[3], Cortés was born in 1485 in the town of Medellín, then a village in the Kingdom of Castile, now a municipality of the modern-day province of Badajoz in Extremadura, Spain. She was “La Malinche” also known as Dona Marina. In México there are few representations of Cortés. In 1536, Cortés explored the northwestern part of Mexico and discovered the Baja California Peninsula. [46]:468, Cortés is commemorated in the scientific name of a subspecies of Mexican lizard, Phrynosoma orbiculare cortezii.[48]. [15]:199–200, By the time he arrived in Tenochtitlán the Spaniards had a large army. Cortés initiated the construction of Mexico City, destroying Aztec temples and buildings and then rebuilding on the Aztec ruins what soon became the most important European city in the Americas. First, he made public a copy of the bust of Cortés made by Manuel Tolsá in the Hospital de Jesús Nazareno with an official ceremony, but soon a nationalist group tried to destroy it, so it had to be taken out of the public. [13] Cortés left 200 men in Tenochtitlán and took the rest to confront Narváez. The influence of Garay was effectively stopped by this appeal to the King who sent out a decree forbidding Garay to interfere in the politics of New Spain, causing him to give up without a fight. Hernán Cortés (1485–December 2, 1547) was a Spanish conquistador responsible for the audacious, brutal conquest of the Aztec Empire in Central Mexico in 1519. In this letter Cortés, besides recalling in a rather abrupt manner that the conquest of Mexico was due to him alone, deliberately acknowledges his disobedience in terms which could not fail to create a most unfavourable impression. He sided with local natives in a lawsuit. Cortés was twice appointed municipal magistrate (alcalde) of Santiago. [15]:143–55, 171, In October 1519, Cortés and his men, accompanied by about 1,000 Tlaxcalteca,[15]:188 marched to Cholula, the second largest city in central Mexico. [18] But quickly Cortés learned that several Spaniards on the coast had been killed by Aztecs while supporting the Totonacs, and decided to take Moctezuma as a hostage in his own palace, indirectly ruling Tenochtitlán through him. However, there may be more to the picture than this. See "Letters and Dispatches of Cortés", translated by George Folsom (New York, 1843); Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico" (Boston, 1843); and Sir Arthur Helps's "Life of Hernando Cortes" (London, 1871).[43]. First, he made public a copy of the bust of Cortés made by Manuel Tolsá in the Hospital de Jesús Nazareno with an official ceremony, but soon a nationalist group tried to destroy it, so it had to be taken out of the public. [16] Moctezuma repeatedly turned down the meeting, but Cortés was determined. At the time of Cortes’ arrival in the New World, Cholula had been Mexico’s second largest city with approximately 100,000 residents. [50] Today the copy of the bust is in the "Hospital de Jesús Nazareno" [51] while the original is in Naples, Italy, in the Villa Pignatelli. From 1521 to 1528 Cortés served as governor of New Spain, as Mexico became known. [15]:89, In July 1519, his men took over Veracruz. Why did Hernan Cortes explore? In 1526, he built an imposing residence for himself, the Palace of Cortés in Cuernavaca, in a region close to the capital where he had extensive encomienda holdings. He overcame Narváez, despite his numerical inferiority, and convinced the rest of Narváez's men to join him. There are relatively few sources to the early life of Cortés; his fame arose from his participation in the conquest of Mexico and it was only after this that people became interested in reading and writing about him. In 1629, Don Pedro Cortés fourth "Marquez del Valle, his last male descendant, died, so the viceroy decided to move the bones of Cortés along with those of his descendant to the Franciscan church in México. First, he found Gerónimo de Aguilar, a Spanish priest who had been shipwrecked on the mainland several years before and could speak the Maya language. In 1504, Cortés left Spain to seek his fortune in New World. Since the conversion to Christianity of indigenous peoples was an essential and integral part of the extension of Spanish power, making formal provisions for that conversion once the military conquest was completed was an important task for Cortés. [1] Cortés wrote letters directly to the king asking to be acknowledged for his successes instead of being punished for mutiny. [30] Cortés's legitimate daughters were Doña Maria, Doña Catalina, and Doña Juana.[31]. Robert Moorman. (His maternal grandmother, Leonor Sánchez Pizarro Altamirano, was first cousin of Pizarro's father Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodriguez. Cortés's own sense of accomplishment, entitlement, and vanity may have played a part in his deteriorating position with the king: Cortés personally was not ungenerously rewarded, but he speedily complained of insufficient compensation to himself and his comrades. After the battle, Cortés returned to Tenochtitlán with his reinforcements but found chaos. [13] With the assistance of their allies, Cortés's men finally prevailed with reinforcements arriving from Cuba. Cortés was temporarily distracted by one of Catalina's sisters but finally married Catalina, reluctantly, under pressure from Governor Velázquez. In 1519, Hernando Cortes (1485-1547) set out from Cuba with a force of 600 men. It was one of the largest cities in the world at that time. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, Biography of Pedro de Alvarado, Conquistador, 10 Notable Spanish Conquistadors Throughout History, Biography of Diego Velazquez de Cuellar, Conquistador, Biography of Malinche, Enslaved Woman and Interpreter to Hernán Cortés, The Founding of Tenochtitlan and the Origin of the Aztecs, Important Events in the Conquest of the Aztec Empire, 8 Important Figures in the Conquest of the Aztec Empire, Armor and Weapons of the Spanish Conquistadors. [1][21], In January 1521, Cortés countered a conspiracy against him, headed by Antonio de Villafana, who was hanged for the offense. After his exploration of Baja California, Cortés returned to Spain in 1541, hoping to confound his angry civilians, who had brought many lawsuits against him (for debts, abuse of power, etc.). [8], Cortés reached Hispaniola in a ship commanded by Alonso Quintero, who tried to deceive his superiors and reach the New World before them in order to secure personal advantages. "[40] Governor Diego Velázquez continued to be a thorn in his side, teaming up with Bishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca, chief of the Spanish colonial department, to undermine him in the Council of the Indies. His bones were put in the charge of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH). Velázquez was appointed Governor of New Spain. From 1521 to 1524, Cortés personally governed Mexico.[13]. [13] Finally, with the capture of Cuauhtémoc, the tlatoani (ruler) of Tenochtitlán, on August 13, 1521, the Aztec Empire was captured, and Cortés was able to claim it for Spain, thus renaming the city Mexico City. [clarification needed], It was not until November 24, 1946 that they were rediscovered,[46]:467 thanks to the discovery of a secret document by Lucas Alamán. The proclamation of the king says in part: We, respecting the many labors, dangers, and adventures which you underwent as stated above, and so that there might remain a perpetual memorial of you and your services and that you and your descendants might be more fully honored ... it is our will that besides your coat of arms of your lineage, which you have, you may have and bear as your coat of arms, known and recognized, a shield ...[25]:43, The grant specifies the iconography of the coat of arms, the central portion divided into quadrants. Mendicant friars did not usually have full priestly powers to perform all the sacraments needed for conversion of the Indians and growth of the neophytes in the Christian faith, so Cortés laid out a solution to this to the king. First he went to the … And as to those who murmur against the Marqués del Valle [Cortés], God rest him, and who try to blacken and obscure his deeds, I believe that before God their deeds are not as acceptable as those of the Marqués. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Cortés acquired several silver mines in Zumpango del Rio in 1534. [30] Cortés's legitimate daughters were Doña Maria, Doña Catalina, and Doña Juana.[31]. Elliot, introductory essay to Anthony Pagdens translation of Cortés' letters "Hernan Cortés" letters from Mexico" 2001 (1971, 1986) Yale University NotaBene books, CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (. "The lost first letter of Cortés. His beard was black and sparce, as was his hair, which at the time he sported in the same way as his beard. This new position of power also made him the new source of leadership, which opposing forces in the colony could then turn to. This was another setback for Cortés who mentioned this in his fourth letter to the King in which he describes himself as the victim of a conspiracy by his archenemies Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, Diego Columbus and Bishop Fonseca as well as Francisco Garay.