Cortez The Conquistador arrives in Mexico
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca (1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the King of Castile, in the early 16th century. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish colonizers that began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In 1518 Velázquez put him in command of an expedition to explore and secure the interior of Mexico for colonization. At the last minute, due to the old gripe between Velázquez and Cortés, he changed his mind and revoked his charter. Cortés ignored the orders and went ahead anyway, in February 1519, in an act of open mutiny. Accompanied by about 11 ships, 500 men, 13 horses and a small number of cannons, he landed in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mayan territory. There, he met Jeronimo de Aguilar, a Spaniard who had survived from a shipwreck and joined the troops. Jeronimo de Aguilar, a Franciscan priest, had learnt Maya during his captivity, and could thus translate for Cortés. In March 1519, Cortés formally claimed the land for the Spanish crown. He stopped in Trinidad to hire more soldiers and obtain more horses. Then he proceeded to Tabasco and won a battle against the natives, who did not want to welcome the Spaniards, during which time he received from the vanquished twenty young indigenous women and he converted them all. Among these women was La Malinche, his future mistress and mother of his child Martín. Malinche knew both the (Aztec)Nahuatl language and Maya, thus enabling Hernán Cortés to communicate in both. She became a very valuable interpretor and counselor. Through her help, Cortés learned from the Tabascans about the wealthy Aztec Empire and its riches. In July 1519, his men took over Veracruz: by this act, Cortés dismissed the authority of the governor of Cuba to place himself directly under the orders of Charles V.
Size: 7406px × 5196px
Photo credit: © Historical Art Collection (HAC) / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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