quickly set sail from Cuba on February 18, 1519, with 550 Spaniards, several Cuban Indians and black slaves, a few small cannons, sixteen horses, several mastiff dogs, and eleven small ships.

Cortés’ two-year assault on the heavily populated Aztec Empire, against almost insurmountable odds, was one of the most formidable challenges of the age of exploration and conquest. Driven by the traits shared by all reconquista Hidalgos—religious zeal, dedication to the Crown, and a healthy lust for glory and gold—Cortés, both in his personal correspondence and in his riveting speeches to his men, evinced a single-minded obsession: to conquer the Aztecs or die trying. Chroniclers describe the conquistador as a man of average height, pale complexion, and a muscular frame. The standard that he carried into battle was particularly appropriate; fashioned of black velvet, embroidered with gold, with a red cross laced with blue-and-white flames, its motto was emblazoned in Latin: “Friends, let us follow the Cross; and under this sign, if we have faith, we shall conquer.” From the moment the expedition landed off the coast of Yucatán until the final assault on the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in 1521, Cortés stayed true to that motto and never considered retreating or compromising.

Although the enemy enjoyed an overwhelming numerical superiority—the population of Tenochtitlán has been estimated at eighty thousand in 1519—Cortés was able to take advantage of a number of favorable factors. First, Cortés shrewdly perceived that many of the Indian subject provinces chafed under and bitterly resented Aztec rule. The Spanish invasion signified—to Indians such as the Tlaxcalans and later the Tarascans—a fortuitous opportunity to ally themselves with the foreign invaders, to overturn onerous Aztec tribute and to regain their independence. These subject populations not only provided Cortés with literally thousands of warriors but also complicated matters politically for the Aztec emperor Montezuma II. The emperor, who was coronated in 1503, had squelched serious rebellions throughout his reign. Yet, after more than a century of Aztec imperial rule, subject provinces who had provided commodity tribute and human sacrifice victims to the Aztecs on an unprecedented scale saw hope in an alliance with the Spaniards.

Cortés also benefited from the Aztecs’ fatalistic religious vision. The Aztecs believed that the world had been destroyed and reborn by the gods on four separate occasions. Every fifty-two years, the cycle of destruction was at risk and the world might be destroyed. Cortés arrived in Mexico in the fateful fifty-second year (ce atl). Moreover, the Spanish at first were believed by the Indians to be gods, or at least, messengers of the gods. Native myth told of a light-skinned, bearded god, Quetzalcóatl, who believed in love, compassion, and mercy, and who forbade human sacrifice, practiced oral confession, baptism, and ascetic denial. This god, according to myth, had left the Valley of Mexico centuries before, vowing one day to return to reclaim his kingdom. The Christianity espoused by the Europeans almost surreally approximated the Quetzalcóatl cult. Montezuma, a devout philosophical and religious thinker in his own right, at times appeared almost mesmerized by the religious implications of the Spanish expedition.

Cortés did little to discourage the natives’ religious uncertainties. The Spanish possessed the technological advantages of Spanish steel, muskets, crossbows, and armor. In addition, Cortés used psychological ploys to startle unsuspecting Aztec emissaries at propitious moments. From the deafening noise of the Spaniards’ small cannons to the judicious use of the horses and menacing dogs—two animals which the Indians had never seen before—Cortés created an aura of invincibility around his troops that fortified his Indian allies, created indecision in the minds of the Aztec leadership, and bolstered the confidence of his soldiers.

Yet Cortés faced daunting odds. His expedition had lost its legal sanction from Velázquez, and he was perilously close to becoming an outlaw in the eyes of the Crown. Cortés, however, feigned ignorance of the revoked commission and founded a settlement on the coast of Mexico, La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (later Veracruz), claiming all the lands that he conquered for the King of Spain, Charles V. He shrewdly dispatched a ship to Spain with a letter to the king professing his loyalty to the Crown. Still, Cortés faced serious problems from Velázquez supporters in his midst.

Time and again on his climb up to Tenochtitlán, the Spanish commander demonstrated his uncanny ability to act decisively before the Aztecs and their allies could react. For example, at Cholula, the last major city on Cortés’ route to the Aztec capital, the Spanish learned that they were about to be ambushed by an Aztec army. Cortés ordered a preemptive strike and massacred more than six thousand Indian warriors. (An Indian version of the conquest denies the ambush and characterizes Cortés’ massacre as premeditated.) From that point on no serious attempts were made by the Aztecs to stop Cortés’ advance on Tenochtitlán.

Another bold move was the decision to put Montezuma under house arrest while the Spanish stayed in the capital. As “guests” of the emperor Cortés and his troops could ensure that Montezuma was not organizing an uprising. The decision to rule through the emperor bought the Spanish valuable time.

When the Aztecs revolted on July 1, 1520 (called la noche triste—the sad night—by the Spanish), Cortés was forced to abandon Tenochtitlán. Bernal Díaz relates that 860 Spaniards died during the battle. Despite this overwhelming defeat, Cortés rallied his armed forces, convinced more than 100,000 native allies to join his cause, and launched a tactically brilliant land and naval invasion of Tenochtitlán less than a year later. Cortés’ devotion to this cause was too much for the Indians, who by this time had been decimated by smallpox infection and were dying by the thousands in Tenochtitlán. On August 13, 1521, after fierce hand-to-hand combat in the capital, the last Aztec emperor, Cuauhtémoc, surrendered.

Cortés proved to be an able administrator of the colony, which he renamed New Spain. Charles V, facing troubles from nobles in Spain, was understandably reluctant to let conquistadors such as Cortés become too powerful. Royal officials replaced Cortés soon after the conquest, and Cortés returned to Spain to argue his case before the king. Although Cortés never became governor of New Spain, he was allowed to choose twenty-two towns of encomienda Indians (approximately twenty-three thousand Indians). Cortés chose the richest settlements in the colony. Moreover, he was named captain-general and awarded the title of Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca. While at the royal court, Cortés married the daughter of a count, further ingratiating himself with the Spanish aristocracy. He returned to New Spain in 1530 and lived there for ten years, where he introduced new European crops and products, looked for silver and gold mines, and encouraged exploration. Cortés’ wealth and status made him a target of crown officials who distrusted his independent demeanor and feared his political contacts with the nobility in Spain. His last few years were spent in frustration in Spain. In 1547, he fell ill and died at his estate, Castilleja de la Cuesta, just outside Seville. According to his wishes his bones were moved to Mexico in 1556.

Summary

More than any other conquistador, Hernán Cortés embodied the characteristics of the group of fearless men who, imbued with the heady ideals of the reconquista, forged a massive Spanish Empire in the New World. Committed to service to the Crown, convinced that their cause was noble and just, comforted by the belief that they brought Christianity and civilization to barbarian peoples, and clearly motivated by material gain and glory, Cortés and his fellow conquistadors, at times ruthlessly and at times diplomatically, conquered the numerically superior Indians during the early sixteenth century. Unlike other conquistadors, however, Cortés had a strong commitment to the religious conversion of the natives. Moreover, he demonstrated himself to be an able and fair administrator in the first years after the conquest; again, a trait not shared by many conquerors. Although Cortés was denied the political post that he thought he deserved, he became one of the wealthiest men in the empire.

Interestingly, Cortés is today viewed unsympathetically in the land that he conquered. Ever since the Mexican Revolution (1911-1920), the pre-Columbian accomplishments of the Aztec, Maya, and Teotihuacán Indians have been lionized, while the “civilizing” efforts of Cortés and the Spanish have been lambasted by Mexican intellectuals. This view represents a complete turnabout for the historical legacy of the conquistadors, since prior to the revolution Spanish virtues were lauded while their defects were minimized. A black legend has been appropriated for Cortés as a symbol of all rapacious Spaniards. Postrevolutionary histories emphasize his ruthlessness, his defilement of Indian women, culture, and customs, and his single-minded obsession with the destruction of the Aztec Empire. Perhaps in the future a more balanced interpretation will prevail.

Bibliography

Cortés, Hernán. Letters from Mexico. Edited and translated by A. R. Pagden, with an introduction by J. H. Elliott. New York: Grossman, 1971. Self-serving letters written in the heat of battle by the conquistador, which detail conditions in Mexico during the conquest and give insight into the character of Cortés.

Díaz del Castillo, Bernal. The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, 1517-1521. Translated by Alfred Percival Maudslay, with an introduction by Irving Leonard. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1966. A classic, riveting, first-person narrative of the conquest recollected by Díaz in his old age. Although Díaz believed that he was never given his just due—he was rewarded with a paltry encomienda in the hostile backlands of Guatemala—his account is relatively balanced. His descriptions of the Spanish entry to Tenochtitlán and the great Aztec market at Tlateloco are stunning.

León-Portilla, Miguel, ed. The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico. Translated by Lysander Kemp. Boston: Beacon Press, 1962. A compilation of Aztec and early missionary sources that offers a much-needed corrective to the Spanish versions of the conquest. Although these sympathetic “native” sources are as biased as the Spanish accounts they reject, this is an evocative portrayal of the Indian defeat. Some of the Aztec poetry included is powerful and moving and gives readers a sense of the psychological loss felt by the natives.

Padden, R. C. The Hummingbird and the Hawk: Conquest and Sovereignty in the Valley of Mexico, 1503-1541. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1967. A provocative account of the conquest that emphasizes Cortés’ religious zeal and the fundamental importance of human sacrifice to the Aztec faith. Nowhere else in the literature are Cortés’ religious motivations portrayed so prominently. Good bibliography of the secondary literature included.

Prescott, William H. History of the Conquest of Mexico. New York: Bantam Books, 1964. A standard mid-nineteenth century, secondary narrative of the conquest which relies heavily on Spanish chroniclers. Extraordinarily detailed account of the background, motivations, and battles of the conquest.

White, Jon M. Cortés and the Downfall of the Aztec Empire: A Study in a Conflict of Cultures. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1971. A psychological and analytical portrait of Cortés and Montezuma that places both leaders in their religious and cultural milieu.

Article abstract: Military significance: Between 1519 and 1521, Cortés and his army of Spaniards and Tlaxcalan allies conquered the Aztec Empire, laying the foundation for Spanish control over and colonization of Mexico.

The son of a minor Spanish noble family, Hernán Cortés sailed to the Spanish Caribbean in 1504. Soon thereafter he received an encomienda (grant of Indian tribute) and became secretary to Diego de Velásquez, governor of Cuba, who appointed Cortés to mount a trading expedition to the Yucatán peninsula. At the last moment, Velásquez tried to withdraw Cortés’s command, but Cortés defiantly sailed anyway in February, 1519, with eleven small ships and more than five hundred men.

Near present-day Veracruz, Cortés learned of the Aztec Empire and its ruler Montezuma. He founded Veracruz, burned his ships to prevent retreat, and then marched toward Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital. Montezuma made little effort to block the Spanish march, perhaps believing Cortés was Quetzalcóatl or an emissary of that ancient Mexican deity. Montezuma probably thought the Spaniards would be destroyed by the Tlaxcalans, bitter Aztec enemies whose realm lay between Cortés and Tenochtitlán.

The Spaniards reached Tlaxcala in September, 1519. Bitter fighting ensued. Indigenous obsidian-bladed swords and dart throwers proved no match for Spanish steel, cannons, and horses. Though the Tlaxcalans, given their overwhelming numbers, might have prevailed in a desperate war of attrition, the Tlaxcalan king made peace with Cortés and became his ally, hoping to gain advantage over the Aztecs.

Montezuma tried to dissuade Cortés from continuing to Tenochtitlán, but the Spaniard remained determined. At Cholula in late 1519, Cortés suspected an ambush and struck first, producing a great massacre. From there he proceeded into the Valley of Mexico, where Montezuma offered the Spaniards the hospitality of Tenochtitlán. Connected by causeways with the shore, Tenochtitlán lay out in Lake Texcoco. Once in the city, Cortés took his host prisoner. Although Montezuma cooperated, more warlike elements in the Aztec leadership advocated war against the Spaniards.

Meanwhile, a force led by Pánfilo de Narváez arrived at the coast, sent by Velásquez to arrest Cortés. Cortés divided his force, leaving part of it in Tenochtitlán and taking the rest to deal with Narváez. Through ambush and subornation, he defeated Narváez, whose men joined Cortés. Returning to Tenochtitlán, Cortés learned that the Aztecs had cut off water and food supplies to the Spaniards, who were now under siege. Montezuma died under controversial circumstances. With his position untenable, Cortés led his 1,000 Spaniards and 6,000 Tlaxcalan allies in a desperate escape during the early morning of July 1, 1520 (La Noche Triste). Attacked on the causeways by tens of thousands of Aztecs, Cortés lost half his Spaniards and two-thirds of the Tlaxcalans. When the Aztecs did not follow up their victory, Cortés and his battered army escaped back to Tlaxcala.

Resupplied and reinforced, Cortés returned to Tenochtitlán in the spring of 1521, where a devastating smallpox epidemic had ravaged the Aztec population after the Spaniards’ retreat. Cortés built thirteen small sailing vessels on Lake Texcoco to protect the Spaniards’ flanks from Aztec canoes during the fighting on the causeways. Spaniards and Tlaxcalans undertook the Siege of Tenochtitlán from May to August, destroying much of the city before the Aztecs surrendered.

Charles V made Cortés governor of New Spain and marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca. Cortés led an expedition into Honduras (1524-1526), and Mexico fell into political turmoil during his absence. The king stripped him of his governorship, but Cortés remained wealthy and powerful, the envy of all Spanish conquistadores. He died in Spain while defending the rights he believed his victories had earned him.

Further Reading:

Cortés, Hernán. Letters from Mexico. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1987.

Díaz del Castillo, Bernal. The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico, 1517-1521. New York: Da Capo Press, 1996.

Hassig, Ross. Mexico and the Spanish Conquest. New York: Longman, 1994.

Johnson, William Weber. Cortés. Boston: Little, Brown, 1975.

López de Gómara, Francisco. Cortés: The Life of the Conqueror by His Secretary. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964.