S5E215 - The Barren Bride: Malinche's Choice at Cholula

In 1519, as Cortés marched toward Tenochtitlan, a massacre at the city of Cholula became one of the most contested events of the conquest. Was it a preemptive strike against a planned ambush, or a brutal act of terror? This episode centers on Malinche, the enslaved Nahua woman who served as Cortés's interpreter and strategist. Drawing on the Florentine Codex, the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, and Cortés's own letters, we piece together the evidence: the warnings from La Malinche, the gathering of nobles in the courtyard, the hours of slaughter. We also examine Cholula's sacred status, the cult of...