The Spanish Conquest (1519-1521) : Mexico History History | See all articles tagged history The Spanish Conquest (1519-1521) Tweet April 21, 1519--the year Ce Acatl (One Reed) by Aztec reckoning-- marked the opening of a short but decisive chapter in Mexico's history. On that day a fleet of 11 Spanish galleons sailing along the eastern gulf coast dropped anchor just off the wind-swept beach on the island of San Juan de Ulúa. Under the command of the wily, daring Hernán Cortés, the vessels bore 550 Spanish soldiers and sailors, as well as 16 horses, the first of the species to tread the American continent. The party disembarked to set up camp on the dunes behind the beach. In a friendly reception from the native Totonac Indians, greetings and gifts were exchanged. Cognizant of the existence of a great inland Empire, Cortés promptly dispatched a message requesting an audience with Aztec ruler Moctezuma II .

(The term "Aztec" will be used throughout, although some historians prefer the less familiar designation "Mexica" for the last of Mexico's formidable pre-Hispanic civilizations.) Runners had already carried word to the "Lord of Cuhúa" in Tenochitlán, the capital city set on an island in Lake Texcoco some 200 hundred miles away. They reported the arrival of fair-skinned, bearded strangers and fearsome "man-beasts" (cavalry) who had descended from "towers floating on the sea." Cortés wasted no time in staking a claim for God and King, ceremoniously founding a settlement on the coast that he christened Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, in reference to the fleet's arrival on Good Friday to what he believed to be a vast land of plenty. The Spanish Conquest had begun. All odds were against this tiny band of adventurers who would soon venture into unknown territory to topple the mighty Aztec Empire. It could never have happened were it not for Cortés' remarkable fortitude and cunning, coupled with an incredible series of coincidental prior events.

In the wake the "discovery" of the Western Hemisphere by Christopher Columbus (1492), Spanish and Portuguese explorers continued the quest for riches in the New World. Among these were Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and Juan de Grijalba who, under the orders of Diego Veláquez, Spanish Governor of Cuba, set out on ill-fated ventures to the Yucatan and Mexico's gulf coast (1517-1518). Velázquez then commissioned the 34 year-old Cortés to lead a new expedition westward, but alarmed by escalating costs, had a last-minute change of heart. The eager and ever-astute Cortés eluded cancellation of the enterprise by hastily setting sail. The fleet first landed on the island of Cozumel off the Yucatan peninsula. There Cortés ransomed fellow Spaniard Gerónimo de Aguilar who had been forced to live among the Mayas after surviving a 1511 shipwreck during a prior expedition. Aguilar proved an invaluable asset to Cortés, acting as his personal interpreter of both native language and culture.

Communication problems arose anew, however, as the Spaniards sailed farther north, encountering natives who spoke a different tongue. Fortuitously, the spoils of victory over a Tabascan chieftain at Potonchán included a gift of twenty native maidens, one of whom was fluent in both the Náhuatl and Mayan tongues. The comely and clever Malintzin was promptly baptized with a Spanish name, Marina, and appointed the task of intervening in further contacts with indigenous peoples. She translated Náhuatl to Mayan for Aguilar, who then put her words into Spanish. Doña Marina soon earned her place as Cortés' most intimate adviser by first mastering Spanish and then becoming his mistress. Eventually she bore him a son, Martín, the first mixed-blood Mexican or mestizo. For having aided the Spaniards, today she is widely considered a traitor to her own people. The moniker by which she is mostly commonly known, la Malinche, gave rise to the modern-day term malinchista used in reference a Mexican who takes a fancy to anything of foreign origin.

Meanwhile, back in Tenochitlán, Moctezuma was in a quandary as to how to best deal with the unwelcome strangers. Ancient legend prophesied that Quetzalcoátl , the bearded, fair-skinned Toltec ruler-god, would return from the east in the year Ce Acatl to reclaim his kingdom. Evil omens that had confounded the Aztec priests and sorcerers over the previous decade only heightened Moctezuma's anxiety. First, despite fair weather, the waters of Lake Texcoco had suddenly boiled up, flooding the island of their capital city. Then an inexplicable conflagration had consumed the temple of their chief god, Huitzilopochtli. The voice of a woman wailing in the night had repeatedly disturbed the city's slumber. Immense comets with fiery tails had been seen shooting through day-time skies and a great column of fire had appeared in the east every night for an entire year. All of these were taken to be signs of Quetzalcoátl's imminent return. A hostile reception of the mighty Plumed Serpent or his emissaries was unthinkable.

So Moctezuma sent Cortés a cordial message, but cautioned him against proceeding to the Aztec capital. It was, he noted, an arduous journey through deserts, mountains and dangerous enemy territories. He also sent many fine gifts, tokens of his esteem which he hoped would placate the strangers or, better still, spur them to return from whence they came. The gold and other Aztec finery only whetted the Spaniards' appetite for new world riches. Determined to carry forward, the next moves Cortés made were as astute as they were bold. After dispatching trusted envoys back to Spain to deliver letters and Aztec treasure to his monarch, Carlos V, he stripped and scuttled the remainder of his fleet. This drastic measure constituted a blatant act of rebellion against his direct superior, Governor Velázquez, but by effectively eliminating any means of desertion, Cortés hoped to assure the do-or-die loyalty of his men. Through cunning and intrigue Cortés forged an alliance with the Totonacs at the coastal city-state Cempoala, then under Aztec dominion. The Spanish army was thus beefed up with more than a thousand native warriors plus 200 porters.

With a small party left to hold the fort at Vera Cruz, Cortés commenced the hazardous journey towards the Aztec capital. To the east of the great twin volcanoes Popocatépetl and Ixtaccíhuatl lay the first obstacle, the small kingdom of Tlaxcala whose fierce mountain people who had long managed to defy Aztec dominance. Suspecting the odd strangers to be agents of Moctezuma the Tlaxcalans promptly engaged the Spaniards in battle. Superior weaponry and military tactics, added to internecine rivalry between Tlaxcalan generals, helped Cortés prevail despite the fact that his troops were greatly outnumbered. The subsequent Spanish-Tlaxcalan alliance proved to be a crucial factor in the ultimate downfall of the Aztecs. Next came a dangerous interlude at the great ceremonial center, Cholula. Warned by la Malinche that a plot was afoot to ambush and capture the Spaniards, Cortés outfoxed the Cholulan caciques (native chieftains), engineering a surprise attack in the city's center that left thousands dead. The Tlaxcalans joined in the fray, razing Cholula in a two-day rampage.

Finally the Spaniards approached their destination, descending into the Valley of Mexico from a high mountain pass between the great volcanoes. In early November 1519, with Cortés in the lead, they filed across the southern causeway into the magnificent Tenochtitlán. They were received with much ceremony by a retinue of lords and nobles headed by Moctezuma himself, and escorted to their quarters in the ancient palace of Atzayacatl, the emperor's father. The wary Moctezuma made great efforts to play the perfect host, showing his unwanted guests around the city and entertaining them with splendid banquets. Aware of the precarious situation in which he had placed his band of adventurers, Cortés made an extraordinarily bold move to secure their safety. He took Moctezuma captive, holding him in the Spaniards quarters. This bizarre state of affairs continued for eight months until news came that Spanish troops sent by the Cuban Governor Velázquez had arrived at the coast had arrived to place Cortés under arrest. Leaving a garrison in charge in the Aztec capital, Cortés marched back eastward with a band of his finest soldiers.

He defeated his intended captors in battle at Cempoala, and soon was headed back to Tenochtitlán with the newcomers in tow. In his absence, Pedro de Alvarado, the garrison's commander, ordered an attack on the Aztecs in the midst of what he viewed as an alarmingly frenetic religious celebration. Enraged by the vicious slaughter, the native population rebelled. Upon his return, Cortés tried to quell the hostilities by persuading Moctezuma to mount the roof of Atzayacatl's palace and appeal to his people for peace. Their response was to shower the emperor with insults, stones and arrows, inflicting physical and mental injury that soon resulted in his death. Under Moctezuma's successor, Cuitláhuac (who succumbed to smallpox several months later), the Aztecs mounted a full-scale siege on the conquistadores. With food and water scarce, the Spaniards and their Tlaxcalan allies attempted to slip out of the city under cover of darkness on what is now known as La Noche Triste, the Sad Night. An alarm was sounded and the Aztecs attacked with fury.

Hundred of soliders were killed or captured. Others, weighted down with the gold and silver loot they had collected, fell into the canals and drowned. A despondent Cortés collapsed and wept beneath the famous ahuehuete tree that still stands today in the Mexico City suburb of Tacuba. Damaged but not entirely disheartened, the surviving Spaniards and their allies retreated back into Tlaxcalan territory to regroup. In subsequent months they healed their wounds and trained for battle. Devising a new strategy, Cortés built a fleet of brigantines for his next attack. In January 1521 the conquistadores once again entered the valley of Mexico. They staged a series of raids throughout the countryside and took the Aztec stronghold at Texcoco, from whence they could launch the newly built fleet. In May Cortés began his final assault on Tenochtitlán, bearing down from every direction, with separate divisions assigned to each of the city's three causeways and the flotilla moving in by water.

The Aztecs fought valiantly under leadership of the last Aztec emperor, Cuauhtemoc , whose name translates as "falling eagle" or alternately "setting sun." Ravaged by diseases introduced by the Spaniards, deprived of fresh water and food supplies from the mainland, they withstood an 80-day siege, surrendering August 13, 1521, only after their captured leader grasped the dagger in Cortés' belt and pleaded, "I have done all that I could to defend my people. Do with me now what you will." Their fervor fueled by victory, the conquistadores lay the Aztec empire to waste, erasing the remnants of the culture as best they could, scorching Tenochtitlán by fire, leveling its majestic temples. The rubble would make up the foundations of a new world, the cradle of a brand new people.

Published or Updated on: August 29, 2007 by Dale Hoyt Palfrey © 2008 1519 The conquistadors arrive There were great empires before the Europeans arrived LED by four horsemen in full armour, the small column of Spanish infantry, arquebusiers and crossbowmen, with their leader, Hernan Cortes, and further horsemen in the rear, marched along the narrow causeway across the shallows of Lake Texcoco. They were heading for the walled towers of the entrance to Tenochtitlan, the mighty capital of the Mexica; as we now call them, the Aztecs. There Cortes and his 250 men met their target: Moctezuma, the Aztec ruler, bedecked with a splendid feather head-dress, richly-decorated mantle and gold-soled sandals encrusted with jewels. A generation after Colombus had landed in Hispaniola, the Spaniards in 1519 had penetrated to the heart of the most populous and wealthiest civilisation in the Americas.

For three months, as the Spaniards came inland, Moctezuma had been paralysed by indecision: how should he handle them? He was constrained by custom, religion and superstition. In Aztec Mexico, ambassadors (as Cortes falsely claimed to be) were entitled to hospitality; war was ritualised, and normally began only after elaborate diplomacy. The conquistadors played by different rules. After being lodged in one of Tenochtitlans whitewashed palaces, they imprisoned their host, and killed hundreds of unarmed nobles. Led by Cuauhtemoc, Moctezumas nephew, the Aztecs rallied. Though reinforced, the Spaniards were besieged, then routed as they fled. They were soon back, and laid siege in turn. By August 1521, they were masters of a ruined city, its population cut to a third of its pre-war 200,000. A decade later, an even smaller Spanish force similarly struck the second great American empire of this millennium, that of the Incas. Francisco Pizarro too followed a code different from that of his opponents.

He invited Atahualpa, the Inca ruler, to the Spanish camp in Cajamarca, in todays northern Peru, and then ordered an attack against the mostly unarmed Inca escorts. The Incas stripped temples of their gold wall-plates and ornaments to pay the ransom for Atahualpas release. The Spaniards melted down 11 tonnes of gold objects, and then, after a hasty trial, killed him. Here too they faced resistance for almost a year. Indeed, the fierce topography of the Andes allowed the rump Inca mini-state of Vilcabamba to survive until 1572. But by the 1540s, Spain had conquered the main population centres of Central America and western South America. The Portuguese would penetrate Brazil far more slowly. The Spaniards won because they had better tacticsAztecs in battle tried to capture, not kill, their opponentsand technology. Horses, mastiffs and guns terrified Aztecs and Incas armed with slings, stonetipped clubs and spears (though Inca archers did better). The Spaniards had two other crucial advantages.

One was the diseases they had brought: the Aztec forces in the battle for Tenochtitlan were ravaged by smallpox. The second arose from the internal weaknesses of the two native-American empires. These looked strong. Both were relatively recent. Tenochtitlan, founded in 1325, had achieved first place among the city states of Mexicos central valley a century later, before swiftly extending its sway to both coasts and south to Guatemala. The Incas, starting near Lake Titicaca, had moved to Cuzco, and then embarked on imperial expansion only a century or so before Pizarros arrival. Both empires drew on previous cultures. From the Mayas and Toltecs, the Aztecs had inherited hieroglyphic writing, calendars and some mathematics, and religious beliefs. Andean society had developed fine textiles, and other crafts. The Incas added meticulous organisation, in road-building, management of food stocks and accounting alike. Neither society knew the wheel, but both included skilled herdsmen and farmers. The Aztecs cultivated chinampas, floating islands of mud and reeds.

The Incas used canals to irrigate their coastal deserts, and terraced their Andean mountainsides. Yet both empires had a weak point: their resentful subject peoples. The Aztecs extracted tribute from these, and worse: over time, mass human sacrifice came to occupy a central place in Aztec religion, an instrument of control in what had become a reign of terror. The Incas were less given to human sacrifice, but exacted labour service. Cortes found ready allies: the Totonacs of Mexicos gulf coast and others supplied him with several thousand troops and bearers, as well as food. And Pizarro found the Inca empire riven by civil war after the death (probably from smallpox) of Atahualpas father. Greed, faith and killing Why were the Spaniards there? In part, for profit and precious metals. (I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart that can be cured only with gold, Cortes told envoys of Moctezuma.) But they were also driven by the militant Catholicism forged in the centuries-long campaign to drive Islam from Spain.

In 1493 a Spanish pope had granted Castile exclusive right of conquest in the Americas, west of the Portuguese possessions, and with it the obligation to convert the inhabitants to Christianity. The conquistadors did both, appallingly. To cow their subjects, Cortes and others, sometimes abetted by priests, on occasion massacred civilians, or burned them alive. The indigenes died from war, disease, overwork and hunger caused by the disruption of their traditional farming. Estimates of Mexicos population on the eve of the conquest range from 12m to 25m; by 1568, it was under 3m. Peru had 9m people in 1532, under 1.5m in 1570. Only later did the figures grow again, as rape, concubinage and intermarriage created a mixed-race population. The Spaniards often left local rulers in place, while extracting tribute and labour service from the shrunken native peoples.

They found their own freedom of action limited by royal officials and judges, and at times by conscience-stricken churchmen such as Bartolome de las Casas, a landholder turned Dominican friar. The first law to protect the Indians was brought in in 1542. The conquistadors were mainly hidalgosminor or aspirant gentryand artisans from Spains rougher edges. They saw no glory in the family farming on which Britains north American colonies would be built; nor did the land or climate favour it. Spanish America became a place of large landholdings, their owners living in its Spanish-style grid-patterned towns. Periodic mining booms stimulated further immigration. The surviving Amerindians continued to practise communal, near-subsistence farming and hung on to what of their culture they could. They took to Christian ritual without abandoning their own gods. Slowly a Spanish American society emerged.

\ Hernán Cortés: Conqueror of the Aztecs Hernán Cortés: Conqueror of the Aztecs By Jessie Szalay, LiveScience Contributor | August 28, 2013 12:33am ET MORE Hernan Cortés invaded Mexico in 1519 and conquered the Aztec Empire. Credit: Public domain. Engraving by W. Holl, 1837. Hernán Cortés is one of the most well-known Spanish conquistadors. He is best remembered for conquering the Aztec empire and claiming Mexico for Spain. He also helped colonize Cuba and became a governor of New Spain. Early life Cortés was born in 1485 in Medellín, Spain. He was the only son of noble, though not wealthy, parents. At age 14, Cortés was sent to study law at the University of Salamanca, but he was restless and unhappy. He became fascinated with tales of Christopher Columbus ’ New World explorations. Columbus had landed at San Salvador and explored the West Indies in 1492, Cortés was a young boy.

Cortés wanted to join the excitement of the Age of Exploration. He decided to seek fortune and adventure in Hispaniola (modern-day Dominican Republic and Haiti). In 1504, at age 19, Cortés set sail for the New World. In the Bahamas Cortés spent seven successful years on Hispaniola, living in the new town of Azua and working as a notary and farmer. In 1511 he joined Diego Velasquez’s expedition to conquer Cuba. There, Cortés served as a clerk to the treasurer and later as mayor of Santiago. Despite his success, Cortes was hungry for more power and greater thrills. He convinced Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, to let him lead an expedition to Mexico . Velasquez canceled the voyage at the last minute. Ignoring his orders, Cortés set sail with 11 ships and more than 500 men. Arrival in Mexico In 1519, Cortés’ ships reached the Mexican coast at Yucatan. Mexico had been discovered by the Spanish just a year prior, and they were eager to settle it. At Tabasco, Cortés was met with resistance from natives.

He quickly overpowered them, and the natives surrendered. They provided the Europeans with food, supplies and 20 women, including an interpreter called Malintzin (also known as La Malinche or Doña Marina). She became Cortés’s intermediary with the natives and eventually his mistress, eventually mothering his son, Martin. After a few months, Cortés set sail from Yucatan, heading west. On the southeastern coast he founded Veracruz, where he dismissed the authority of Velasquez and declared himself under orders from King Charles I of Spain. He disciplined his men and trained them to act as a cohesive unit of soldiers. He also burned his ships to make retreat impossible. A 1909 painting depicts the Spanish conquistadors entering Tenochtitlán to the sounds of martial music. Credit: Public domain. Book illustration by J.H. Robinson. Conquering the Aztecs Cortés had heard of the Aztecs and knew that they, and their leader Montezuma II, were a primary force in Mexico. Cortés set out to rule them. During the march through Mexico, he encountered a group of natives called the Tlaxcalans, who were enemies of the Aztecs.

They became an important ally for Cortés during his siege of Tenochtitlán , the Aztec capital city. Unbeknownst to Cortés, his arrival coincided with an important Aztec prophecy. The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, whom they credited with the creation of humans among other notable feats, was set to return to Earth. Thinking that Cortés could be Quetzalcoatl, Montezuma greeted the party with great honor. Montezuma sent out envoys to meet the conquistador as he neared. The Aztecs were fascinated by the Spaniards’ light skin and the sight of men on horseback, which they described as beasts with two heads and six legs. The Spanish fired shots, which stunned the natives and further intimidated them. Cortés entered the city. The Spanish soldiers and the Tlaxcalans sacked it, while Cortés took Montezuma hostage. With the help of Doña Marina, Cortés manipulated Montezuma and ruled Tenochtitlán through him. The Siege of Tenochtitlán While Cortés held Tenochtitlán through Montezuma, a Spanish force from Cuba landed on the coast of Mexico.

They had been sent by Diego Velasquez to unseat Cortés. When Cortés heard of this, he took a garrison of Spanish and Tlaxcalan soldiers and marched on the Spanish. Cortés defeated the Spanish force, but when he returned to Tenochtitlán he was met with a shock. The Aztecs were in the midst of a full rebellion. Cortés and his men fled the city. They were there long enough to start a smallpox epidemic in Tenochtitlán, however. One of Cortés’ men contracted smallpox from a member of the force from Cuba. That soldier died during the Aztec rebellion, and when his body was looted, an Aztec caught the disease, which spread like wildfire because the Aztec people had no immunity to it. Cortés regrouped and attacked Tenochtitlán in full force in 1521. At that time, the city’s society had crumpled. The Aztecs no longer trusted Montezuma, they were short on food, and the smallpox epidemic was under way.

More than 3 million Aztecs died from smallpox, and with such a severely weakened population, it was easy for the Spanish to take Tenochtitlán. It is uncertain how Montezuma died. Some scholars state that, disgusted with him, the Aztecs stoned him to death. Others, including indigenous scholars, assert that the Spanish killed him. Once the city had fallen, Cortés began building Mexico City on the ruins. It quickly became a pre-eminent city in the Spanish colonies and many Europeans came to live there. As a result of his success, King Charles I of Spain appointed Cortés as governor of New Spain. Later years In 1524, governor Cortés went to Honduras to quell a rebellion against him. He stayed for two years, and when he returned to Mexico he found himself removed from power. Cortés traveled to Spain to plead with the king, but he was never again appointed to governorship. The kind did allow him to return to Mexico, albeit with much less authority. Cortés explored the northern part of Mexico and discovered Baja California for Spain in the latter 1530s.

In 1540, he retired to Spain and spent much of his last years seeking recognition and rewards for his achievements. Frustrated and embittered, Cortés decided to return to Mexico. Before he could go, however, he died of pleurisy in 1547. Latest on Hernán Cortés: Conqueror of the Aztecs The Indigenous People of Central Mexico More History of Mexico The Aztec Empire of 1519 was one of the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdoms of all time. By this time, the island city of Tenochtitlán had become a city of about 300,000 citizens. And the Aztec Empire itself ruled over about 80,000 square miles of territory extending from the Gulf of México to the Pacific Ocean, and southward to Oaxaca. This empire contained some 15 million people, living in thirty-eight provinces. In all, the Emperor received the tribute of 489 communities.

On April 22, 1519, a fleet of eleven Spanish galleons, which had been sailing northward along the eastern Gulf Coast of México, dropped anchor just off the wind-swept beach on the island of San Juan de Ulúa. Under the command of a Spanish adventurer named Hernán Cortés, these vessels bore 450 soldiers, 100 sailors, and 16 horses. These horses would be the first horses to walk upon the North American continent. The horse, which eventually became an important element of Indian life, was unknown to the North American Indians who engaged in warfare and hunting without the benefit of this mammal's help. On June 7, 1519, Cortés led his forces northward to the coastal town Cempoala. As they approached the town, the Totonac Indians started bringing the Spaniards food and gifts. Soon, Cortés and his lieutenants entered the coastal city-state of Cempoala met with Tlacochcalcatl, the chief of the Totonacs who regarded himself as an enemy of Emperor Moctezuma. Cempoala, presently under Aztec domination, was made up of some fifty towns.

The chief of the Totonacs, writes Dr. Albert Marrin, the author of Aztecs and Spaniards: Cortés and the Conquest of México, complained that the Aztec "tribute collectors were picking the country clean, like hungry coyotes." And each year, the Totonacs were forced to send hundreds of children to the altars of Tenochtitlán for sacrifice. For this tribute, the hatred of the Totonacs for the Mexica ran deep. For this reason, Tlacochcalcatl forged an alliance with Cortés. After the Spaniards helped the Totonacs to expel Moctezuma's tribute-collectors from their territory, a new alliance was formed between the natives and their strange visitors. The Totonacs helped Cortés and his men establish a base on the shore. On June 28, 1519, Cortés formally gave this town the name La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (The Rich Town of the True Cross). At this point, Cortés decided to lead his troops westward into the interior of the continent to find and meet with Moctezuma.

Cacique Tlacochcalcatl warned Cortés that, on his journey inland, he would confront the people of Tlaxcala and Huexotzinco, two provinces that hated the Mexica equally. With the help of Totonac guides, Cortés planned his march through territory that might represent fertile ground for more alliances. On August 16, 1519, Cortés assembled his army for the expedition inland. He had a force of at least 400 Spanish soldiers, 150 Cuban Indian servants, 1,300 Cempoalans and other Totonacs led by a chief named Mamexi, and seven pieces of artillery. They also had 15 horses, reserved exclusively for the captains of the army. The Spanish army was thus beefed up with more than a thousand native warriors plus 200 porters, who dragged the cannon and carried supplies. The distance from Cempoala to Tenochtitl_n is 250 miles, as the crow flies. A fairly large force of 150 Spanish soldiers and sailors and two horses under the command Juan de Escalante stayed at the garrison at Villa Rica de Vera Cruz.

Roughly 100 soldiers remained in Villa Rica under the command of Gonzalo Sandoval. Finally, Cortés' army reached the Tlaxcalan republic, which was independent enclave deep in the heart of the Mexica Empire that had managed to resist Aztec control. Surrounded on all sides and blockaded by the Aztecs, they had never yielded to them. By the time that Cortez arrived in the Western Hemisphere, the Tlaxcalan Indians had been subjected to continuous warfare and human sacrifice for many decades. Because of their economic isolation, the Tlaxcalans had no cotton with which to make their clothes. No feathers - used in religious festivities - or precious stones made their way into Tlaxcala. Tlaxcala was a small, densely populated province. In 1519, the population was about 150,000. Tlaxcala was actually "confederation of four republics," ruling over some 200 settlements. Some historians believe that Tenochtitlán could have overwhelmed Tlaxcala without too much difficulty, and the reason it did not is probably that it wanted a nearby source of victims for the human sacrifices.

Therefore the Aztecs maintained an almost perpetual state of war with Tlaxcala, but never actually conquered it. Also, the Aztecs seem to have regarded the frequent battles as a convenient way of testing and training the young Mexica warriors. This state of perpetual war was very hateful to the Tlaxcalans and by the time that Cortés arrived in Tlaxcala, the confederation represented fertile grounds for an anti-Mexica alliance. However, the Tlaxcalans, very suspicious of the strangers, were in no mood to accommodate the Spaniards and their Indian allies. After several serious and bloody skirmishes, the Tlaxcalans and Spaniards agreed to a truce and the strangers were invited to meet with King Xicotenga in the Tlaxcalan capital on September 18. Recognizing the fighting abilities and the superior weaponry of the Spaniards, the Tlaxcalan authorities began to see the Spanish forces as potential allies against their great enemies, the Mexica. Cortés, for his part, told King Xicotenga that he was opposed only to the Aztec Empire and that there would be a place for Tlaxcala in Spanish-dominated México.

Within a very short time, the Tlaxcalans would become the most loyal native allies of the Spaniards. Their allegiance with the Europeans would be an enduring partnership, lasting several centuries. On October 23, 1519, Cortés and his army of European mercenaries and indigenous warriors left the Tlaxcalan capital. A thousand Tlaxcalan warriors had been added to the ranks of Cortés force. While Indian laborers carried the cannon and baggage in the center of the formation, Tlaxcalan warriors and Spanish horsemen marched along the flanks and with the rear guard. Although Xicotenga had offered him many more warriors, Cortés did not want a large force of Tlaxcalans that might frighten or enrage the Mexica. As Cortés traveled westward through mountain towns and villages, many of the Indians living along this path told him of their cruel treatment at the hands of the Aztec overlords. Through these meetings, Cortés began to understand the depth of this hatred and fear. He also recognized that many of these people would be potential allies in a showdown with the Mexica.

On November 2, 1519, Cortés' forces moved through a mountain pass that lay 13,000 feet above sea level. From this path, the Spaniards could see the smoking volcano Popocatepetl (Smoking Mountain) and Ixtaccihuatl (Mountain of White Woman), which reach 17,887 feet and 17,000 feet, respectively. From the mountain pass, the Spaniards witnessed for the first time the great splendor of Tenochtitlán as it spread out on the valley floor. Before long, the mountain pass, with the great Valley of México in full view, descended to lower altitudes, eventually bringing Cortés and his forces to an altitude of 7,400 above sea level along the valley floor. Finally, on November 8, 1519, Cortés and his large army reached Xoloco, just outside of Tenochtitlán, where they were greeted by hundreds of emissaries of Moctezuma. As they were brought into the city, the Spaniards stared in awe at the architectural precision of the city.

Filing across the southern causeway of the capital, Cortés and his men were greeted with much ceremony by a retinue of lords and nobles headed by Moctezuma himself. The wary Moctezuma made great efforts to play the perfect host, showing his unwanted guests around the city and entertaining them with splendid banquets. After several days of negotiations and touring, Cortés and his officers took Moctezuma as a hostage. Bringing the King to his barracks, Cortés persuaded him to dispatch messengers to the surrounding communities to collect gold and silver, part of which was sent to the Spanish monarch in the name of Moctezuma and part of which was divided among Cortés' troops. Moctezuma's imprisonment continued for eight months. Then, on April 19, 1520, more ships appeared off the coast of México. The governor of Cuba had sent soldiers under Panfilo de Narvaez to arrest Captain-General Cortés for insubordination. Leaving Captain Pedro de Alvarado in charge of his troops, Cortés quickly departed from Tenochtitlán with 266 Spanish soldiers to confront the newly arrived Spanish force on the Gulf Coast.

Although Narvaez's troops numbered three times greater, Cortés and his small army defeated Narvaez in a battle near Veracruz, after which most of Narvaez's troops joined Cortés. When Cortés returned to Tenochtitlán, he found out that Pedro de Alvarado had provoked an open revolt by massacring 600 Aztec nobles during the Feast of Huitzilopochtli. Fighting quickly broke out in full force the day after Cortés returned, and the sheer numbers of the Aztec army overwhelmed the Captain-General's army, which numbered only 1,250 Spaniards and 8,000 Mexican warriors. His army was forced to retreat back into the barracks. In the days to follow, as the Indians besieged the palace, Moctezuma was killed by a shower of stones directed by his angry subjects to their captive emperor. Moctezuma was succeeded as emperor by Cuitlahuac, who decided that the Spaniards must be annihilated.

Under a complete siege by Aztec forces in Tenochtitlán, Cortés on July 1, 1520 attempted to break out of the city and cross the lake to the mainland by marching down one of the causeways. As the force left the palace at midnight, Cortés had some 1,250 Spanish soldiers and at least 5,000 Tlaxcalan warriors. While they were crossing the bridge leaving the city, the Aztecs fell upon the army and inflicted heavy damage. In the disorder, Spanish soldiers who had been too greedy and filled their pockets with gold were pushed into Lake Texcoco and drowned. The army managed to attain a place of relative safety on a hill past the nearby town of Tlacopan but not without losing about 450 Spanish and at least 2,000 Indian soldiers from their ranks. Plagued by hunger, disease, and the pursuing Aztecs, Cortés' army fled to Tlaxcala to obtain reinforcements. On July 8, the army came upon a legion of nearly 200,000 Aztecs sent by Cuitlahuac.

There, at the battle of Otumba, the Spanish managed a smashing victory that dissuaded the Aztecs from pursuing the Spaniards and their allies any farther. By the end of the battle, 850 Spaniards and 4,000 Tlaxcalans had been lost. Only twenty-four of the 95 horses survived the exodus. All the cannon and nearly all the muskets and crossbows had been lost. Even with the many reinforcements that Cortés had brought from the coast, this left only 420 men and 17 horses. All the survivors, including Cortés, were wounded, and very few firearms or ammunition were left. As the battered army approached Tlaxcala, they were greeted by their Indian allies and given refuge. "Reviewing their narrow escape," writes the author Michael C. Meyer, "many of the Spanish veterans wanted nothing more to do with the Aztecs. It required all of Cortés' force of personality and subtle blandishments to prevent mass defections and rebellion among his men.

Cortés, who seems never to have wavered in his determination to retake Tenochtitlán, began to lay plans for the return." It goes without saying that the Spaniards would not have survived their ordeal without the help of their Tlaxcalan allies. The Tlaxcalan chiefs called on Cortés during this dismal time and laid out their conditions for further assistance. The Tlaxcalans requested "perpetual exemption from tribute of any sort, a share of the spoils, and control of two provinces that bordered their land." Cortés agreed to these conditions and, as the author Richard Lee Marks wrote, "Spain substantially kept its promise" to the Tlaxcalans "and exempted them from tribute for the entire period of the Spanish rule in México, nearly three hundred years." The Spaniards, however, also received more important support from another, unexpected ally.

"While the Spaniards rested and recuperated" in Tlaxcala, wrote Richard Lee Marks, "it occurred to Cortés and his men to wonder why the great armies from Tenochtitlán were not pursuing them." The Aztecs had not attacked or laid siege to Tlaxcala, giving the Spaniards and Tlaxcalans precious time to heal and recover from their catastrophic defeat. Later, Cortés would learn that an epidemic of smallpox had devastated Tenochtitlán. While the Spaniards were in Tlaxcala, a great plague broke out here in Tenochtitlán. It began to spread during the thirteenth month and lasted for seventy days, striking everywhere in the city and killing a vast number of our people. Sores erupted on our faces, our breasts, our bellies; we were covered with agonizing sores from head to foot. At the same time in the Aztec capital, a smallpox epidemic began that killed Cuitlahuac and immobilized much of the population.

To replace the king, the caciques of Tenochtitlán chose Cuahtemoc, a nephew of Moctezuma who believed that the Aztec army would be able to annihilate the invaders. Mr. Marks writes that smallpox spread quickly among the Mexica because they "were in the habit of bathing to alleviate almost any ailment that afflicted them. These baths were either communal or the same bathing water was used consecutively by many. But after someone with an open smallpox sore entered the bath, the disease was transmitted to everyone who followed." The Spaniards, however, never bathed. Although they occasionally washed off the dirt and blood when they had to, "they believed that bathing per se was weakening." And the Tlaxcalans, "always in a state of semi-siege," were not yet exposed to the smallpox. The Captain-General's army left Tlaxcala on December 26, 1520 on its march to the Aztec capital. Cortés' army had been completely rebuilt.

With his army of 600 Spanish soldiers and between 110,000 and 150,000 Mexican warriors, Cortés intended to occupy the city of Texcoco and blockade Tenochtitlán from there. With the city sufficiently weakened, his army would cross the lake on thirteen brigantines constructed for this purpose by the Spaniards. In January 1521 Cortés once again led his force into the Valley of México. They staged a series of raids throughout the countryside, taking control of various cities surrounding the lake. After witnessing the military and technological advantages of the Spanish forces, many caciques in the Valley decided to join their forces with Cortés' army in order to save their own skin. When the final assault on Tenochtitlán began on April 28, 1521, Cortés had more than 900 Spaniards, including 118 crossbowmen and harquebusiers, 700 sword and pike men, and eighteen cannons. The cavalry had been beefed up with 86 horses and their riders.

Within the ranks of this huge army were at least 75,000 Tlaxcalans, and thousands of other indigenous supporters. It is believe that possible as many as 70,000 Indian laborers carried supplies, built roads and carried on our auxiliary chores. The Aztecs, however, had a population of 250,000 men, women, and children, defending their homes. Emperor Cuahtemoc, realizing that his horseless troops were no match for the Spaniards in open country, decided that it would be better to wage urban warfare against the enemy. Turning Tenochtitlán into an Aztec Stalingrad, he defeated the initial Spanish assault on the city and drove the enemy back to their siege lines outside the gates. Day after day, week after week, the fighting raged back and forth as the Spaniards and their allies attempted to break the Aztec defense from both land and sea. They did so a few times but were steadily pushed back by the now starving inhabitants of Tenochtitlán. Cortés became increasingly distressed at his army's inability to break the Aztec spirit.

So, after nearly three months of such fighting, the Captain-General ordered a full-scale assault on Tenochtitlán. After five days of intense fighting, the Aztecs - weakened by starvation and disease - were near exhaustion. The Aztecs fought valiantly against a huge coalition but - deprived of fresh water and food supplies from the mainland - they surrendered on August 13, 1521, after an eighty-day siege. The siege of Tenochtitlán, according to the histories, paintings and chronicles, lasted exactly eighty days. Thirty thousand men from the kingdom of Texcoco were killed during this time, of the more than 200,000 who fought on the side of the Spaniards. Of the Aztecs, more than 240,000 were killed. Almost all of the nobility perished: there remained alive only a few lords and knights and the little children. Dr.

Marrin commented that "what had taken centuries to build, would be destroyed in just thirty months." Indigenous Groups at Contact The names of the ethnic groups who traveled through or inhabited the Valley of México in the last 2,000 years include the Olmeca, Xicalanca, Tolteca, Chichimeca, Teochichimeca, Otomí, Culhuaque, Cuitlahuaca, Mixquica, Xochimilca, Chalca, Tepaneca, Acolhuaque, and Mexica. The Otomí. It is believed that the Otomí may have been the earliest inhabitants of the Valley of México. They were the only major indigenous group in the Valley of México who spoke a language other than Náhuatl. They had probably arrived in the Valley from the west after the destruction of Tula. Xaltocan, in the northern part of the Valley, was the capital of Otomí Empire during its prime in the mid-Thirteenth Century. However, the Otomí declined in power and prestige during the Fourteenth Century, after having lost wars with the Mexica. Culhuaque.

The Culuaque Indians inhabited Culhuacan near the tip of the peninsula that separated Lake México from Lake Xochimilco. The Culhuaque Indians settled in Culhuacan sometime around the Twelfth Century and were the original masters of the Mexica before the establishment of Tenochtitlán. In the mid Fourteenth Century, the Mexica defeated the Culhuaque, partly as a result of Tepaneca expansion from Azcapotzalco. Culhuacan was later conquered in 1428 by the Mexica. Cuitlahuaca. The Cuitlahuaca occupied an insular community called Cuitlahuac (Tlahuac), which was located between Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco). The Cuitlahuaca were surrounded by the Xochimilca, Mixquica, and Chalca to the south, and the Culhuaque, Mexica, and Acolhuaque to the north. They were conquered by the Mexica in the Fifteenth Century. Xochimilca.

The Xochimilca migrated to the southern part of the Valley of México and gave their name - meaning "Plantation of Flowers" - to their primary settlement. Although they conquered some of their neighbors, eventually they declined after fighting wars with Huejotzingo, Tlaxcala, and Cholula on their eastern frontier. The Colonial Period For three full centuries (1521-1821), México City and the surrounding jurisdiction underwent a period of integration, assimilation, and Hispanization. This period - which is not the focus of this work - has been discussed in many books. One particularly informative source about the cultural and social development of central México is James Lockhart's The Náhuas After the Conquest: A Social and Cultural History of the Indians of Central México, Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries (published in 1992 by the Stanford University Press). Another useful source to consult on this topic would be Charles Gibson's The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of México 1519-1810 (published by the Stanford University Press in 1964).

Although Spanish became the primary language of this region, many aspects of indigenous culture and language remained. When the population of the jurisdiction of México was tallied in 1790, 742,186 persons were registered as "indios," representing 71.1% of the total population of 1,043,223. In contrast, people of Spanish origin were tallied at 134,965. Copyright � 2003 by John P. Schmal. All Rights Reserved. Read more articles by John Schmal . Sources: Campillo Cuautli, Héctor. Distrito Federal: Monografía Histórica y Geográfica. México: D.F.: Fernández Editores, 1992. Davies, Nigel. The Aztecs: A History. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma, 1980. Departamento de la Estadística Nacional, Annuario de 1930. Tacubaya, D.F., México, 1932. Hassig, Ron. Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control.

Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988. Hodge, Mary G. "Political Organization of the Central Provinces," in Frances F. Berdan et al., Aztec Imperial Strategies. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1996, pp. 17-45. Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática (INEGI). Estados Unidos Mexicanos. XII Censo General de Población y Vivienda, 2000. Tabulados Básicos y por Entidad Federativa. Bases de Datos y Tabulados de la Muestra Censal. Jiménez, Carlos M. The Mexican American Heritage. Berkeley, California: TQS Publications, 1994 (2nd edition). Marks, Richard Lee. Cortés: The Great Adventurer and the Fate of Aztec México. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994. Meier, Matt S. and Feliciano Rivera. The Chicanos: A History of Mexican Americans. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972. Meier, Matt S.

and Feliciano Ribera. Mexican Americans, American Mexicans: From Conquistadors to Chicanos. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993. Meyer, Michael C. and Sherman, William L. The Course of Mexican History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. Secretaria de la Economia Nacional, Compendio Estadistico. México, D.F., 1947. Smith, Michael E. "The Strategic Provinces," in Frances F. Berdan et al., Aztec Imperial Strategies. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1996, pp. 137-150. Smith, Michael E. The Aztecs. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, Inc., 1996. Spitler, Susan. "Homelands: Aztlan and Aztlán," Online: ~anthro/other/humos/sample.htm. November 20, 2001. John Schmal is an historian, genealogist, and lecturer.

With his friend Donna Morales, he coauthored "Mexican-American Genealogical Research: Following the Paper Trail to Mexico" (Heritage Books, 2002) and "The Dominguez Family: A Mexican-American Journey" (Heritage Books, 2004). He has degrees in History (Loyola-Marymount University) and Geography (St. Cloud State University) and is a board member of the Society of Hispanic Historical Ancestral Research (SHHAR). He is an associate editor of SHHAR's online monthly newsletter, . John is presently collaborating with illustrator Eddie Martinez on a manuscript entitled "Indigenous Mexico: Past and Present." The Spanish conquest of the Mexicas, more commonly known as the Aztecs, is among the most interesting and significant historical stories Hernan Cortés Few historical stories are more exciting and more significant than the one about the Spanish conquest of the Mexicas, more commonly but wrongly called the Aztecs. The consequences of the conquest remain starkly evident as we approach the twenty-first century: Mexico remains a poverty-ridden, politically unstable country, where Amerindian and mestizo peasants continue to fight soldiers for land their ancestors lost centuries before they were born.

Yet remarkably little is written about the conquest in major world history textbooks. Dismissed in a paragraph or two, the collapse of the Mexica Empire is written as though it were almost inevitable, a swift and decisive victory for a civilization destined to be dominant. But if one examines eye witness or near-eye witness accounts, however, a quite different picture appears. Both Spanish and Nahuatl (Mexica) sources reveal a complex struggle with a great deal of fighting and betrayal everywhere. If the conquistador, Hernán Cortés, was often calculating and ruthless, there were many times when he also believed he was fighting to stay alive. Indeed, as one textbook noted, the question which must be answered is ï¿½Why did a strong people defending its own territory succumb so quickly to a handful of Spaniards fighting in dangerous and completely unfamiliar circumstances?ï¿½ The answers to this question usually include differences in military tactics and technology, disease, political and religious divisiveness within the Mexica Empire, and the weakness of the Mexica Emperor, Moctezuma Xocoyotl (II), or simply Moctezuma.

Although she has appeared in both Spanish and Mexican literary accounts of the conquest, Malinche , la lengua, Cortésï¿½s translator and mistress, has only recently been mentioned in history texts as one of the factors which allowed Cortés to claim victory. In the words of Bernal Díaz del Castillo , a Spaniard who was with Cortés during the conquest, La Malinche ï¿½knew the language of Coatzacoalcos, which is that of Mexico [Nahuatl], and she knew the Tabascan language also. This language is common to Tabasco and Yucatán [the Yucatán dialect of Mayan], and Gerónimo de Aguilar spoke it also.ï¿½ As Bernal Díaz explained , ï¿½this was the great beginning of our conquests, and thus, praise be to God, all things prospered with us.

I have made a point of telling this story, because without [La Malinche] we could not have understood the language of New Spain and Mexico.ï¿½ La Malinche is an historical figure who aided the Spaniards and gave birth to Cortés' son, Martin, sometimes considered to be the first mestizo. But she is far more significant as a symbol for everything, both good and bad, about the conquest. In the words of Rosario Castellanos, ï¿½some call her a traitor, others consider her the foundress of our nationality. . . .ï¿½ Reflecting the view of her as a traitor, a variation of her name has become the word for the individual who sells out to the foreigner: la malinchista. As the mother of Don Martín, she has been called La Chingada, the submissive one or the mother taken by force. Was she a desirable whore or a disgraced mother? Is it possible for the historian to know the truth or is her story the story of many more ordinary women, the story of woman as a powerful cultural symbol which will always remain both more and less than her historical persona?

The story told here is as much about how history is written and lives to create historical memory as it is about the conquest of Mexico. Although the conquest of Mexico is often told as a story by men for men, Malinche was not the only woman who accompanied the Spaniards There are likely many more, as female camp followers played a crucial role in sixteenth century warfare. The other story to be told here is of the alliance between the Tlaxcalans and the Spaniards In fact, it is far too simple to argue that the Spaniards conquered the native population given that the Spaniards had thousands of allies from the territory, of which the Tlaxcalans were the most loyal. A fiercely dependent people, the Tlaxcalans believed that the Spaniards would help them vanquish their Mexica foes. They encourage the Spaniards to attack the Mexicas and their allies; in the end, they were as responsible as the Spaniards for the destruction of Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards were also divided. Cortés deliberately broke orders from his immediate superior, Cuban Governor, Diego Velasquez, when he decided to conquer Mexico.

From the minute he took his fateful decision, he sent men to the Spanish Emperor, Charles V, to explain the wealth of the continent and to seek support from the Emperor for his defiant action. The poor relationship between Cortés and Velasquez would also contribute to Spanish losses when war broke out between the Mexicas and the Spaniards, while Cortés fought Pánfilio de Narváez, who Velasquez sent to bring Cortés back to Cuba. Moreover, although most textbooks end the story of the conquest of Mexico with Cortés' unchallenged occupation of Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519, the battle for Mexico was, by no means, over. Cortés lost two thirds of his men when he was forced to flee the city on June 30, 1520 after war broke out between the Mexicas and the Spaniards in his absence. He barely survived other attacks as he fled to Tlaxcala to heal and regroup. With much effort and considerable support from indigenous people who hated the Mexicas, he finally regained Tenochtitlan after a long siege that took place between May 26 and August 13, 1521.

Even then, it took the Spaniards the rest of the Sixteenth Century to conquer what became New Spain and is now Mexico. Thus, one can argue that the conquest of Mexico took place in three phases. The first phase, which is most often covered in textbooks, dates from the days the Mexicas first heard of strangers on their eastern shores, which they thought might be their gods returning. It ended with the peaceful occupation of Tenochtitlan. The second phase began with the Spanish slaughter of innocents during the festival of Huitzilopochtli, which led to the rebellion that forced the Spaniards to flee the Mexica capital. This phase ended with the final fall and destruction of Tenochtitlan. Since the sources I am working with cover these two phases and not the larger conquest, they will be the ones covered here. To sort out what happened, you can go to the primary sources on the conquest of Mexico . ClassZone.com The Spanish Conquest What happened to the Aztecs, Maya, and Inca? The great civilizations of Mexico and of Central and South America faced many internal conflicts at the start of the sixteenth century. But their troubles became far greater when the first Spanish explorers arrived.

In 1519, Hernando Cortés landed on the Gulf of Mexico with 600 men, and plenty of horses and guns. The last of the Aztec rulers, Montezuma II, greeted Cortés with gifts of gold and other treasures. However, Cortés recognized an opportunity to weaken the Aztecs by allying with groups that the Aztecs oppressed. With the help of his new allies, Cortés defeated Montezuma's forces. Cortés then turned on his allies. By 1521, he had destroyed the Aztec Empire. Within ten years, Cortés governed all of Mexico for Spain. Present-day Mexico City covers the area where the Aztec capital once stood. Much of Aztec culture was destroyed, but some artifacts are now held in museums. Ruins of the Aztec capital have been uncovered from beneath the streets of modern Mexico City. When Christopher Columbus and his crew encountered Maya people in 1502, the Maya civilization had greatly declined. After 900, conflicts within the Maya lands had resulted in divisions that caused the civilization to fall from its former height. In 1523, Cortés sent Pedro de Alvarado to conquer the Maya in Guatemala.

The Maya fought back valiantly. By the mid-1500s, Spanish cities were founded in the Maya lands. Many Maya were killed or mistreated, but a few high-ranking members of the community retained some official control. The Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro invaded the Incan Empire in 1532, seeking riches. The Inca had already had some contact with Europeans, and many had died of European diseases. The empire was also weakened by a civil war between two ruling brothers. Pizarro manipulated the two sides, eventually defeating both. The Spanish took over all the Incan lands within 40 years, taking vast quantities of gold, destroying the cities, and nearly erasing an entire civilization. Much of what is known today about the Inca comes from archaeologists. The mountaintop ruins of the Incan city of Machu Picchu were discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American explorer. Located high in the Andes Mountains, the city was hidden from the Spanish and left intact. Credits: Aztec Calendar Stone © Kimball Morrison/South American Pictures.

Hernando Cortes - Ages of Exploration Hernando Cortes Age of Discovery Claim to Fame: He conquered the Aztec empire in 1519 and built Mexico City, which became the Spanish stronghold in the New World. Name: Hernando Cortés Also Known As: Hernán Cortés, Fernando Cortés Birth/Death: 1485 CE - 1547 CE Nationality: Spanish Objective: To conquer land in the New World in the name of Spain Sponsoring Nation: Spain Early Life Hernando Cortes sometimes called Hernán or Fernando; however, Cortés’ real name is Hernando. Most of what is known about Cortés’ early life comes from his friend and personal biographer, Francisco López de Gómara. Gomara describes him as “restless, haughty, and mischievous.” Hernando was born in 1485 in Medellin, a village in Extremadura, Spain. He was born into an upper class family, though his parents were not extremely wealthy. His father was Martín Cortés de Monroy and his mother was Catalina Pizarro Altamirano.

Through his mother, Hernando was the second cousin to Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Incan empire in modern-day Peru. Although he was a sickly child, Hernando was considered extremely bright. At the age of fourteen Hernando was sent to the University of Salamanca, where he most likely studied law and Latin. Within two years, Hernando had grown tired of school and returned home to practice horsemanship, weaponry, and field sports. Voyages Stories about Christopher Columbus’ discoveries in the New World captivated Cortés. In 1504, at the age of nineteen, he joined a ship that was headed to the New World and registered as a new citizen of Hispaniola. In 1506, for his participation in the conquest of Hispaniola and Cuba, Cortés was granted a large estate as well as native slaves. In 1511, he aided the Governor of Hispaniola, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, in an expedition to conquer Cuba. As payment, Cortés was made treasurer and later secretary to Governor Velázquez . In 1518, Hernando was placed in command of an expedition to colonize the interior of Mexico.

This order was cancelled, but Cortés ignored orders and went anyway in 1519, accompanied by 11 ships, 500 men, 13 horses and several cannons, determined to secure the interior of Mexico for settlement. Having heard stories of the wealthy Aztec Empire, in October 1519, Cortés made alliances with native peoples to increase his army and marched on Tenochtitlan, the Aztec Empire’s capital city. The army was peacefully received by Moctezuma II, the Aztec tlatoani (ruler), who gave extravagant gifts of gold to the Spaniards to satisfy their army. However, this only increased the Spaniards’ greed, and Cortés took Moctezuma captive. After Moctezuma was murdered (either by rebellion or the Spanish soldiers), open rebellion of the Aztec natives forced Cortés and his men to flee. After he received reinforcements, Cortés retook Tenochtitlan by cutting off their supplies and later destroying the city. Hernando Cortés died December 2, 1547, from pleurisy in Seville, a province of Spain.

Legacy By conquering the Aztec Empire and subduing other native peoples, Cortés was able to colonize much of Mexico, then called New Spain, which included the building of Mexico City on the site of Tenochtitlan. Cortés’ conquest over the Aztec Empire became an admirable feat for other soldiers and nobleman to follow, as did tales of wealth and land gained in the conquest. The encomienda system was instituted in Mexico and would continue to be used in the New World as a form of slavery. This system granted land and a number of natives to the conquistador, who was then obligated to provide religious education to the natives in exchange for labor. Portrait of Young Cortés, 16th century, located at the Museo de America, Madrid. An engraving of Hernando Cortés. Engraving by W. Holl, published by Charles Knight. “From a Picture in the Florence Gallery. Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.” (Credit: Library of Congress) A Painting of Hernán Cortés {{PD-Art}} A photographic reproduction of the portrait of Hernán Cortés, 1791.

{{PD-Art}} The path taken by Hernán Cortés on his way to Tenochtitlan. “Émulo De Agatocles: Imitador De Timarco: Digna Copia De Lauria,” Hernando Cortes conquering Mexico, The Mariners’ Museum. “Aztecs Sacrificing to the Sun,” Columbus and Columbia: a Pictorial History of the Man and the Nation Embracing a Review of Our Country’s Progress, a Complete History of America, a New Life of Columbus and An Illustrated Description of the Great Columbian Exposition, 1892, From The Library at The Mariners’ Museum, E178.C7. “Interview Between Cortez and the Embassadors of Montezuma,” History of Hernando Cortez,1855, From The Library at The Mariners’ Museum, F1230.C8.A1. Tenochtitlan, Entrance of Hernan Cortes. Cortez and La Malinche meet Moctezuma II. , November 8, 1519. Original: 1500-1600 AD. This facsimile published c. 1890.

{{PD-Art}} Old map of Veracruz, State of Veracruz, Mexico. Cortés’ house in Veracruz, Mexico CONQUISTADORS CONQUISTADORS In the 16th century, Central and South America were invaded by Spanish soldiers called conquistadors, who overthrew the Aztec and Inca empires. Many went in search of a rich land called EL DORADO . WHO WAS THE GOD FROM THE SEA? In 1517, Aztec spies saw conquistadors on the coast and relayed news of these pale, bearded strangers to Emperor Moctezuma II. He believed that their arrival marked the return of a long-departed god and king called Quetzalcoatl. HOW DID THE CONQUISTADORS DEFEAT SO MANY PEOPLE? The conquistadors were few in number, but they had ships, horses, armor, and deadly firearms. In Mexico they increased their numbers by joining up with native peoples rebelling against Aztec rule. WHO KILLED THE INCA EMPEROR? In 1532, a band of conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro met the Inca emperor Atahualpa.

They tricked him into being captured, and demanded a vast ransom of silver and gold for his release. It was paid, but in 1533 they executed him anyway. BIOGRAPHY: HERNÁN CORTES 1485–1547 Cortés was born in Spain. In 1518 he was given command of a force of 550 soldiers. He landed in Mexico, and reached the Aztec capital in 1519. He was greeted peacefully, but soon there was bitter fighting. In 1521 Cortés destroyed the city, and in 1522 he became the Spanish governor of this newly conquered land. EL DORADO El Dorado means “the golden one”—it is the Spanish name for a mythical land in South America, said to be rich in gold beyond all dreams. WHY DID THE CONQUISTADORS SEEK EL DORADO? Conquistadors were often brave, but they were also quarrelsome and violent, driven by a desperate desire for gold and power. Many died in remote jungles, still vainly searching for the riches of El Dorado. FIND OUT MORE

Question: What was the name of the Spanish conquistador who conquered Mexico in 1519?
Answer: Hernando Cortez