Montezuma succeeded his uncle, Ahuitzotl, after being head general of the Aztec army and fighting many wars both as a general and a king. According to Cartwright, there were 4 major wars that were fought when Montezuma was a general to when he died as an ex-king. When it came to winning battles and wars, Montezuma loved to be in the spotlight. He wanted his people to think he was in charge of the military when he was the king (“Montezuma II”, Cóttrill). According to Cóttrill, he was a successful general under his uncle, Ahuitzotl. When Montezuma was the chief general he might have been harsh and brutal, but he might not have been the brutal one when he was king and his generals were the brutal ones. Montezuma was a prideful king and he wanted…show more content… According to Cóttrill, Mark, and Cartwright, Montezuma was educated in science, philosophy, and theology. Montezuma was a priest in his youth to the god of the sun and war, Huitzilopochtli. According to Kimmel, Montezuma lacked realism in the omens he saw. Montezuma’s priest also could not tell what the omens meant, and since neither Montezuma nor his priest knew what they were, Montezuma was even more scared (“Montezuma II”, Editors). Montezuma did not know much about the world like the Spaniards did. According to Kimmel, and Marks, when the Spanish came Montezuma tried to greet the Spaniards instead of trap them in case they were gods so he tried to play it nice and buy them of. Montezuma prayed and meditated many times hoping the Spaniards would take his bribe and come to him. According to Potrilla, and Cóttrill, it was easy to think that the Spaniards were gods because of their white skins and long beards. They also had shiny armor with loud and powerful weapons.
This is what the Nahutáls thought of the Spaniards Portilla: “Their war equipment is all of iron. There dress is iron, something like a helmet of iron they put it on their heads, their swords are iron, their arrows, their shields; iron on their spears. They are carried on the backs of their “deer.” These are as high as the roofs,” (56). We can see that the…show more content… He had 3 sons, which one died, 1 went mad, and one was palsied. (“Montezuma II”, Marks, History Channel). Mark and the Nahutál account say that Montezuma’s nephew, Cuauhtémoc, asked Montezuma many times to come and escape with him, but for whatever reason Montezuma refused and stayed as Cortés’s prisoner. According to Cartwright, most of the Aztecs did not know that Montezuma was in Spanish slavery and being told what to do. The people thought Montezuma was in complete control, (just what Cortés wanted) but only in Spanish protection (Cortés, PBS, History World,). Montezuma in his later months of being held captive by Cortés; their relations were less amiable and Montezuma was forced to do certain things unlike when he was first held captive. Montezuma was forced to declare himself subject under Charles V., king of Spain. He was also forced to allow a crucifix on top of the great pyramid. All the religious human sacrifices had to be stopped (Telegraph, Cartwright, History Channel). The Spaniards took advantage of being white and different to get Montezuma to do what they wanted him to