Biography of Hernán Cortés, Ruthless Conquistador

Hernà ¡n Cortà ©s (1485–December 2, 1547) was a Spanish conquistador responsible for the audacious, brutal conquest of the Aztec Empire in Central Mexico in 1519. With a force of 600 Spanish soldiers, he was able to conquer a vast empire with tens of thousands of warriors. He did it through a combination of ruthlessness, guile, violence, and luck. Fast Facts: Hernà ¡n Cortà ©s Known For: Brutal conqueror of the Aztec EmpireBorn: 1485 in Medellà ­n, Castile  (Spain)Parents: Martà ­n Cortà ©s de Monroy, Doà ±a Catalina Pizarro AltamarinoDied: Dec. 2, 1547 in Castilleja de la Cuesta, near Sevilla (Spain)Spouses: Catalina Suà ¡rez Marcaida, Juana Ramà ­rez de Arellano de Zà ºÃƒ ±igaChildren: 2nd Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, Catalina Cortà ©s De Zà ºÃƒ ±iga, Catalina Pizarro, Juana Cortà ©s De Zà ºÃƒ ±iga, Leonor Cortà ©s Moctezuma, Luis Cortà ©s, Luis Cortà ©s y Ramà ­rez de Arellano, Marà ­a Cortà ©s de Moctezuma, Marà ­a Cortà ©s de Zà ºÃƒ ±iga, Martà ­n Cortà ©sNotable Quote: I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart which can be cured only with gold. Early Life Hernà ¡n Cortà ©s, like many who eventually became conquistadores in the Americas, was born in Medellà ­n, in the Castilian province of Extremadura, the son of  Martà ­n Cortà ©s de Monroy and Doà ±a Catalina Pizarro Altamarino. He came from a respected military family but was a sickly child. He went to the University of Salamanca to study law but soon dropped out. By this time, tales of the wonders of the New World were spreading across Spain, appealing to teens such as Cortà ©s. He decided to head to Hispaniola, an island in the West Indies, to seek his fortune. Hispaniola Cortà ©s was well educated and had family connections, so when he arrived in Hispaniola in 1503, he soon found work as a notary and was given a plot of land and a number of natives to work it. His health improved and he trained as a soldier, taking part in the subjugation of the parts of Hispaniola that had held out against the Spanish. He became known as a good leader, an intelligent administrator, and a ruthless fighter. These traits encouraged Diego Velà ¡zquez, a colonial administrator and conquistador, to select him for his expedition to Cuba. Cuba Velà ¡zquez was assigned the subjugation of the island of Cuba. He set out with three ships and 300 men, including young Cortà ©s, a clerk assigned to the treasurer of the expedition. Also along on the expedition was Bartolomà © de Las Casas, who would eventually describe the horrors of the conquest and denounce the conquistadores. The conquest of Cuba was marked by a number of unspeakable abuses, including massacres and the burning alive of native chief Hatuey. Cortà ©s distinguished himself as a soldier and administrator and was made mayor of the new city of Santiago. His influence grew. Tenochtitlà ¡n Cortà ©s watched in 1517 and 1518 as two expeditions to conquer the mainland ended in failure. In 1519, it was Cortà ©s’ turn. With 600 men, he began one of the most audacious feats in history: conquest of the Aztec Empire, which at that time had tens if not hundreds of thousands of warriors. After landing with his men, he made his way to Tenochtitlà ¡n, the  capital of the empire. Along the way, he defeated Aztec vassal states, adding their strength to his. He reached Tenochtitlà ¡n in 1519 and occupied it without a fight. When Velà ¡zquez, now governor of Cuba, sent an expedition under Pà ¡nfilo de Narvà ¡ez to rein in Cortà ©s, Cortes defeated Narvà ¡ez, adding Narvà ¡ezs men to his forces. After the battle, Cortà ©s returned to Tenochtitlà ¡n with his reinforcements but found chaos. In his absence, one of his lieutenants,  Pedro de Alvarado, had ordered a massacre of Aztec nobility. Aztec Emperor Montezuma was  killed by his own people  while trying to placate the crowd, and an angry mob chased the Spanish from the city in what became known as the Noche Triste, or â€Å"Night of Sorrows.† Cortà ©s regrouped, retook the city, and by 1521 was in charge of Tenochtitlà ¡n again. Good Luck Cortà ©s could never have pulled off the defeat of the  Aztec Empire  without good luck. First, he found Gerà ³nimo de Aguilar, a Spanish priest who had been shipwrecked on the mainland several years before and could speak the Maya language. Between Aguilar and Malinche, a female slave who could speak Maya and Nahuatl, Cortà ©s was able to communicate during his conquest. Cortà ©s also had amazing luck in terms of the Aztec vassal states. They nominally owed allegiance to the Aztecs, but in reality they hated them. Cortà ©s exploited this hatred. With thousands of native warriors as allies, he could meet the Aztecs with strength and secure a victory. He also benefited from the fact that Montezuma had been a weak leader, looking for divine signs before making any decisions. Cortà ©s believed that Montezuma thought the Spanish were emissaries from the god Quetzalcoatl, which may have caused him to wait before crushing them. Cortà ©s’ final stroke of luck was the timely arrival of reinforcements under the inept Narvà ¡ez. Velà ¡zquez had intended to weaken Cortà ©s and bring him back to Cuba, but after Narvà ¡ez was defeated he wound up providing Cortà ©s with men and supplies that he desperately needed. Governor From 1521 to 1528 Cortà ©s served as governor of New Spain, as Mexico became known. The crown sent administrators, and Cortà ©s oversaw the rebuilding of the city and expeditions to explore other parts of Mexico. Cortà ©s still had many enemies, however, and his repeated insubordination reduced his support from the crown. In 1528 he returned to Spain to plead his case for more power and received a mixed response. He was elevated to noble status and given the title of Marquis of the Oaxaca Valley, one of the richest territories in the New World. He was removed as governor, however, and would never again wield much power in the New World. Later Life and Death Cortà ©s never lost the spirit of adventure. He personally financed and led an expedition to explore Baja California in the late 1530s and fought with royal forces in Algiers in 1541. After that ended in a fiasco, he decided to return to Mexico but instead died of pleuritis on Dec. 2, 1547, in Castilleja de la Cuesta, near Sevilla, Spain, at the age of 62. Legacy In his bold but ghastly conquest of the Aztecs, Cortà ©s left a trail of bloodshed that other conquistadores would follow. Cortà ©s â€Å"blueprint†Ã¢â‚¬â€to pit native populations against one another and exploit traditional enmities—was followed by Francisco Pizarro in Peru, Pedro de Alvarado in Central America, and other conquerors of the Americas. Cortà ©s success in bringing down the mighty Aztec Empire quickly became legendary back in Spain. Most of his soldiers had been peasants or younger sons of minor nobility with little to look forward to in terms of wealth or prestige. After the conquest, his men were given land, native slaves, and gold. These rags-to-riches stories drew thousands of Spanish to the New World, each wishing to follow in Cortà ©s’ bloody footprints. In the short run, this was good for the Spanish crown because native populations were quickly subjugated by these  ruthless conquistadores. In the long run, it proved disastrous because instead of being farmers or tradesmen, these men were soldiers,  slavers,  and mercenaries who abhorred honest work. One of Cortà ©s’ legacies was the  encomienda  system that he instituted in Mexico, which â€Å"entrusted† a tract of land and a number of natives to a Spaniard, often a conquistador. The encomendero had certain rights and responsibilities. Basically, he agreed to provide religious education for the natives in exchange for labor, but it was little more than legalized slavery, which made the  recipients wealthy and powerful. The Spanish crown eventually regretted allowing the  system to take root, as it was difficult to abolish once reports of abuses began piling up. Modern Mexicans revile Cortà ©s. They identify as closely with their native past as with their European roots, and they see Cortà ©s as a monster and butcher. Equally reviled is Malinche, or Doà ±a Marina, Cortà ©s’ Nahua slave/consort. If not for her language skills and assistance, the conquest of the Aztec Empire would almost certainly have taken a different path. Sources Hernà ¡n Cortà ©s: Spanish Conquistador. Encyclopaedia Britannica.Hernà ¡n Cortà ©s. History.com.Hernà ¡n Cortà ©s  Biography. Thefamouspeople.com.