‘What Cortés did not want others to realise was that if Malintzin hadn’t been there, they could not have succeeded.’
Camilla Townsend (2019) on the importance of Malintzin in the Spanish conquest of America
Malintzin (1500-1529) was an indigenous woman in the Yucatán peninsula whose role was pivotal in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire.
Enslaved by a rival group and traded with Hernan Cortés when he arrived in Mexico, her ability to speak both Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs) and Mayan made her invaluable for securing alliances with the Tlaxcalans who supported Cortés’ small army of around 500 men with thousands of troops.
When Cortés met Moctezuma II at Tenochtitlan on 8th November 1519, it was Malintzin that led the negotiations.
She gave birth to a son by Cortés and maintained an important role as a translator as the Spanish set up their empire in Mesoamerica.
She died of smallpox brought over by the Europeans in 1529. Her legacy is complex, often known as La Malinche (‘traitor’) in Mexico for helping the conquistadors, although the level of her consent and collaboration with Cortés cannot be ascertained from her enslaved status and lack of her own words being preserved.
Teaching Themes
Colonisation: the violence of the Spanish conquest against Aztecs.
Indigenous voices: Although we do not have her own words, Malintzin represents an indigenous perspective on the limited options and forced choices created by Spanish imperialism. Aztec artwork depicts her presence in important encounters.
Religion and politics: the European Counter-Reformation context of the Spanish imperial project and rivalry with Britain that partly drove the conquistadors.
Everyday people in big events: Shows how specific individuals can impact larger scale issues such as imperialism.
Women’s roles: Malintzin’s specific linguistic ability was invaluable for securing alliances that Cortes relied on.
Period & Place
National Curriculum Link
The development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745 – first colony in America and Counter Reformation
Exam Specification Links
GCSE Edexcel Paper 2 Spain and the ‘New World’ c.1490-1555
A level OCR Paper 3 Tudor foreign policy 1485-1600; Edexcel Paper 3 Golden Age of Spain 1474-1598
Sources
Malintzin is referenced in Spanish accounts of the conquest as Doña Marina, though her importance is often downplayed particularly by Cortes himself. Fordham University has collated primary sources on the conquest of the Americas https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/modsbook08.asp#The%20Conquest%20and%20Exploitation%20of%20the%20Americas
The well preserved Florentine Codex has been digitised where students can look at Aztec artwork depicting Aztec life and the conquest, including specific depictions of Malintzin https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/
Scholarship
Dodds Pennock, C. 2023 On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe. London: W&N.
Townsend, C. 2019 Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Townsend, C. 2006 Malintzin’s Choices: An Indian Woman in the Conquest for Mexico New Mexico: UNM Press.