But Juan Damasceno remained recusant, yielding not to any of our persuasions or inducements, only continuing to smile faintly, and murmuring something about his destiny having been decreed by his pagan “tonáli,” a sufficient heresy in itself. Whereupon, the constable returned the accused to his cell, while the Court considered its judgment, and of course found for conviction, and pronounced Juan Damasceno guilty of contumacious heresy.
As provided by canon law, on the following Sunday his sentence was formally and publicly proclaimed. Juan Damasceno was brought from his cell and marched to the center of the grand plaza, where all the city’s Christians had been commanded to attend and pay heed. So there was a large crowd, which included, besides the Spaniards and Indians of our several congregations, also the oidores of the Audiencia, the other secular officials of the Justicia Ordinaria, and the provisor in charge of the auto-de-fé. Juan Damasceno came wearing the sackcloth sanbenito garment of the condemned, and on his head the coroza straw crown of infamy, and he was accompanied by Fray Gaspar de Gayana bearing a large cross.
An elevated platform had been specially erected in the square for us of the Inquisition, and from that eminence the Secretary of the Holy Office read aloud to the crowd the official account of the offenses and charges, the Court’s judgment and verdict, all of which was repeated in the Náhuatl language by our interpreter Molina, for the comprehension of the many Indians present. Then we, as Apostolic Inquisitor, preached the sermo generalis of sentence, remanding the condemned sinner to the secular arm for punishment debita animadversione, and routinely recommending that those authorities exercise mercy in the carrying out of that punishment:
“We find ourself bound to declare Don Juan Damasceno to be a contumacious heretic, and do pronounce him as such. We find ourself bound to remit, and thus do remit him, to the secular arm of the Justicia Ordinaria of this city, whom we pray and charge to deal with him humanely.”
Then we addressed Juan Damasceno directly, making the obligatory last plea that he abandon his recusancy, that he confess and abjure his heresies, which penitence would at least earn him the mercy of a quick execution by garrotte before his body was relaxed to the fire. But he remained as obdurate as ever, smiling and saying only, “Your Excellency, once when I was still a small child I vowed to myself that if ever I were selected for the Flowery Death, even on an alien altar, I would not degrade the dignity of my going.”
Those were his last words, Sire, and I say to his credit that he did not struggle or plead or cry out when the constables used the old anchor chain to bind him to the stake before our platform, and piled the faggots high about his body, and the provisor set the torch to them. Since God permitted and the man’s sins deserved it, the flames consumed his body, and of that burning it pleased God that the Aztec should die.
We subscribe ourself our Gracious Sovereign’s loyal Defender of the Faith, pledging our constancy in the service of God for the salvation of souls and of nations,
Bishop of Mexíco
Apostolic Inquisitor
Protector of the Indians
IN OTIN INUAN IN TONÁLTIN NICAN TZONQUÍCA
HERE END THE ROADS AND THE DAYS
PRAISE FOR AN EPIC MASTERPIECE!
“Aztec is so vivid that this reviewer had the novel experience of dreaming of the Aztec world, in Technicolor, for several nights in a row.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“Some ten years in the making, this huge, colorful, lusty, and often grisly novel that fairly shouts bestseller speaks of the heights and depths of the Aztec civilization as it is remembered by one man who survives the coming of the Conquistadors.”
—Publishers Weekly
“For sheer narrative flow, few volumes of recent years match this portrait of Mixtli–Dark Cloud, a remarkable product of a remarkable civilization.… This is a brilliantly readable novel, from the first to the last page. Put it this way: This is better entertainment than 99.9 percent of television.”
—Erie Times
“Remarkable … it conveys with ferocious yet often lyrical force the texture of life in a civilization at once intensely sophisticated and, by our standards, utterly barbaric … a splendidly colorful, wholly convincing re-creation of a vanished culture.”
—Cosmopolitan
“Jennings, a boisterous storyteller, has amassed hundreds of bawdy, grisly, occasionally funny, handsomely scenic details—and he offers them in a sleek, urbane, picaresque adventure … steaming with gore, sex, heady adventure, and some righteous (and rightful) display of those feathered banners for a vanished culture.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“An historical diorama of the broadest dimensions, a meditation on the human condition that bears pondering, and a story of unfailing (if variable) power to bind a spell.”
—The Washington Post
“A long and ambitious novel that immerses the reader in a fascinating civilization. The history, geography, art, literature, and religion of the Aztecs are all here, along with a wealth of information about the people themselves and the way they went about the business of living.”
—The Denver Post
Forge Books by Gary Jennings
Aztec
Aztec Autumn
Aztec Blood
Aztec Rage
Visit Gary Jennings at www.garyjennings.net.
About the Author
Gary Jennings was known for the rigorous and intensive research behind his books, which often included hazardous travel-exploring every corner of Mexico for his Aztec novels, retracing the numerous wanderings of Marco Polo for The Journeyers, joining nine different circuses for Spangle, and roaming the Balkans for Raptor. Born in Buena Vista, Virginia in 1928, Jennings passed away in 1999 in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, leaving behind a rich legacy of historical fiction and outlines for new novels. You can sign up for author updates here.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Maps
COURT OF CASTILE VALLADOLID
I H S: S. C. C. M.
INCIPIT
DIXIT
I H S: S. C. C. M.
ALTER PARS
I H S: S. C. C. M.
TERTIA PARS
I H S: S. C. C. M.
QUARTA PARS
I H S: S. C. C. M.
QUINTA PARS
I H S: S. C. C. M.
SEXTA PARS
I H S: S. C. C. M.
SEPTIMA PARS
I H S: S. C. C. M.
OCTAVA PARS
I H S: S. C. C. M.
NONA PARS
I H S: S. C. C. M.
DECIMA PARS
I H S: S. C. C. M.
UNDECIMA PARS
I H S: S. C. C. M.
ULTIMA PARS
EXPLICIT
I H S: S. C. C. M.
Praise for Aztec Fire
Forge Books by Gary Jennings
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
AZTEC
Copyright © 1980 by Gary Jennings
Maps and diagrams in front matter copyright © 1980 by A. Karl / J. Kemp
Originally published in 1980 by Atheneum in the United States and published simultaneously by McClelland and Stewart Ltd. in Canada.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
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New York, NY 10010
www.tor.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
eISBN: 978-0-7653-9217-6
First Trade Paperback Edition: May 2006
First ebook edition: April 2016
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