Montezuma believed that Cortés was the legendary god Quetzalcoatl, who had left Mexico and promised to return in 1519. In the following primary resource, read the exchange between Montezuma and Cortés. Then, answer the questions that follow. When Motecuhzoma [Montezuma] had given necklaces to each one, Cortés asked him: "Are you Motecuhzoma? Are you the king? Is it true that you are the king Motecuhzoma?" And the king said: "Yes, I am Motecuhzoma." Then he stood up to welcome Cortés; he came forward, bowed his head low and addressed him in these words: "Our lord, you are weary. The journey has tired you, but now you have arrived on the earth. You have come to your city, Mexico. You have come here to sit on your throne, to sit under its canopy. The kings who have gone before, your representatives, guarded it and preserved it for your coming. ……..When Motecuhzoma had finished, La Malinche [a Mayan woman] translated his address into Spanish so that the Captain could understand it. Cortés replied in his strange and savage tongue, speaking first to La Malinche: "Tell Motecuhzoma that we are his friends. There is nothing to fear. We have wanted to see him for a long time, and now we have seen his face and heard his words. Tell him that we love him well and that our hearts are contented."

—from Miguel Leon-­Portilla, a Mexican anthropologist, who gathered accounts by the Aztecs, some of which were written shortly after the conquest

Part 1: How would you characterize the first meeting of Montezuma and Cortés? Cite two pieces of evidence from the reading to support your answer.

Part 2: Does this reading support or contradict the ultimate result of Spanish and Aztec contact? Explain.