Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés the Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire was born in 1485 in Spain During the age of European exploration and colonization Cortés left law school in Spain to seek adventure and riches in the New World He first went to the Dominican Republic in 1504 In 1511 Cortés assisted Diego Velázquez another Spanish conquistador of a higher rank in conquering the island of Cuba In 1519 against Velázquez’s and the Spanish government’s wishes Cortés set sail on an expedition to Mexico Once he arrived Cortés discovered the Aztec civilization which was unknown to the Europeans Cortés became governor of the conquered lands in 1523 In 1541 he returned to Spain where he died six years later regard for normal civilized Aztec behaviors These strangers were from Spain and their leader was Hernán Cortés For ten years prior to the arrival of the Spaniards the Aztec people had witnessed a series of bad omens Aztec legend tells of a large flash that lit up the night sky In another omen a temple burned from a fire that no one set A woman’s weeping cries were heard every night She spoke of leaving the city A dark bird was caught in some fishermen’s nets It wore a mirror on its head that reflected visions of fighting men who rode animals like deer In yet another omen a man with two heads and one body ran through the city These omens stayed in the minds of the Aztecs during the Spanish arrival Soon a macehual common man brought more news Cortés wanted to meet Montezuma in the capital of the empire On hearing the plans of these A later artist imagined the meeting between Hernán Cortés and Aztec emperor Montezuma II in the capital city of Tenochtitlán 8
newcomers Montezuma called a meeting of his council They decided to greet Cortés as if the visitors were royalty The emperor sent out an embassy to travel across the land with gifts of elaborately carved discs of gold and silver Montezuma also sent ornate ritual costumes and a gift of food including tortillas eggs turkey and maize After greeting Cortés and his men along the Gulf coast shores the Aztec messengers brought them back to meet Montezuma in his capital city Tenochtitlán The Spaniards were impressed by the gifts They set out on August 16 1519 to meet the emperor in his great city The Spaniards were prepared to fight Their weapons were far more advanced than the Aztecs weapons Cortés and his men carried firearms and swords while the people they faced used darts sling stones and arrows Montezuma II The ninth and final emperor of the Aztec Empire Montezuma II was born in 1466 and he took control of the empire from his uncle in 1502 Montezuma was a skilled warrior who had led many battles for the empire As emperor Montezuma was not only the political leader but also a religious leader He became a powerful ruler When Cortés captured Montezuma the Spaniard imprisoned the ruler for months In 1520 the Aztec people threw stones and arrows at the fallen emperor Montezuma died shortly after either from the stoning or from a secret strangulation 10
The Spaniards wore armor and knew military drills The Aztecs had more warriors but inferior weapons mainly bladed clubs The Spaniards also had the support of warring tribes that saw the Aztecs as enemies Cortés and his men defeated groups of native peoples along the journey many of whom joined Cortés as his warriors Montezuma learned of the Spaniards approach some 2,500 to 3,500 men strong and decided to allow them to enter Tenochtitlán 1 Another embassy met the men at a mountain pass close to the city They brought more gifts including gold necklaces gold streamers and long feathers As they approached the city Cortés and his men were greeted with an impressive sight They saw the gridlike order of the surrounding towns and large pyramid-shaped temples As Cortés wrote When we had passed the bridge the Señor Montezuma came out to receive us attended by about two hundred nobles all barefooted and dressed in livery or a peculiar garb of fine cotton richer than is usually worn they came in two processions in close proximity to the houses on each side of the street which is very wide and beautiful and so straight that you can see from one end of it to the other although it is two thirds of a league in length having on both sides large and elegant houses and temples 2 11
