life of Cortes during his conquest of Aztec
With the adventures across the world that Columbus undertook, he brought with him gold, slaves and most important stories of faraway places about different cultures. This helped him in funding his journeys from the Spanish King. Among the men in Columbus expeditions were people from Medellín. The story of discoveries, cultures and the expeditions spread out in Medellín and must have fed the imagination of a young boy named Hernan Cortes. At 19 years Cortes left home, determined to follow the riches of the New World. He sailed to Hispaniola, present-day Haiti, Cuba, Honduras, Yucatan-the present-day Mexico, Trinidad and many more seeking gold and money. Aztec shows the military power of the Spanish against native New world and the end of civilization as the natives knew it. This biography looks at the life of Cortes during his conquest of Aztec.
Background
After settling in Vera Cruz, Cortes set his sight to capture the Aztec Kingdom. From Vera Cruz, it was about 250 miles to the Aztec kingdom, and with the fact that no Spaniard had ever set foot in Aztec, the territory was unknown.[1] The journey was through mountains, deserts and forests and many Cubans who had accompanied Cortes crew died since they were not accustomed to extreme weather. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Cortes was lucky to have a friendly reception in some villages and unlucky when he met hostility. When he reached Xocotlan, which they named Castilblanco, they were welcomed under instruction from the Montezuma, who had told all the people under him not to harm the Cortes crew. Cortes and his followers were given stories of a city with abundant supplies of gold and silver with an army guarding the city which was built on water.1 This inspired Cortes crew to get their hands on such fortune. The Tlaxcalan, being enemies of the Montezuma had learned that Cortes had come to establish friendly relations with their enemy and thus gave Cortes resistance, fighting him. Cortes and his men fought the Tlaxcalans on several occasions and each occasion, Cortes side won, making the Tlaxcalan question about the Spaniards and if they had relations with the gods as the rumours claimed.[2]
Cortes defeat of Aztec
The defeat of Tlaxcalans made Cortes become a fearful force, and Montezuma started sending messengers with gifts several times to Cortes, with the message that Montezuma would agree to be under Spanish rule, paying annual fees to the King. This made Cortes powerful and feared. With the knowledge that Cortes was not here to establish friendly relations with Montezuma, the Tlaxcalans befriended Cortes, and this relationship offered Cortes not only more men but information about Aztec: the number of armies, the number of draw bridges and their methods of war. This was in September of 1519.
Cortes is remembered for his massacre of the Cholula. Being under Montezuma, the Cholula had a deep hatred for the Tlaxcalans, and their relations with Cortes made the Montezuma afraid of a revolt. This made him invite Cortes to the Cholula territory and with Tlaxcalans following Cortes, the Cholula housed Cortes for some days, plotting to kill him and his army. Upon knowing the plot, Cortes and his Spaniard army invited the Tlaxcalans to the Cholula territory, which they had been barred and massacred around 5,000 people, most of them unarmed.
In November of 1519, Cortes reached Tenochtitlan under the invitation of Montezuma, who had come to be fearful of Cortes after his defeat of Tlaxcalan and the Cholula massacre. Cortes were amazed by the Tenochtitlan; the territory was beyond their imagination.[3] They were hosted for a week, being given a tour of the city, which was the largest in the world then.
The battle for Aztec began in Vera Cruz, the fortress that Cortes had left. In November 1519, one of Montezuma’s governor had killed the captain that Cortes had left behind after the Indians started paying tribute to the Spaniard king instead of Montezuma. This gave Cortes a reason to Montezuma and the city. In November 14th Cortes arranged a meeting with Montezuma at his palace and it is here that, surprisingly, Montezuma agreed to be taken, hostage.
In the spring of 1520, Cortes was faced by rebellion from the Cuban governor whom Cortes had turned his back against before. Cortes, instead of fighting them, bribed them with gold and silver from Aztec and scuttled their ships.[4] While planning all this, Cortes had left Aztec in the hands of Pedro de Alvarado.
In his absence, Alvarado executed many Aztecs chiefs which angered many natives of Aztec. By the time of his return, in June 24th 1520, he found the city in revolt against Alvarado rule. His use of Montezuma failed, and days later, Montezuma died.[5] On June 30th, Cortes and his Spanish army fled Aztec and many died, mainly from drowning since they were carrying much gold.[6]
Cortes and his army were saved from total defeat and death by disease outbreaks such as smallpox and mumps which took lives of many of Aztecs.[7]The diseases reduced the number of Aztecs giving Cortes and his army relief. This also gave Cortes a chance to regroup and form allies with Aztecs native rivals, such as the Tlaxcalan.
Cortes and his army fought the Aztecs again and for 93 days they fought. The Cortes army went street by street, killing people, burning houses, destroying temples and looting anything they wanted. Finally, on August 13th, 1521, Cortes declared the city his territory.[8]
Conclusion
The defeat of Aztec and reign of Cortes marked the end of the civilization of the Aztec empire. Much of the region started falling under the Spanish empire. The tactics that Cortes and his men used in the fight against the Tlaxcan, the Chilola and Aztec gave them an advantage over the natives. Cortes marked the beginning of European rule in the New World.
[1] Heather Lehr Wagner, Hernán Cortés, (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2009), 64.
[2] Heather, Hernán Cortés, 70
[3] Heather, Hernán Cortés, 74
[4] Kristin Romey, “Exclusive: New clue surfaces in the underwater hunt for conquistador’s lost ships,” Accessed December 10th, 2019. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2018/12/exclusive-clue-underwater-hunt-conquistador-lost-ships-archaeology/.
[5] Bernat Hernández, “Guns, germs, and horses brought Cortés victory over the mighty Aztec empire,” Accessed December 10th, 2019, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2016/05-06/cortes-tenochtitlan/#close.
[6] Ibid.
[7] History.com Editors, “Aztecs,” Accessed December 10th, 2019, https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/aztecs.
[8] Myles Hudson, “Battle of Tenochtitlán,”,” Accessed December 10th, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Tenochtitlan.