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Third letter of Hernán Cortés to the Emperor Charles V


The Third Letter of Relation (Tercera Carta de relación) of Hernán Cortés to the Emperor Carlos V is one of five letters written by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés to the emperor Carlos V, sent with the intention of informing Carlos V of the territories discovered and their conquest; it was signed on 15 May 1522 in Coyoacán. The letter describes part of the expedition to the New World, the conquest of Tenochtitlán and the destruction of the city, covering the events from 1520 until the final conquests in 1522.

In the first part of the letter, Cortés describes the Battle of Otumba, as well as the reorganisation of the Spanish troops after the defeat of the "Night of Sorrows" at Tlaxcala, with the aim of encircling Tenochtitlán. In reference to this reorganisation, Hernán Cortés relates that it was necessary to create "Military Ordinances" to establish order among the troops and avoid thefts and pillages.

Cortés goes on to describe the construction of the brigantines used to enter Tenochtitlán by the canals. These vessels were manufactured in Tlaxcala, as this region was the main source of support for the Spaniards within the territory. The thirteen ships were transported in parts to the lake of Texcoco with the help of the Tlaxcaltecs, building docks to assemble the brigantines, and channels to connect the docks with the lake. It was also from there that the military campaign was launched.

Cortés describes how he ordered his troops to subdue the populations surrounding Tenochtitlán and those that were vassals and suppliers of the Mexica, in order to stop essential provisions entering the city and thus bring about its early surrender. At this point in his account Hernán Cortés mentions the first of the smallpox epidemics, which killed much of the native population, and caused the death of Cuitláhuac, Moctezuma's brother, who was succeeded as emperor by Cuauhtémoc. Bernal Díaz del Castillo mentions that this epidemic originated with a black slave who had arrived with the expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez.


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