아스텍 제국의 몰락 원인: 전염병인가? 신화인가? = The Cause of the Downfall of the Aztec Empire: The Epidemic? or the Myth of Quetzalcoatl?

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This article attempts to analyse the cause of the collapse of the Aztec empire. It is difficult to explain it by only one factor. The fall of the Aztec empire resulted from various causes like spanish excellent weapons and indigenous alliances. In 1428, Tenochtitlán, Texcoco and Tlacopan formed the Triple Alliance and developed into the great empire through the war of conquest. A loose and indirect structure of rule brought about the internal conflicts. To make matters worse, flooding and severe feminine outbroke by the early 16th, and the empire became to face a economic crisis. Omens and gloomy prophecies made people feel anxiety for the future of the empire.
Under such a situation, Cortes and his military landed on Veracruz.
Cortes marched into the inland area with superior weapons like canons,steel swords. These weaponry made it easier to drag a cooperatioin from indigenous people. These two factors, that is, weapons and collaborations of natives were most important for the success of conquest of the Aztec empire. A smallpox caused the death of many natives, but it doesn’t seem to have had a decisive influence on the collapse of the empire. There’s no strong evidence that a smallpox broke out from 1519 to 1520 and a third of indigenous population decreased. Probably europeans invented the myth of return of Quetzalcoatl to justify the Conquest.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 에르난 코르테스, "코르테스의 멕시코 제국 정복기 1" 나남 277-, 2009

2 Alfred W. Crosby, "Virgin Soil Epidemics as a Factor in the Aboriginal Depopulation in America" 33 : 289-290, 1976

3 Stuart B. Schwartz, "Victors and Vanquished: Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico" 2000

4 H. B. Nelson, "Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl: The Once and Future Lord of the Toltecs" 2001

5 Bernal Diaz del Castillo, "The True History of the Conquest of New Spain" 218-219, 1912

6 Michael Mann, "The Sources of Social Power, vol. 1, A History of Power from the Beginning to 1760 AD" 234-235, 1986

7 Enrique Florescano, "The Myth of Quetzalcoatl" 1999

8 John F. Guilmartin, "The Cutting Edge: An Analysis of the Spanish Invasion and Overthrow of the Inca Empire, 1532-1539, Transatlantic Encounters: Europeans and Andeans in the Sixteenth Century" 1991

9 Tzvetan Tcdorov, "The Conquest of America: The Question of the Other" 1984

10 Miguel León Portillla, "The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico" 1962

11 Susan Gillespie, "The Aztec Kings: The Construction of Rulership in Mexica History" 197-198, 1989

12 James D. Henderson, "Ten Notable Women of Latin America" 1978

13 Matthew Restall, "Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest" 2003

14 Francis J. Brooks, "Revising the Conquest of Mexico: Smallpox, Sources, and Populations" 24 (24): 1-29, 1993

15 Frances Karttunen, "Rethinking Malinche, Indian Women of Early Mexico" 1997

16 David Carrasco, "Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition" 1982

17 Jacques Lafaye, "Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe: The Formation of Mexican National Consciousness, 1531-1813" 1976

18 William H. McNeil, "Plagues and Peoples" 192-, 1979

19 Edward E. Calnek, "Patterns of Empire Formation in the Valley of Mexico, Late Postclassic Period, 1200-1521, The Inca and Aztec States 1400-1800: Anthropology and History" 58-59, 1982

20 Stephen A. Colston, "No Longer Will There Be a Mexico: Omens, Prophecies, and The Conquest of the Aztec Empire" American Indian Prophecies: Religious Leaders and Revitalization Movements 9 (9): 251-, 1985

21 Alan Knight, "Mexico: From the Beginning to the Spanish Conquest" 135-145, 2002

22 Ross Hassig, "Mexico and the Spanish Conquest" 2006

23 Anna Lanyon, "Malinche’s Conquest" Allen & Unwin 1999

24 Gloria Durán, "Malinche: Slave Princess of Cortez" 1993

25 Mariano G. Somonte, "La Malinche" 1971

26 William Hickling Prescott, "History of the Conquest of Mexico" 482-, 1970

27 Toribio de Benavente Motolinía, "Historia de los Indios de la Nueva España" 107-108, 1991

28 Bernal Díaz del Castillo, "Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1000" 201-, 1986

29 Anthony Pagden, "Hernan Cortes: Letters From Mexico" New Haven 176-, 1986

30 Eric Van Young, "Hacienda and Market in Eighteenthe-Century Mexico: The Rural Economy of the Guadalajara Region, 1675-1820" 16-17, 1981

31 Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, "Florentine Codex, Victors and Vanquished: Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico" 2000

32 Rolando Romero, "Feminism, Nation and Myth: La Malinche" 2005

33 Francisco López de Gómara, "Cortés: The Life of the Conquistador by His Secretary" 204-205, 1965

34 Lesley Byrd Simpson, "Cortés: The Life of the Conquest by His Secretary" 137-, 1965

35 Camilla Townsend, "Burying the White Gods: New Perspectives on the Conquest of Mexico" 24 (24): 679-, 1993

36 James Lockart, "Book Twelve of the Florentine Codex, We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico" 179-252, 1993

37 Elizabete M. Brumfiel, "Aztec State Making: Ecology, Structure, and the Origin of the State" 85 (85): 274-, 1983

38 John Murra, "Andean Societies before 1532" 1 : 59-60,