Cortes, Hernán (1485–1547)

Spanish conquistador (conqueror), who subdued the Aztecs of Mexico and founded the colony of New Spain precursor to the modern Republic of Mexico. Born in the town of Medellin in the Estremadura region of Castile, Cortes was the son of a soldier and the cousin of Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror of the Inca Empire of Peru. Cortes attended the University of Salamanca but, in search of a more adventurous life, dropped his studies in law after two years. By this time, the discovery of a new continent was inspiring dreams of riches and glory among many young Spaniards.

Cortes first enlisted with the fleet of Nicolas de Ovando, the newly appointed governor of Hispaniola, but an accident while climbing out of his mistress's window in Medellin prevented him from sailing. He finally reached the West Indies in 1503, arriving with a Spanish expedition to Hispaniola and Cuba. He was granted an encomienda (estate) on Hispaniola by the governor, Diego Velazquez de Curellar, as well as a number of Indian slaves. In 1511 he set out with Velazquez to conquer the island of Cuba. For his service he was appointed treasurer of the new colony, responsible for directing 20 percent of all income from it to the Spanish crown, and an appointment as mayor of the town of Santiago, the island's capital city.

In 1519 he was appointed to lead an expedition to the mainland of North America. By this time, he was at odds with Velazquez, who recalled him at the last minute from the expedition. Cortes defied these orders and sailed with 508 men and sixteen horses for the Mexican coast. On reaching land, he promptly burned his ships to end any idea among his men of retreating from his intended conquest of establishing a new colony on the mainland. Cortes organized a cabildo, or town government, at Veracruz, then had the town appoint him as captain of an expedition to the interior, in this way escaping the authority of Velazquez.

At this time a powerful Aztec empire was ruling from a populous and wealthy capital, Tenochtitlán, built on a series of lakes and islands in the highlands of what is now central Mexico. To defeat the Aztecs, Cortez allied with their enemies, the Totonac and Nahua people, and gathered more allies in Tlaxcala, where he reinforced his small force of Spanish infantry and horsemen. On reaching Tenochtitlán, Cortes and his men were received as guests at the palace of the Aztec king, Montezuma, who believed Cortes to be a legendary god Quetzalcoatl. Cortes soon took the king prisoner, a hostage for the good behavior of the Aztecs.

On hearing of a second expedition arriving to relieve him of his command, Cortes left Tenochtitlán in the hands of one of his captains, Pedro Arias de Avila, and returned to the coast. There he defeated his opponents and persuaded many of their company to join his army. On returning to Tenochtitlán, Cortes found the city in revolt against de Avila, who was ruling the Aztecs as a tyrant. In the fighting Montezuma was killed and Cortes was forced to flee in what became known as La Noche Triste, or “The Unhappy Night.” Cortes waited two years in the hills near the city and finally gathered his men for a siege. Eventually the Spanish horses and artillery overcame the city's defenders; Cortes made the new emperor Cuauhtémoc a prisoner.

King Charles I of Spain appointed Cortes governor of the colony of New Spain. Under Cortes's rule, the ancient Aztec city was destroyed and a new colonial capital was raised. The Aztecs were converted to Catholicism and served their conquerors as peasant laborers; Cortes also imported slaves from Africa to work on the plantations of New Spain. But his defiance of Velazquez's orders in sailing to Mexico also made the king of Spain suspicious of Cortes's motivations and loyalty, and observers were sent to keep an eye on the colony and its governor.

Ever defiant, Cortes suspected Diego Velazquez of trying to undermine him, and issued an order for Velazquez's arrest. The king of Spain then sent an investigator to uncover the facts of the case. When the investigator died under mysterious circumstances, his successor appointed a replacement for Cortes, who was exiled from New Spain by his replacement. Cortes returned to Spain to answer the charges against him in 1528. He was received by Charles V, rewarded for his success with a title, Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, but stripped of his authority of governor.

Cortes returned to Mexico in 1530 and disputed his right to explore northern Mexico with the new governors and administrators of the colony. He set out in 1536 and reached Baja California and the Pacific coast of Mexico. Returning to Spain in 1541, he joined an expedition against the Barbary pirates of North Africa, then found himself back in Spain with heavy debts and disregarded by the Spanish court. Unable to make his case in the Spanish court, he felt himself the victim of injustice and neglect. Without prospects in Spain, he decided to return to the colony he had conquered, but came down with dysentery and died in Seville before his ship set sail.

See Also: Columbus, Christopher; exploration