Hernán Cortés: The Spanish Conquistador Who Toppled the Aztec Empire

Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) — the Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that conquered the Aztec Empire (1519–1521), claiming Mexico for Spain.

The Campaign

1. 1519: Lands at Veracruz (500 men, 16 horses, 14 cannon); burns ships — no retreat
2. Alliances: Recruits 100K+ Tlaxcalans, Totonacs, others — enemies of Aztecs
3. Tenochtitlan entry: Welcomed by Moctezuma II (Nov 1519); stays as "guest"
4. La Noche Triste (1520): Aztecs revolt; Cortés flees, loses ~60% forces
5. Siege of Tenochtitlan (1521): 93-day blockade; brigantines on lake; smallpox devastates defenders
6. Aug 13, 1521: Cuauhtémoc surrenders; city razed; Mexico City built atop ruins

Why He Succeeded

• Indigenous allies: Aztecs were hated overlords — Cortés exploited this
• Technology: Steel, gunpowder, horses, crossbows — psychological + tactical shock
• Disease: Smallpox (1520) killed ~40% of Valley of Mexico — including Cuitláhuac
• Leadership: Audacious, adaptable, ruthless — "first modern adventurer"

Aftermath

• Governor of New Spain (1522–1524) — but sidelined by royal bureaucracy
• Later expeditions: Honduras (1524–1526), Baja California (1535)
• Death: 1547, Seville — embittered, litigious, denied full rewards

Legacy

Cortés = archetype of conquistador. His letters (Cartas de Relación) are primary sources. Controversial: genocidal by modern view; heroic by 16th-c. Spanish view. The Aztec fall reshaped the Americas — and Cortés was the blade.