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The Second relation letter from Hernán Cortés to emperor Charles V is one of the five Letters of relation written by Hernán Cortés to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor by his name in the Holy Roman Empire, and to his mother, the queen Joanna of Castile in which he relates his trips to Mexico and the conquest of Mexico-Tenochtitlán. This second letter was dated on 30 October 1520.
Content
The letter begins with the headline:
Written fifteen months after the First Letter, Cortés informs in the Second letter of relation the previous process to the conquest of Mexico-Tenochtitlán. It began with an apology to the kings for the time he took to write; and continued with the sinking of the brigs to avoid his men regret to go with him and go back to The Spaniard; he exposed his decision to conquer the city and with this justified his expedition. He described the power, wealth and religion of the mexicas. He mentioned the meetings he had with the boss of Tlaxcala, Xicotencatl and the gold that received from the caciques and the tlatoani Moctezuma II, his impressions when knowing the political conflicts within the territory and his visit with natives of Cholula. Later he noted the conflicts with Moctezuma and his confrontation with mexicas, the battle that took place in Mexico-Tenochtitlán during his absence, when he left to meet with Pánfilo of Nárvaez, the tlatoani's death and his defeat against mexicas forces. After this, they went to Tlaxcala, where the natives offered him his support to defeat the mexicas. They began to build brigs to besiege Tenochtitlán in company of more native allies, the conflict with Pedro of Alvarado in the market of Tlatelolco, the sacrifices of the Spaniards, the capture of Cuauhtemoc, the defeat of the mexicas and the conquest Mexico-Tenochtitlán.