The Black Legend was an attempt to discredit the Conquistador's African allies and the natives so that it would look like the Spaniards had conquered a very large area of land, in a short amount of time, with little assistance. This included any native allies like La Malinche.
The "Black Legend", for one, tries to make it look like the Spanish expedition (comprising only a few hundred men, at most) conquered the Aztec Empire (a significant portion of central and southern Mexico) in a short span of years. This was no doubt an attempt by Cortez and his men to persuade Queen Isabella to continue supporting their expedition. The truth, however, was that the empire, as a whole, was much more difficult to conquer because of how spread out it was after you got away from Tenochtitlan.
The black legend also repeatedly discredits African and disenfranchised native allies. These allies, however, are likely the ones most responsible, military, for the fall of the Aztec Empire because of their knowledge of the landscape and Aztec fighting style. The legend also discredits those native allies, like La Malinche, who served as translators, allowing the Spanish and Azteca to communicate a little more effectively that they otherwise would have.
What the black legend does not take into account, however, are the other contributing factors which lead to the conquest, namely the spread of disease. Admittedly, knowledge of germ theory and the spread of disease during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was practically non-existent. How could the Spanish have known that just by touching or being close to someone allows germs to spread, or that the natives of Central-America had absolutely NO immunity to these European diseases? The short answer is that they didn't, and because of that, the legend makes no references to it.
Yet a second thing that the legend does not make any mention of is the effect of religion on the conquest. The Azteca tried to capture LIVE prisoners so that they could sacrifice them to the sun god so that he would be strong enough to keep the world going. Conversely, the Spaniards were, at least in theory, their to spread Christianity, and kill anybody that wouldn't accept it. This difference in religious viewpoint lead to both sides viewing each other as barbarians.
I agree with your comment about the Black Legend. Restall in his book states that Diaz mentioned once that he spoke with Malinche however Hernan Cortes does not mention that in his letters. Marina was the Christian name "La Malinche" received. She knew the Nahuatl language, which was unknown to Geronimo de Aguilar. Aguilar, meanwhile learned the Mayan language after been shipwrecked on the coast of the Yucatan in 1511. He was rescued by Cortes later and served as an interpreter as well. Malinche ended up learning Spanish. Consequently Aguilar was displaced. The Spanish tried to discredit indigenous and Africans. These groups played crucial roles in those events.
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