Hernán Cortés, the leader of the Spanish conquest of the Mexica state, was born in 1485 in Medellín, in the province of Extremadura, Spain. He came from a family of minor nobility, and he studied law at the University of Salamanca for a time before dropping out to seek his fortune in the Americas. Cortés arrived in the Americas in 1504, and he participated in the conquest of Cuba. In 1519, he led the expedition that would conquer the Mexica state, one of the most consequential events in the history of the Americas.
The Early Life of Cortés
Cortés was born in 1485 in Medellín, in the province of Extremadura, Spain. He came from a family of minor nobility, and his father was a captain of infantry who had served in the wars against the Moors. Cortés studied law at the University of Salamanca for a time, but he dropped out to seek his fortune in the Americas. He was an ambitious and intelligent young man, and he was determined to make his mark in the New World.
Cortés arrived in the Americas in 1504, and he settled in the colony of Hispaniola, where he served as a notary and a farmer. He proved to be a capable administrator, and he was given a position in the colonial government. In 1511, he participated in the conquest of Cuba, and he was given a large estate and a position in the colonial government of Diego Velázquez.
The Preparation for the Conquest
Cortés heard of the wealth of the Mexica state from various sources, and he was determined to lead an expedition to the mainland. He organized an expedition in 1518, and he was appointed as its commander by Diego Velázquez, the governor of Cuba. The expedition was supposed to be a trading mission, but Cortés had other plans. He was determined to conquer the Mexica state and to claim the wealth of the empire for himself.
Cortés spent the months before the expedition preparing the ships, gathering the supplies, and recruiting the men. He recruited about 600 men, including soldiers, sailors, and a small number of horses and cannons. He also recruited a number of interpreters, including Jerónimo de Aguilar, a Spanish sailor who had been shipwrecked on the coast of Yucatán and who had learned the Maya language, and La Malinche, a Nahua woman who had been given to the Spanish as a slave and who served as an interpreter and an advisor.
The Departure from Cuba
Cortés set sail from Cuba in February 1519 with eleven ships, about 600 men, 16 horses, and a small number of cannons. He landed on the coast of Mexico near modern Veracruz in April 1519, and he founded a settlement, which he called Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. He then began his march to Tenochtitlan, which would culminate in one of the most consequential events in the history of the Americas.
The expedition was opposed by Diego Velázquez, the governor of Cuba, who had come to regret his decision to appoint Cortés as the commander. Velázquez sent a force to arrest Cortés, but Cortés was able to evade the force and to continue his march. Cortés was determined to complete the conquest, and he was willing to defy the governor of Cuba to do so.
The Character of Cortés
Cortés was a complex figure, and he has been the subject of much historical debate. He was an ambitious and intelligent man, and he was a brilliant military leader. He was also a ruthless conqueror, and he was responsible for the deaths of countless indigenous people. Cortés has been both praised and condemned by historians, and the debate over his character and his actions continues to this day.
Cortés was also a skilled writer, and he left behind a series of letters to Charles V that provide a first-person account of the conquest. The letters are biased by the perspective of the conqueror, but they are also an important source for the early history of the colonial period. The letters have been widely read and analyzed, and they remain a central source for the study of the conquest.
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