So, the story of the Spanish conquest of the Mexica (what everyone calls the Aztecs) is a very bloody and upsetting tale. There is, however, one extremely funny story that comes from towards the end of the war.
It was the siege of Tenochtitlan (the Mexica capital city), and the Spanish had recently gotten a foothold on the island city, but their progression was brutal because now they were doing urban warfare against a people in their own city. So, someone on the Spanish side decides they should use a trebuchet.
Now, the Spanish didn’t have any trebuchets. They hadn’t been outfitted for war when they left Cuba, because they hadn’t been sent to do war, just explore, so what they were doing was kind of illegal*
So, the Spanish decide to build their own trebuchet. Surprisingly, for a group with no real engineers, they do build a trebuchet, or at least a good approximation of one. The Mexica, having heard of the weapon, send guys to go watch upon learning that its been completed, so we have Indigenous confirmation of what happened next.
The Spanish load a big rock in, and fire the trebuchet.
Now, depending on the exact account, the rock then either fell backwards off of the trebuchet, or was slammed directly forwards in front of weapon, completely embarrassing Cortes and the Spanish in front of plenty of enemy witnesses.
The Spanish basically then said they were going to be “Merciful” and not use the weapon on the Mexica, and later claimed the Mexica were terrified. The Mexica, however, clearly saw the fuck-up, and found the whole thing very funny.
(* This is why human sacrifice is such an emphasized and over-exaggerated aspect of Mexica culture in western narratives. It’s justification. Similarly, the myths of the Spanish being seen as gods and/or Moctezuma immediately surrendering were used to give Cortes more legitimate power over the Mexica)
[I read about this in Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs, by Camilla Townsend, an excellent book that re-tells the history of the “Aztec Empire” by relying on Indigenous sources first and foremost]
