When Hernán Cortéz set sails to make Mexico part of the Spanish Empire, his main goal was one thing: gold. He was convinced that there was truth in the rumours about temples with golden roofs and streets made from gold in the land of the Aztecs. |
The inexhaustible richness, that he should find, was not precious noble metal, but a renewable, unsuspicious pod called Cacixanatl, or, how it would be called later in Europe: vanilla. The emperor of the Aztec kingdom Montezuma II had other problems at that time. He thought deeply about a prophecy. His warriors had conquered the vast region of Central... |