That He Had Appointed Very Unfit Persons To
The Military Command In New Spain, As Was Particularly The Case With
Regard To Christoval De Tapia, To Whom He Had Given A Commission As
Governor Of New Spain, In Order To Bring About A Marriage Between His
Niece And Tapia.
That he had given authenticity to the false accounts
transmitted by the agents of Velasquez, suppressing the true relations
which came from Cortes.
There were many other charges against the bishop
which he could not gainsay, as they were all substantiated by good
evidence.
All these things being made clear to his holiness, he was pleased to order,
that the bishop should have no longer any authority in regard to the
affairs of New Spain, of which the government should be conferred on
Cortes, and that Velasquez should be remunerated for all the expences he
had incurred on account of the expedition, which he could duly
substantiate. His holiness sent also to New Spain, a great number of
indulgences for the hospitals and churches, and recommended to Cortes and
the other conquerors to pay unremitting attention to the conversion of the
Indians, and was pleased to send us his holy bulls of absolution. His
majesty graciously confirmed all these orders of the pope, ordering
Velasquez to be deprived of the government of Cuba, on account of having
sent the expedition under Narvaez, in defiance of peremptory orders to the
contrary from the royal audience of St Domingo, and the Jeronymite
brethren. The bishop was so much affected by his disgrace on this occasion,
that he fell dangerously ill.
About this time, Panfilo de Narvaez and Christoval de Tapia arrived in
Spain, together with the pilot Umbria and Cardenas, who by the instigation
of the bishop of Burgos, preferred many severe accusations against Cortes
to his majesty, in which they were gladly joined by the agents of
Velasquez. They alleged, that Velasquez had fitted out three several
expeditions for New Spain at vast expence, the last of which he had
confided to Cortes, who broke his engagements and converted the armament
to his own advantage. That when Velasquez sent Narvaez as governor of New
Spain, with his majesties commission, Cortes made war upon him, defeated
him and made him a prisoner. That when the bishop of Burgos sent Tapia to
take the command of New Spain in the name of his majesty, Cortes refused
obedience, and compelled him to re-embark. They also accused Cortes of
having embezzled a great quantity of gold which he had obtained for his
majesty; of taking a fifth of all the plunder to his own use; of having
tortured Guatimotzin; of defrauding the soldiers of their shares; of
making the natives of Mexico construct for his use magnificent palaces and
castles as large as villages; of having poisoned Francisco de Garay, in
order to get possession of his ships and troops, and many other charges of
a similar nature. By command of his majesty, a court of inquiry was
appointed from the privy council, to hear and determine upon these
allegations, before which the following answers were given in. That
Cordova was the real discoverer of New Spain, which had been done by him
and his companions at their own cost. That although Velasquez had sent
Juan de Grijalva on an expedition to New Spain, it was only for the
purpose of trade, and not of colonization. That the principal charges had
been expended by the different captains, and not by Velasquez, who had
received the chief part of 20,000 crowns which these captains had
collected. That Velasquez gave Indians in Cuba to the bishop of Burgos to
collect gold for him, which ought to have belonged to his majesty. That
although it was true Velasquez had sent Cortes to New Spain, his orders
were only to barter; and the establishment he had made was entirely owing
to the representations of his companions for the service of God and his
majesty, and in no respect due to the instructions of Velasquez. That it
was well known to all, that Cortes had reported the whole of his
proceedings to his majesty, to whom he and his companions sent all the
gold they could procure, waiting his majesties ultimate orders in the
utmost humility; whereas the bishop of Burgos suppressed his letters, and
appropriated the gold to his own use, concealing our meritorious services
from his majesty, preventing our agents from gaining access to the emperor,
and even throwing one of them into prison, where he died; and that he
prevented the royal officers from supplying us with such things as we
needed, by which our enterprize had been much retarded. That all these
things had been done by the bishop from corrupt motives, that he might
give the government of Mexico to Velasquez or Tapia, in order that one of
them might marry his _niece_ Donna Petronilla de Fonseca, being anxious to
make his _son-in-law_ governor of that splendid kingdom. As for the
expedition of Narvaez, our agents contended that Velasquez ought to suffer
death for having sent it in direct disobedience of his majesties orders as
communicated by the royal audience; and that he had behaved with high
disrespect to his majesty, in making his application to the bishop of
Burgos on this occasion. In support of all these accusations they offered
to bring substantial proofs, and prayed the court to award punishment for
these multiplied offences.
In reply to the accusations of Narvaez against Cortes, they represented,
that Narvaez sent word to Montezuma on his arrival in Mexico, that he came
to rescue him, by which he occasioned a dangerous war. That when Cortes
desired to see his commission, and represented the necessity of an
amicable junction of their forces for the good of the service, Narvaez
would give no answer, but immediately declared war against Cortes and his
companions, by which they were forced to defend themselves, and that
Narvaez had even presumed to seize his majesties oydor, for which Cortes
deemed it requisite to bring him to punishment.
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