Conquistador Diary

25^th January 1519

We leave the port in Cuba, sailing towards the new island that the locals called Mexico. They spoke of great treasures and kings. I don’t personally think any Aztec could beat a civilized Spanish sailor with guns and horses.

We arrive on the beach in Mexico. The small village at that beach looked at us as if we had 4 eyes and two heads. All they did was look at us in amazement. It was almost like they had never seen other human beings before this very moment.

Oh, and the horses! They had those little scrawny Indians running with fear. All they did was mutter something about a man called Quetzalcoatl. All they did was look amazed. “Who the hell were these white dudes?”

I saw the chief of the village take his cousins’ beating heart right from his chest. It was brutal and cruel. After the supposed sacrifice to the gods they celebrated and rejoiced in the innocent bloodshed. I figure they would probably do the same to us if did not win the upcoming battle.

I brought 15 horses, 300 men and I am still trying to recruit soldiers from other rival Aztec tribes. My men where afraid and I couldn’t have them walking out on me at the last minute. I burned the ships. It was the only way to get them focused on what they had to do. Sounds brutal but it was only meant in pure battle strategy. 

Why Did Lutheranism Appeal to The Princes Of Northern Germany?

Lutheranism is believing in the teachings of Martin Luther that emphasize the cardinal doctrine of justification by faith alone. This also means that the christians would leave Catholicism and become Protestants. The princes of Northern Germany liked the ideas of Luther because they would eventually lead to the increase in their power and their increased wealth.

Martin Luther initially supported the princes from the start of his Protestant campaign. He shows his support by quoting the biblical quote saying, “render to Caesar”. This explains that the peasants shouldn't pay tithe to the pope and church, but instead pay taxes to their leaders or princes. Since the church only believes in the power of the Church if there were to be a Protestant revolt it would annihilate the other competitor for power therefore stirring up less chaos.

If the ideas of Luther were abided by the princes would take over the land previously owned by the church and grow ever more powerful. The princes also shut down the church's monasteries. In effect the princes become more wealthy and powerful.

With the input from Luther's ideas the princes gained more political power. After putting the church aside the princes were able to appoint their own ministers. This results in the government being greater and more powerful than the church.

Since the cancelation of the tithe to the church and popes, the princes now have an extra 10% of taxes that they can force upon their subjects. This means that there will be more tax money for the princes, thanks to no tithe or taxes going to the pope and church. This makes the princes much richer, therefore they have more power.

Finally, since the catholic teachings have been proven wrong by Martin Luther the pope was stripped from power and Jesus was put back at the top of the list. The mercy of god is to be achieved through faith not good words, bribes and indulgences. This made the catholics worry about going to hell.