Share one of history’s most exciting and improbable true adventures with your students — the conquest of the mighty Aztec Empire by Cortés and his small army. In the savage battles, which gained the Aztec Empire for Spain, Cortés and his followers destroyed a magnificent ancient civilization. This Jackdaw presents the evidence of that civilization and describes the way in which it met its end. Your students will be intrigued by “Cortes’ plan of Tenochititlan” and other hands-on documents. Historian: Irene Nicholson. The contents of this Jackdaw feature:

• Two Cultures Mingle
• Ancient Mexican Civilization
• Cortés Scales the Mountains
• The Spaniards Defeated
• Cortés Fights Back
• Aftermath

• Four pages from the Codex Laud, a Maya folding book, with an interpretation.
• The Song of Xipe and other songs from the Florentine Codex.
• Durer engraving of Hernan Cortes’ plan of Tenochititlan.
• Mexican gods and temples — a picture sheet.
• Four pages from the Codex Mendoza, a manuscript made soon after the conquest.
• Two pages from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, a manuscript made by a native of Mexico shortly after the conquest.
• Page from the “True History of the Conquest of New Spain” by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, with a translation.
• Two pages from a letter sent by Hernan Cortés to the Emperor Charles V, with a translation.
• Maya stone lintel depicting a religious penance.