! You want to deny these people knowledge and acceptance of Our Savior!” One after another came the accusations which Cortez had instructed them to hurl at him, while the others raised and shook their fists. Many of the Velasquez men began joining in.

Noticing this, Cortez pretended to plead with them. “But I have no authority from His Excellency Governor Velasquez to establish a colony here.”

“Then we will give you the authority, as Spanish law says we can!” thundered Alonso de Puertocarrero in response. “We demand that you form a colony here in the name of his Most Catholic Majesty Don Carlos, to protect his interests in these rich lands that we alone have discovered. And if you refuse, Captain Cortez, to do so, then we will protest your conduct as disloyal to our king!” At this, most of the Velasquez men found themselves shouting in assent.

Again they all fell silent awaiting Cortez’s response. “It is true that you do have such authority. King Alfonso X years ago wrote in his Seven Chapters of Spanish Law that a community has the right to form a municipal council and set aside any law preventing them from doing so. But you know how embarrassed I am that I was a lawyer in Spain before coming to our New World.”

All tension suddenly vanished as the men laughed at Cortez’s joke on himself.

Cortez held up his hands in supplication. “I have no choice but to accede to your wishes” he announced. He beckoned for Padre Diego de Godoy, who served as the King’s Notary for the expedition. “By the authority which you have now given me, and with our notary Padre de Godoy as witness, I now declare the founding of a colony of His Majesty Don Carlos, and that its capital city shall be called Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz – The Rich City of the True Cross. Do you agree?”

There was a great shout of assent from the men as they raised up their hands.

Cortez nodded. “Very well. Now we must appoint a Regimiento, a city council. I would like to nominate Don Alonso Hernandez de Puertocarrero as Alcalde, mayor; Juan de Escalante as Alguacil, constable; Gonzalo de Mejia as treasurer; and Alonso de Avila as accountant. Do you approve and elect these nominations?”

Again a shout of assent.

Cortez took a deep breath. “Now it is done. I wish to applaud you all for your courage and loyalty to our King for founding this colony. As for me, the military powers given to me by Governor Velasquez have been dissolved.” Taking off his hat and sweeping it before them, he said, “With the establishment of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz and its legally constituted governing body, I now resign my position as Captain and await whatever action you and the Regimiento may be pleased to take concerning me.”

Cortez bowed before them, turned, and vanished inside his tent. The men stood mute in shocked silence. They stood motionless, and the only sounds were the waves on the beach and the cries of the seabirds overhead. Then they all began shouting at once. Don Alonso stepped in front and called for the men to let him speak.

“Gentlemen,” he addressed them. “I wish to thank you deeply for the honor you have given me in making me the mayor of our new colony of Vera Cruz. Let the members of our Regimiento step forward so that we may all thank you.” As they did, Don Alonso continued. “It is, of course, impossible that we should establish this colony without Captain Cortez. What role do you gentlemen suggest that he play?”

Before any Velasquez man had a chance to speak, Pedro de Alvarado called out, “I propose that the Regimiento appoint Captain Cortez as the Captain-General of His Majesty’s Army in the colony of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz!”

Amidst yells of agreement from the men, Don Alonso asked the other Regimiento members if they agreed with this appointment. When they all called out their assent, he announced, “I declare by unanimous vote of the Regimiento of Vera Cruz that Captain Cortez is now the supreme leader of all soldiers loyal to His Majesty Don Carlos in the colony of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz and shall henceforth be given the title of Captain-General.”

Juan de Escalante then stepped forward. “A colony requires the rule of law. However Captain-General Cortez is ashamed of it, he is as formidable a lawyer as he is a soldier. I propose that Captain-General Cortez be further appointed Chief Justice of Vera Cruz.” The Regimiento quickly accomplished this as well. One of its members stepped inside Cortez’s tent. Soon Cortez swept open the tent flap and emerged to cheers and applause.

“Gentlemen,” he called out. “I accept the appointments of the Regimiento with the understanding that my authority comes from it and from you. Together, we will establish a great and prosperous colony here worthy of us, worthy of our Majesty, and worthy of our Savior. Let us pray together for His blessing upon us and our endeavors.” He knelt on one knee to quietly pray, as did all the others.

The prayer over, the assembly began to disperse and Cortez turned to go back into his tent. A group of men, about twenty in all, remained and confronted him. Bernal had returned to Malinali’s side and explained these were the most loyal dependents of Diego Velasquez. “Captain Cortez,” she heard one of them say, “we do not wish to remain under your command and demand that you return us to Cuba at once.”

Cortez courteously replied that anyone who wished to leave the new colony was free to do so, and would begin making arrangements for their departure. This satisfied most of the group and, thanking Cortez, they left. A few men stayed. They were obviously still angry. Malinali recognized Diego de Ordas, Pedro Escudero, and Alonso de Escobar among them. Pointing a defiant finger at Cortez, de Ordas said, “Captain, we will not let you get away with this. We will remain loyal to Governor Don Diego and refuse to accept these false proceedings. Until we are returned to Cuba we refuse to accept your authority over us. We are no longer under your command.”

Bernal had already moved away from Malinali and towards de Ordas and the others. Malinali noticed several other soldiers were doing the same. Cortez looked his adversary in the eye and announced, “Diego de Ordas, you and your colleagues here are now under arrest. If you resist, you will be killed.” Cortez looked at Bernal and motioned for their seizure. “Take them to the Santa Elena and place them in chains in the ship’s hold,” he ordered.

The Velasquez men did not resist for that was clearly useless. Cortez had obviously been prepared for this possibility. As the captives were led away, Malinali realized she had witnessed a masterstroke of manipulation. “This is how a king would act,” she thought, “how a king would plan in advance to trick his people into doing what he wants and overcoming opposition.” She smiled at the thought of how her father would have been impressed with Cortez.

* * * * *

It was a few days later that the ships commanded by Francisco de Montejo and Rodrigo Alvarez Chico returned from exploring the coast to the north, while the contingent led by Juan Velasquez de Leon came back as well. Bernal told Malinali that Velasquez de Leon came close to attacking Cortez he was so angry to learn of what Cortez had done – and so had been put in irons with Diego de Ordas. De Montejo, however, became quickly soothed when he learned that the Regimiento had appointed him Alcalde to jointly govern the new Vera Cruz colony with Don Alonso.

The problem now, Bernal explained, was that this “Vera Cruz” did not really exist – and could not on these sand dunes where they were encamped. A suitable location needed to be found, and fast. Montejo told Cortez about a small protected harbor less than 15 leagues (1) up the coast. In ordering preparations for the march up the coast to this harbor, Cortez sent a detachment led by Pedro de Alvarado to some towns seen but not visited by Velasquez de Leon in order to trade for food and supplies.

De Alvarado returned some days later with every man laden with as many turkeys and vegetables as they could carry. He seemed very disturbed about what he had seen. Malinali and Bernal found him walking alone on the beach deep in worrisome thought.

“We went to these small Mesheeka towns – I say that because they seemed to speak the same language as Tendile’s people…” He looked at Malinali for confirmation. “Yes, I heard them speak of a Mesheeka area called Cotaxtla,” she responded, “which is where you went.” De Alvarado took a deep breath and continued. “All of the towns were deserted with just a few old people left. There was food left behind everywhere and that is what we took. Then we quickly departed for what we saw in those towns was a vision straight from Hell.

“In their temples, there were dozens of bodies – dozens in every temple in every town – of men… and of young boys. Their chests had been cut open and their hearts ripped out. The walls and altars were splashed with many coats of blood. Their arms and legs had been cut off. With signs, the old people made it clear to us that the arms and legs were eaten by the villagers. In every town it was the same. I and my men never imagined such evil and cruelty could exist. The sight of what they did to young boys was the worst. This is indeed the Land of Satan.” He crossed himself.

He looked at Malinali. “Doña Marina, I have heard of the dream of your father. Now I understand his dream and our purpose in coming to this land. I vow to you that we are going to make this dream – which I believe was given to your father by our Savior – come true.”

All Malinali could do was bow her head. She had always looked up to De Alvarado. He was impossibly handsome, with a beard and long flowing hair that seemed spun of bright yellow gold. It was little wonder she had heard Tendile and his people call him Tonatio, the Sun. To know that these men, these Spaniards worshipped such a noble and just God gave her a peace inside her soul that she had never known before.

De Alvarado’s next words, directed at Bernal, brought her back to the present moment. “What of our rebellious comrades,” he asked. “What is to be done with them on our march north?”

Bernal smiled. “Ah, Pedro, you more than any other know that our Captain-General is a master with no equal at dealing with people. While you were gone, he was busy using that solvent of hardness – presents and promises of gold – to bring the Velasquez men over to his side. He has taken them all out of prison – even Velasquez and Ordas, who now swear allegiance to him. He is a genio, a genius with people.”

De Alvarado returned Bernal’s rueful smile. “Yes, Bernal, I am not surprised. Cortez is the master.” He looked at Malinali. “It will be very, very interesting, Doña Marina, to see this Great Montezuma we hear about in the hands of Cortez.”

NOTES:

1. There are three miles to the league. 15 leagues would be 45 miles.