Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/78



the oldest and most sacred spots of Anáhuac was Teotihuacan. During the early Nahua period its lofty pyramids were famed throughout the land, and under the Toltec empire it remained the religious centre to which pilgrims with rich offerings flocked from afar to worship in the temples of the sun and moon. Here kings and priests were elected, ordained, and buried, and here were fulminated oracles which overturned dynasties and caused nations to tremble. It was in the village near this spot, now a mass of awe-inspiring ruins, that Archbishop Serna had taken a defiant stand within the convent church, and like his ancient forerunners he sent forth a decree which should rouse a people and overturn a ruler. This was nothing less than a new excommunication of the viceroy, together with an interdict upon the whole capital. The decree was intrusted to the priest Martinez de Recalde, who set out on horseback the evening it was issued, the 14th of January 1624, and reached the city at dawn the following day. At half

(58)