In Spain, the religion was Catholicism which worships God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Catholics also worship the Virgin Mary and many saints. Though the Catholics do not worship these people as gods, Catholics worship the Virgin Mary and the saints because of the lives they led. Mary was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus, and so the Catholics worship her. Saints are worshiped because of their devotion to their faith, and, because of their devotion, they brought others to their faith as well. Rather like Greek and Roman mythology, where one god was worshiped or prayed to for certain situations, the saints of Catholicism are worshiped by a Catholic when that person faces a situation similar to one the saint faced or defeated.

Unlike the Spanish, the Aztecs had several deities that they worshiped as gods. Aztecs worshipped many gods and goddesses—each god related to a human activity, nature, agriculture, or heroes of old. Many of the Aztec gods were composed of two different opposing qualities. For example, Ometeotl was considered the highest deity of the Aztec religion. This deity, however, was viewed both as the god Ometecutli and the goddess Omecihuatl. Tonatiuh the sun god, Huitzilopochtli the war god, Xipe Totec the god of springtime and growth, Tlaloc the rain god, and Centeotl the corn god were some of the most important gods of the Aztec religion because they represented the most important things of the culture—life.

The highest priest of the Spanish culture is the Pope. Only one pope resided at a time, and about five popes came and went during the time of the Spanish exploration of the Americas. Catholic priests were to convert those who did not yet believe in Catholicism. Those people who did not and would not follow the same religion as the pope, Catholicism, were considered infidels and were pursued and punished. Throughout the Spanish Inquisition the Catholic popes and priests tortured and sacrificed the infidels who would not obey the laws of their religion, Catholicism.

Similarly, the Aztec religion also had priests called chachalmecas. One main job of the chachalmecas was to offer human sacrifices to the gods. Whenever a sacrifice was made, the priests calculated by the stars so the sacrifice ceremonies would take place on special days meant to please specific gods. Each Aztec high priest was usually the king at the time of the sacrifice. Kings were the main spiritual leaders of his people—the kings were also considered closest to the gods—the king supposedly went between his people, the humans, and the gods. Usually, the person or people sacrificed to appease the gods, or keep the gods strong, were prisoners of war. Occasionally, however, warriors would present themselves for sacrifice, but only for the more important ceremonies. Aztec priests took most non-Aztec religious people—prisoners captured in war—and sacrificed them to the gods, as opposed to the Spanish religion where the priests first tried to convert the non-believer and then, if the person refused the Catholic faith, proceeded to torture and sacrifice the infidel.

In the Spanish religion, the military played a big part. While the Spanish explored new places and formed new colonies, the church began to convert those cultures found in the vicinity of their new colonies. Following the tradition of the Spanish Inquisition, any who reverted to a pagan practice were put through torture and sometimes death. The Spanish military, flush from victory of "reconqista" in the Iberian peninsula, turned its power to crusade for the Catholic Church in its expanding colonies and toward other nations and religions of the counter-reformation. Spanish military units had the ability and right—as given by the church—to take all possessions of infidels, and then torture and kill the infidels if they did not return to Catholicism. Leaders of the Catholic Church used the state military to destroy all those who defied the Catholic religion.

Aztec military and warfare held a very high importance in the Aztec religion. In order to keep the sun living and rising, the Aztecs believed they had to offer human sacrifices to give the sun strength. These humans came from the surrounding tribes that the Aztecs conquered. Each time the Aztecs won a war, they would sacrifice all of the hostages taken from the enemy’s land to the war god, Huitzilopochtli. Every time the Aztecs lost a war, they sacrificed twice as many humans to the war god because their loss meant the war god was angry. The Aztecs, like the Spanish, used their military to conquer surrounding tribes. The Spanish even killed with the mind set that they were honoring the saints by sacrificing the heathen. But they never cannibalized their prisoners of war like the Aztecs did.

Both the Aztecs and Spanish appeared to worship deities, have political priests, and used their military forces for their religion, yet they did all this differently. Spain’s Catholic Church esteems saints and the Virgin Mary to such as extent it may seem that they worship multiple deities yet they call only one as God. Dissimilar to the Spanish, the Aztecs worshiped several deities pertaining to nature, past heroes, agriculture, and war, and called them all gods. Spanish priests converted non-Catholics into believers. Since conversion under coercion is not sustaining, then the former infidels would often display heretical behavior for which they might be tortured and killed by appointees of the priests. Like the Aztec priests who sacrificed prisoners of war, both religious leaders thought they were giving pleasure to their deity. Military forces of the Spanish crusaded against infidels on behalf of the church, while Aztec military forces crusaded against other tribes on behalf of their deities who demanded human sacrifice. Though the Spanish and Aztec religions had structural similarities, they remained different in idea and deed.

1. Aztec gods related to
a. nature
b. tools
c. weapons
d. soccer

2. In the Spanish religion, the people worshiped one God, but who else did they worship?
a. saints
b. demons
c. Aztec gods
d. the pope

3. Who did the Spanish priests and military try to convert, and if converting failed, kill?
a. each other
b. Catholics
c. FBI agents
d. Infidels

4. Why did the Aztecs attack and conquer nearby tribes
a. to gain more land
b. to gain hostages to sacrifice to their gods
c. for the sake of killing
d. to practice their warrior poses

Crystal, Ellie. "Aztec Gods and Goddesses." Crystalinks. 22 Nov 2003.

Fowler, William R. "Aztec Empire." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2001.

Mowery, Michelle. "Religions of the Aztec and Spanish: How Do They Compare?" 22 Nov 2003.

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