The** Massacre in the Great Temple**, also called the Alvarado Massacre, was an event on 22 May 1520, in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, in which the celebration of the Feast of Toxcatl ended in a massacre of Aztec elites. While Hernán Cortés was in Tenochtitlan, he heard about other Spaniards arriving on the coast – Pánfilo de Narváez had come from Cuba with orders to arrest him – and Cortés was forced to leave the city to fight them. During his absence, Moctezuma asked deputy governor Pedro de Alvarado for permission to celebrate Toxcatl (an Aztec festivity in honor of Tezcatlipoca, one of their main gods.) After the festivities had started, Alvarado interrupted the celebration, killing all the warriors and noblemen who were celebrating inside the Great Temple. The Spanish version of the incident contains several differing possible motives, while the Aztec version says the Spaniards were enticed into action by the gold the Aztecs were wearing, prompting an Aztec rebellion against the orders of Moctezuma. While differing so on Alvarado's specific motive, all accounts agree that the Aztecs were mostly unarmed and that the massacre occurred without warning or direct provocation. The Aztecs were already antagonistic towards the Spaniards for being inside their city and for holding Moctezuma under house arrest. When Cortés and his men, including those who had come under Narváez, returned, the Aztecs began full-scale hostilities against the Spaniards. The Spaniards had no choice but to retreat from the city, which they did on what is called the Sad Night (La Noche Triste), losing most of their men, who were either killed in the battle or were captured and sacrificed.

An Aztec account of the incident

This is part of the Aztec account:

The Spaniards' account of the incident

Spanish Historian Francisco López de Gómara's account:

Aftermath

Cortes returned to the city in late June, by which time the Aztecs had elected Cuitláhuac as Tlatoani, supplanting the still-captive Moctezuma. Cortes ordered Moctezuma to try and quell the Aztec rebellion so that the Spaniards might safely depart the city. The strategy backfired badly, and in the ensuing mayhem Moctezuma was killed and Cortes instead resorted to an attempt to stealthily depart under cover of darkness and a rainstorm, but they were detected and what followed became known as La Noche Triste or The Night of Sorrows in which many conquistadors and their Tlaxcaltec allies were killed.

Primary sources