How Hernando Cortes Changed The World

Amie Nguyen

Mrs. Shalaine Root

Honors Literature 2

1 February 2015

Hernando Cortes: Conqueror of the Aztec Empire

Hernando Cortes grew up having a dream of adventure, and a burning desire for fame and fortune. His main goal when he traveled to Mexico, was to conquer the Aztecs, as he eventually did later in his life. This paper will cover Hernando Cortes’s life and how his accomplishments changed the understanding of the world at that time.

EARLY LIFE

Hernando’s father, Martin Cortes, was a minor member of the Spanish nobility and was known for being a fair and just man. Hernando was born in 1485 in Medellin, Spain a small town in the province of Estremadura, Spain. Cortes was a sickly child, but as he grew older, his health got better as

well. When Hernando was 14 years of age, his parents sent him to the University of Salamanca, hoping that he would be become a lawyer. Cortes studied for two years but dropped out soon after. Cortes wanted a life of adventure, he didn’t have the patience to study law.

EARLIER EXPEDITIONS
In 1504, Cortes finally got his chance, at the age of 19, he sailed to Santo Domingo as a soldier. When he got there, Hernando Cortes was given land and a handful of Indians to settle down. Cortes said that he had come to look for gold not to work and farm like a peasant. Finally some sense came to him, and he agreed to settle down. For a few years, Cortes was turned into a gentleman farmer. It wasn’t long when another chance at adventure hit Cortes.
Diego Velazquez was leading an expedition to the next island over, Cuba. It was in that conquest, where Cortes proved himself to be a braved and determined soldier. Civilian life did not suit Cortes well, Cortes had promised to marry his friend’s sister, Catalina Xuarez. Hernando backed out at the last moment and his friend saw this as an insult to his family. This friend complained to the governor of the island, who at that time was Velazquez, and the governor had Cortes thrown in jail. Hernando Cortes, being resourceful and experienced in these situations, picked the lock and sought out sanctuary in a nearby church. He was eventually found and the governor, this time, had Cortes imprisoned on a ship in the harbor but Cortes quickly solved that problem by agreeing to marry Catalina.
Even when that affair was over, Hernando Cortes and Diego Velazquez still had a tense relationship. This hate between the two of them grew even stronger mainly because Cortes was so headstrong, he even ignored orders from his superior, which was Velazquez , and did things his own way. Cortes was eventually, even accused of trying to overthrow Velazquez! Luckily, the charges went nowhere and Cortes was also pardoned for anything he may have said or done to give the impression that he was planning to overthrow Velazquez. Still, the bitterness between the two still survived.

THE BEGINNING OF A FAMOUS CONQUEST
Velazquez also decided to send an expedition to the mainland, where the Indians who lived there were rumored to have vast amounts of gold and silver.

The leader of this expedition was obviously Hernando Cortes. Cortes had very specific instructions on what to do: search for Juan de Grijalba, who gone missing and also for Cristobal de Olid, who had gone missing while searching for Grijalba. Cortes was also allowed to interact with any natives, trading for gold. However, Hernando was to be replaced, because Velazquez still had ill will for Cortes. Cortes heard of his superior’s plans and decided to sail anyway. On the dead of night on November 18, 1518, Cortes and his men set sail, headed for the mainland. This is what Cortes said to his men before he set sail, “I’m setting out on a great and beautiful enterprise, which will be famous in times to come. I know in my heart that we shall take vast and wealthy lands and people, such as never seen before... We are going to fight a just and good war, which will bring us fame. Almighty God, in whose name and fate it shall be waged, will give us victory. If you do not abandon me, I shall not abandon you, I shall make you in a short time, the richest of all men who have crossed the

seas.”
Hernando Cortes landed on the horn of the Yucatan Peninsula and went on to defeating the Mayans. The Mayans pledged their obedience to Cortes, and he received many gifts from them later on. Then Hernando sailed westward along the Mexican Gulf coastline, landing at a port that he named Vera Cruz. There he was met by two Indians, ambassadors sent by Montezuma, the current Aztec leader. The Indians had brought Cortes and his men a chest filled with handsome gifts. Through Dona Marina, an Indian woman that the Spaniards were traveling with, Cortes told the messengers that he wanted to see the city of Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs thought he was a god, Quetzalcoatl. According to a legend, the god was fair-skinned and was bearded. The messengers returned to Tenochtitlan, telling their ruler that the “god” wanted to see Tenochtitlan. Montezuma was afraid. Should he let this stranger into the city,is this stranger even a “god”?
When word reached Montezuma that Cortes was advancing toward his capital city, he sent out new messengers to say that such a visit wasn’t possible.

Montezuma even gifted Cortes with more extravagant gifts than before, hoping that the treasures would convince Cortes to turn back. Montezuma was mistaken though, the gifts only made Cortes want to get to the source of this treasure even more. Still, there was a problem. Velazquez had never given Cortes permission to make war or to set up a Spanish colony in Mexico. What Cortes was doing could be labeled as treason and for that, he could be executed. At that time, most of Hernando Cortes’s men wanted desperately to return to Cuba. They knew for certain that they couldn’t fight with the powerful Aztec army, with a meager amount of a few hundred soldiers. Cortes solved this problem quickly. He secretly ordered the sinking of all his ships. Without any ships, the Spaniards couldn’t go back to Cuba. The soldiers knew that they would have to fight to

survive.

TENOCHTITLAN
From Vera Cruz to the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan was a distance of 275 miles. It was a difficult journey and the Spaniards were unfortunate to have the Tlaxcalan Indians barring the way. The two sides fought in battle daily for two weeks. Finally the Tlaxcalans saw that they couldn’t defeat the Spaniards and offered peace instead. Turns out, the Tlaxcalans were one of the few that had kept their independence from the intimidating Aztec empire. Soon after, Cortes and his men departed for the city of Tenochtitlan.
On November 8, 1519, the Spaniards finally reached Lake Texcoco and saw the beautiful city of Tenochtitlan. One of Cortes’s soldiers, Bernal Diaz, recalled the view of Tenochtitlan, “The causeway was so crowded with people that we could hardly get through. They came in canoes from all parts of the lake to look at us. No wonder, since they had never seen horses or men like us before! With such wonderful sights to gaze on we did not know what to say, or if what we saw was real. On the lakeside there were many cities, and on the lake many more, and before us was the great city of Mexico. As for us, we were scarcely 400 strong, and we well remembered the warnings we had been given to beware of entering the city, since they would kill us as soon as they had us inside. What men in all the world have shown such daring?”
Halfway across the causeway, into the city, Cortes and his men were greeted by the ruler himself, Montezuma. The Aztec leader was carried on a litter carefully decorated with gold and silver trimmings. As Montezuma was lowered from his litter, Cortes dismounted. They greeted each other graciously and Cortes removed a necklace of pearls and charms from his own neck and placed it on Montezuma’s neck. They then walked together in a formal procession, stopping at a large, handsome palace that had been made ready for the Spaniards. That day, was the turning point of the long history of the Aztec people. Never again, would their society be the same.
In the weeks following Cortes’s arrival in Tenochtitlan, Cortes often spoke with Montezuma. Gradually, an unusual friendship began to grow between the bold conquistador and the Aztec leader. Soon after, Cortes was notified that Aztec warriors had attacked his base in Vera Cruz. Cortes, in turn, took Montezuma hostage and made the leader guarantee, that Cortes and his men would be safe.
“LA NOCHE TRISTE”
While Cortes was away dealing with a rival troop sent from Cuba to capture him, the Aztecs were having a festival, when Cortes’s second in command attacked the Aztecs. The outraged Aztecs revolted, the fuel from other things the Spanish had done was ignited. With no other choice, Hernando Cortes sent out Montezuma to calm and speak to his people. Montezuma tried but it was clear that he didn’t rule over his people anymore. The Aztecs yelled, jeered and even threw rocks at Montezuma. One rock hit him on the head and Montezuma fell to the ground, but he wouldn’t let Cortes or one of the Spaniards help him. The shame of being hit by his own people was far worse than the pain of his injury. With his royal host dead, Cortes knew that he must leave the city. He and his troops fled Tenochtitlan and that night, June 30, 1520, was known as La Noche Triste, or “The Sad Night”.
On the seventh day after retreating from the city of Tenochtitlan, the Spanish troops reached the Otumba Valley and as they looked into the distance, they were struck by horror. Thousands of Aztec warriors lined up ready to fight. The two armies, one weak and one massively strong, collided in a furious battle. The Battle of Otumba Valley had just begun. Just when the Spaniards thought they were going to lose, Cortes spotted an Aztec chief in the crowd. He advanced quickly toward the chief, breaking through lines of Aztec warriors. Cortes killed the Aztec chief, and the Aztecs fled in confusion. Cortes and his men advance to Tlaxcala where the Tlaxcalan Indians greeted their allies.
On May 1st, 1521 Cortes returned to Tenochtitlan now armed with more soldiers and weapons sent from Cuba. Originally, they were sent to capture Cortes, but Cortes had managed to convince them to join him. Finally on April 13, 1521, the Spaniards conquered the Aztec empire.

LATER LIFE
On May 1528, Cortes returned to Spain. Cortes received a hero’s welcome. As he traveled the streets to meet Charles V, thousands of Spaniards lined the streets just to see the conqueror of Mexico. In 1533, Cortes returned to Mexico and explored parts of modern-day California. Hernando Cortes died on December 2, 1547 at the age of sixty-three.

CONCLUSION
It might have been, that if Hernando Cortes hadn’t conquered the Aztecs empire, the Aztecs would still be flourishing in Mexico. Perhaps Mexico wouldn’t cease to exist and Spain wouldn’t have owned as much land, but that is if no other Spanish conquistador managed to do what Hernando Cortes had done.