ABSTRACT
When Montezuma Xocoyotzin, son of Axayacatl, succeeded his uncle Ahuitzotl on the imperial throne, in the same year as Christopher Columbus set out from Cadiz on his last voyage, times were good and the election was no more than a formality. The necessities of municipal life and of the defence of the territory led the Aztec aristocracy to choose a leader. The heroes of Tenochtitlan, who had come to the sound of trumpets, scurried away like thieves. The darkness deepened and the rain poured down upon an army in flight. From breach to breach the Spaniards eventually reached the Tacuba shore, where the last to take foothold was Alvarado. He had lost his shield and his horse had been killed beneath him. Cortes and his men took refuge on the hill of Los Remedios, above Tacuba, and counted themselves.
