(2 of 2)
The conquering Spaniards did not blood-bathe the heathen Mexicans as the Inquisition destroyed heretics in Spain. Instead, Crown & Church at first tried to make good Christians and Spanish citizens out of them. Twenty of the 190 coats-of-arms granted during the conquest of Mexico and South America were given to Indians, and Spaniards often married Indian "princesses" under the delusion that the Aztec nobility, like that of Europe, was hereditary (actually it was earned). As great a blow to the Aztecs as the Spanish conquest was the English victory over the Armada. Mexican communication with the Crown & Church was thereby weakened, and the greedy, uncontrolled colonists only after 1588 began enslaving the Aztecs.
