Bitter Chocolate Read Online Free Page A
Author: Carol Off
original source of Olmec chocolate production. Cocoa bean consumption in the capital was insatiable, and the demand on farmers and serfs was crippling.
Montezuma had been an impressive leader when he first came to power in 1502. He had the unusual distinction of being trained as both a soldier and a priestâconsidered stabilizing professions, and ideal preparation for a future Aztec ruler. As a young emperor, he often led his armies on their warring expeditions, while on the domestic front, his public aqueducts and canal systems rivalled anything to be found in civilization.
But it was all too good to last. After only two decades, the reign of Montezuma changed fundamentally, setting in motion forces that would, over time, destroy his empire. He suddenly stopped appearing in public and cut off contact with all but select members of his inner circle. Soon half of the people under his dominion were employed in the business of suppressing insurrections by the other half. Montezumaâs taxes, necessary to pay for thelavish excesses at his court, had become exorbitant. Eventually, the gluttonous, drunken banquets became too much for a people who were, at heart, a pious and puritanical lot. The decadent, pleasure-driven Aztec court, of which the arrogant Montezuma was both symbol and a centrepiece, turned even his most loyal subjects against him.
Montezuma had enemies everywhere, yet he believed his large and ruthless army, energized by loyalty and cocoa, was more than enough to keep his poor and disorganized enemies at bay. But there was one thing Montezumaâs sublime confidence and military muscle couldnât handle: the intangible power of a prophecy.
Aztecs believed their culture to be superior and their mastery over others to be a God-given right. They believed their society came about through divine intervention, that they were directed to their island stronghold capital by the god Quetzalcoatl, ruler of civilization and lord of the forces of good and light. But Aztec religious belief held that Quetzalcoatl would return one day with a host of white-skinned gods sporting long beards, and that these strangers would claim their rightful ownership of the Aztec throne. The predicted time for the arrival of these strange creatures was upon them. And according to the prophecy, the emperor would be unable to resist their power.
Charles V, a Hapsburg and the Holy Roman Emperor, was also the King of Spain (in his role as the Spanish monarch, he was also Charles I). In 1519, while Montezuma presided over a vast but uncertain empire, Charles enjoyed authority over a newly united and emboldened Spain, finally liberated from eight centuries of domination by the Islamic Moors. Not only was Charles the sovereign of a strong and expansive Spanish dominion, but he also had a large and growing collection of colonies around the globe. Spain was rapidly becoming the biggest and most influentialimperial power in Europe. But Charles wanted to expand his wealth and control over even more of the world. Fantastic rumours of rich societies in yet-undiscovered places beyond the western sea persuaded him to secure more territory for the greater good of Spain by financing a band of avaricious and uncompromising mariners and soldiers to pursue his interests. They would come to be known collectively as the conquistadors.
Hernán Cortés was one of them. He was an artillery officer based in Cuba, already in his thirties, facing a limited future with few opportunities for advancement and little hope of ever getting rich. Cortés was young and quite handsome, a broad-shouldered ladyâs man who had abandoned his law studies and fled to the Caribbean at the age of nineteen to escape the jealous husband of his lover. Though he had grown up in privilege, he was a relative nobody in the overcrowded colony of Cuba, Spainâs base in the New World and holding bay for its treasure fleet.
In 1519, Cortés was competing with too many
Montezuma had been an impressive leader when he first came to power in 1502. He had the unusual distinction of being trained as both a soldier and a priestâconsidered stabilizing professions, and ideal preparation for a future Aztec ruler. As a young emperor, he often led his armies on their warring expeditions, while on the domestic front, his public aqueducts and canal systems rivalled anything to be found in civilization.
But it was all too good to last. After only two decades, the reign of Montezuma changed fundamentally, setting in motion forces that would, over time, destroy his empire. He suddenly stopped appearing in public and cut off contact with all but select members of his inner circle. Soon half of the people under his dominion were employed in the business of suppressing insurrections by the other half. Montezumaâs taxes, necessary to pay for thelavish excesses at his court, had become exorbitant. Eventually, the gluttonous, drunken banquets became too much for a people who were, at heart, a pious and puritanical lot. The decadent, pleasure-driven Aztec court, of which the arrogant Montezuma was both symbol and a centrepiece, turned even his most loyal subjects against him.
Montezuma had enemies everywhere, yet he believed his large and ruthless army, energized by loyalty and cocoa, was more than enough to keep his poor and disorganized enemies at bay. But there was one thing Montezumaâs sublime confidence and military muscle couldnât handle: the intangible power of a prophecy.
Aztecs believed their culture to be superior and their mastery over others to be a God-given right. They believed their society came about through divine intervention, that they were directed to their island stronghold capital by the god Quetzalcoatl, ruler of civilization and lord of the forces of good and light. But Aztec religious belief held that Quetzalcoatl would return one day with a host of white-skinned gods sporting long beards, and that these strangers would claim their rightful ownership of the Aztec throne. The predicted time for the arrival of these strange creatures was upon them. And according to the prophecy, the emperor would be unable to resist their power.
Charles V, a Hapsburg and the Holy Roman Emperor, was also the King of Spain (in his role as the Spanish monarch, he was also Charles I). In 1519, while Montezuma presided over a vast but uncertain empire, Charles enjoyed authority over a newly united and emboldened Spain, finally liberated from eight centuries of domination by the Islamic Moors. Not only was Charles the sovereign of a strong and expansive Spanish dominion, but he also had a large and growing collection of colonies around the globe. Spain was rapidly becoming the biggest and most influentialimperial power in Europe. But Charles wanted to expand his wealth and control over even more of the world. Fantastic rumours of rich societies in yet-undiscovered places beyond the western sea persuaded him to secure more territory for the greater good of Spain by financing a band of avaricious and uncompromising mariners and soldiers to pursue his interests. They would come to be known collectively as the conquistadors.
Hernán Cortés was one of them. He was an artillery officer based in Cuba, already in his thirties, facing a limited future with few opportunities for advancement and little hope of ever getting rich. Cortés was young and quite handsome, a broad-shouldered ladyâs man who had abandoned his law studies and fled to the Caribbean at the age of nineteen to escape the jealous husband of his lover. Though he had grown up in privilege, he was a relative nobody in the overcrowded colony of Cuba, Spainâs base in the New World and holding bay for its treasure fleet.
In 1519, Cortés was competing with too many
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