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| Hernando Cortés (conquistador) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hernando Cortés |
| Birth date | 1485 |
| Birth place | Medellín, Spain |
| Death date | 1547 |
| Death place | Castilleja de la Cuesta, Spain |
| Nationality | Castile |
| Occupation | Conquistador, Governor |
| Known for | Conquest of the Aztec Empire |
Hernando Cortés (conquistador) was a Spanish Conquistador who led the expedition that resulted in the fall of the Aztec Empire and the establishment of Spanish rule in large parts of Mesoamerica. Cortés's career connected him with figures such as Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, Moctezuma II, La Malinche, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, and monarchs including Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon. His actions reshaped relationships among Spain, Tlaxcala, Nahua peoples, Maya polities, and other Indigenous states.
Cortés was born in Medellín, Spain into a lesser noble family related to the House of Trastámara and received schooling in Salamanca where he studied law at the University of Salamanca alongside legal scholars linked to the Reconquista legacy and the Catholic Monarchs. Influenced by contemporaries from Extremadura and networks tied to Seville merchants, Cortés left for the Kingdom of Castile's overseas ventures amid voyages by figures such as Christopher Columbus and administrators like Pedro Arias Dávila.
In 1504 Cortés sailed to the Americas and settled in Santo Domingo before joining Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar's colonization of Cuba where he received an encomienda and municipal posts in Oriente Province. His early Caribbean service intersected with expeditions by Juan Ponce de León, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, and Bernal Díaz del Castillo, and with colonial institutions like the Audiencia of Santo Domingo and the Council of the Indies. Cortés participated in local governance in Santiago de Cuba and developed ties to merchants in Seville and military veterans from Castile.
Authorized controversially by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, Cortés departed Santiago de Cuba in 1519 with ships and men, forging alliances with Indigenous polities such as Tlaxcala, Texcoco, Tenochtitlan's subject cities, and influential translators including La Malinche (also called Malintzin or Doña Marina). Arriving on the Gulf of Mexico, Cortés engaged in battles including the Battle of Centla and negotiated with rulers like Moctezuma II and later confronted Cuitláhuac and Cuauhtémoc. Cortés's strategy combined sieges of Tenochtitlan, coalition-building with the Tlaxcalans and Texcocans, exploitation of rivalries involving the Triple Alliance, use of cavalry and artillery introduced from Spain, and the impact of disease such as smallpox introduced earlier via contacts connected to voyages by Pánfilo de Narváez and other expeditionary leaders. Chroniclers including Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Hernán Cortés's letters to Charles V (the Cartas de Relación), and Francisco López de Gómara narrate campaigns culminating in the 1521 fall of Tenochtitlan and the capture of Cuauhtémoc.
After 1521 Cortés established the capital of New Spain at Mexico City atop the ruins of Tenochtitlan, redistributed encomienda grants, and negotiated with institutions like the Casa de Contratación and the Council of the Indies. He sought legitimacy from Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and clashed with colonial officials including the Audiencia of Mexico and rivals such as Pedro de Alvarado and Cristóbal de Olid. Cortés's interactions with Indigenous elites involved alliances with the Tlaxcalans and campaigns against resistant polities like the Maya city-states of Tulum and Soconusco, and punitive raids in regions including Tabasco and Honduras. His policies combined urban reconstruction, resource extraction via encomienda systems, evangelization efforts involving Franciscans and Dominicans, and legal disputes over Indigenous rights addressed at the Council of the Indies and in litigation invoking precedents like the Laws of Burgos.
Cortés made several journeys to Spain to justify his conduct before Charles V and legal authorities including the Council of the Indies and the royal court in Valladolid, facing lawsuits and challenges by figures such as Alonso de Estrada and Gonzalo de Salazar. Accused by colonial rivals and subject to royal inspections, he defended his claims in documents known as the Cartas de Relación, and endured the 1527 voyage to the Mediterranean where he sought titles like Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca granted by Charles V. Later Cortés led expeditions to the Pacific coast and to Honduras and engaged in failed ventures to Las Hibueras and the Pacific Northwest rumors, intersecting with explorers such as Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón and administrators like Nicuesa. Legal disputes culminated in partial restitution of titles but diminished autonomous authority in New Spain.
Cortés married Catalina Suárez Marcaida and had notable relationships including with La Malinche and marriages linking him to colonial families such as the Marquise of the Valley of Oaxaca. His wealth derived from encomiendas, tributes in provinces like Veracruz, Puebla de los Ángeles, and exploitative resource extraction tied to mining in regions connected to Guatemala and Oaxaca. Cortés's descendants included Martín Cortés, 2nd Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca and were involved in later colonial politics and conspiracies. Monuments to Cortés have appeared in Mexico City and Medellín, while his estate and titles were subjects of royal commissions and colonial redistribution.
Cortés has been depicted variously by chroniclers and historians including Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Francisco López de Gómara, Herman Cortés biographies and modern scholars such as Eduardo de la Fuente, Matthew Restall, Inga Clendinnen, Hugh Thomas, Carlos Fuentes, and Tzvetan Todorov. Cultural representations appear in works like The Broken Spears, La visión de los vencidos, The Conquest of New Spain, visual art by Diego Rivera, Miguel Covarrubias, and cinematic portrayals in films depicting encounters with Moctezuma II, La Malinche, and the fall of Tenochtitlan. Debates in historiography address agency of Indigenous actors such as the Tlaxcalans, the role of disease like smallpox and measles during colonization, and legal frameworks including the Laws of the Indies and later reforms by Philip II of Spain.