 The
people settling in the valleys of the modern Morelos around AD
1220 developed a highly productive agricultural society based
at Cuauahnahuac (Place at the edge of the forest). The Mexica
(Aztecs), who dominated the valle de Mexico, called them 'Tlahuica,'
which means 'people who work the land.' In 1379, a Mexica warlord
conquered Cuauahnahuac, subdued the Tlahuica and required them
to pay an annual tribute that included 8000 sets of clothing,
16,000 pieces of amate bark paper and 20,000 bushels of maize.
The tributes payable by the subject states were set out in a register
the Spanish later called Codice Mendocino in which Cuauhnahuac
was represented by a three-branched tree; this symbol now appears
on the city's coat of arms.
 The
successor to the Mexican lord married the daughter of the Cuauhnahuac
leader, and from this marriage was born Moctezuma I Ilhuicamina,
the great 15th-century Aztec king who was a predecessor of the
Moctezuma II Xocoyotzin encoun tered by Cortes. The Tlahuica prospered
under the Aztec empire, themselves domi- nating small states to
the south and trading extensively with other regions. Their city
was also a center for religious ceremonies and learning, and archaeological
remains show they had a considerable knowledge of astronomy.
When the Spanish arrived, the Tlahuica were
fiercely loyal to the Aztec empire, savagely resisting the advance
of the conquistadors. In April 1521, they were finally overcome,
and Cortes torched the city. Destroying the city pyramid, Cortes
used the stones to build a fortress-palace on the pyramid's base.
He also had built from the rubble the Catedral de la Asuncion,
another fortress-like structure in a walled compound; in the 1520s,
there was not much reason to trust in the benign favor of the
new Catholic 'converts.' Soon the city became known as Cuernavaca,
a more pronounceable (to the Spanish) version of its original
name.
In 1529, Cortes received his somewhat belated
reward from the Spanish crown when he was named Marques del Valle
de Oaxaca, with an estate that covered 22 towns, including Cuernavaca,
and a charge of 23,000 indigenous Mexicans. He introduced sugar
cane and other crops, and new farming methods, which resulted
in Cuernavaca becoming an agricultural center for the Spanish,
as it had been for the Aztecs. Cortes made Cuernavaca his home
for the rest of his stay in Mexico, and his descendants dominated
the area for nearly 300 years.
 With
its pleasant climate, rural surround ings and colonial elite,
Cuernavaca became a refuge and a retreat for the rich and powerful.
One of these was Jose de la Borda, the 18th-century Taxco silver
magnate. His lavish home and garden were later a retreat for Emperor
Maximilian and Empress Carlota. Cuernavaca also attracted artists
and writers, and achieved literary fame as the setting for Malcolm
Lowry's 1947 novel Under the Volcano. The very rich of Mexico
City are now just as likely to go to Acapulco or Dallas for the
weekend, but many still have magnificent properties in the suburbs
of Cuernavaca |
