page_title: Xicomecoatl
section_title: Meeting Cortés
hierarchical_section_title: Xicomecoatl / Alliance with Spain / Meeting Cortés
caption_attribution_description: English: Cempoala, Circle of Gladiators, Great Temple, and Temple of the Chimneys Cempoala or Zempoala (Nahuatl for "Place of Twenty Waters") is an important Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. The name perhaps originates from the fact that the city had a lot of aqueducts which provided the vital fluid to the numerous gardens and surrounding farmland fields and irrigation channels. According to some sources, the city was originally founded at least 1,500 years before the Spaniards arrival and there is evidence of Olmec influence. Although not much is known about the Preclassical and Classic Era, the Preclassical town was built on mounds to protect it from floods. Cempoala was the Totonac capital and was occupied by Totonacs, Chinantecas and Zapotec becoming the largest city in the Gulf. During its apogee, it had a population of between 25,000 and 30,000 people and was one of the most important Totonaca settlements during the post-classic period. (source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cempoala)
context_page_description: Xicomecoatl, Chicomácatl, or as he was referred to as by the Spanish conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo, "Cacique Gordo", was the ruler of the city of Cempoala while it was under control of the Mexica Empire.
  He was known for his alliance with the Spanish captain Hernán Cortés, formed in 15 July 1519, which made him one of the first allies of the Spanish during the conquest of the Mexica Empire.
  His political position as ruler of Cempoala made him a highly important person in the empire, as the city is sometimes referred to as "the capital of the Totonac empire", due to its influence over other Totonac settlements.
context_section_description: Xicomecoatl met Cortés in 15 July 1519. Upon hearing about the news about the "towers" or "temples" that had arrived at the sea that were filled with strange foreign men who were now going to the capital, Xicomecoatl sent 12 ambassadors to meet these new people and welcome them into Cempoala. At first, Cortés asked some questions to make sure the arrival would be safe, supposedly asking:
  "If your town was so close to us, why did it take that long to tell us about it?"
  To this they responded that they wanted to make sure that "no Mexicans would enter, since they do much damage to their people".
  They accepted the offer and went to the city the following day using the ambassadors to guide them into the city, sending half of them back into Cempoala to tell Xicomecoatl that they were going in peace. For the first time, the Spanish were going to enter into territory within the borders of the empire.
  When first arriving at the city, the Spaniards were amazed by its size, as it was the first city of high importance they had seen during their travels. Cortés and some of his soldiers decided to name this city after Seville, while others named it "Villa-viciosa" (Busy-town). Díaz del Castillo wrote:
  And as we were entering between the houses, as we saw such a big city, because we haven't seen any bigger, we were very amazed about it, and as we saw how busy it was, filled with men and women in the streets coming out to see us, we praised God because of the lands we had discovered.
  Xicomecoatl and Cortés finally met in the main square of Cempoala, outside the palace of the city. There, Cortés and Xicomecoatl hugged each other as a sign of friendship. Xicomecoatl offered them a large place to reside during their stay in the city. He offered them food, such a cornbread and "plums", as Díaz del Castillo wrote (possibly referring to prickly pear fruit?). They began to give each other gifts, such as jewelry, clothes and gold. Cortés, alongside his translators and interpreters, Doña Marina (also known as La Malinche) and Gerónimo de Aguilar, told the ruler that they would return the favor by helping them with whatever they wanted:
  And Cortés told him, with Doña Marina and Aguilar, that we would pay him with favors, because we are vassals of a great sire, whom is the emperor Don Carlos, who rules over many kingdoms and states, and he sent us to solve grievances, to punish the evil, and to stop the sacrifice of any more souls.
  According to Díaz del Castillo, upon hearing these claims, Xicomecoatl began to complain about Moctezuma, claiming that his people used to live in peace and freedom before he forced them into submission, and now they had to pay tributes to him, and that he took almost all of the city's gold and jewelry, and there was nothing they could do about it because they feared that he would kill them all if they tried. Other members of the court described that all the lands around belonged to Moctezuma, and though most of them had their own ruler, they were all vassals of the tlatoani, and some were treated like slaves for him. Cortés stated that he understood the ruler perfectly, and they would do something to help.
  Supposedly, after complaining, Xicomecoatl told Cortés about Moctezuma's allies and enemies, a simple description of how Tenochtitlan looked and where it was, and how the Republic of Tlaxcallan was the empire's worst enemy, alongside Huexotzinco and other places, and suggested that if he wanted to bring him down, he could try to make an alliance with those places. However, Díaz del Castillo claims that the idea of the rebellion against Moctezuma was not suggested until long after this meeting took place.
  This meeting would begin an alliance between the Spanish Empire and Cempoala that would become a turning point in the conquest of the Mexica Empire, as Xicomecoatl saw the new alliance as an opportunity for the city to be liberated from the Mexica oppression, though several historians have proposed the theory that the story of the oppression was actually a lie, that Cempoala was not as oppressed as Xicomecoatl claim
caption: Court of Cempoala, where Cortés and Xicomecoatl first met
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