Hernan Cortes was the first to descend on Philippine soil. Hernan Cortes - Travels of a former conquistador

Hernando Cortez

Hernando Cortez, Captain General of Mexico

Cortes Hernando (1485-1547), Spanish conquistador. In 1504-1519 he served in Cuba. In 1519-1521 he led a conquest in Mexico, which led to the establishment of Spanish rule there. In 1522-1528, governor and captain general of the regions of New Spain (Mexico) he conquered. In 1524, in search of a sea passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic, he crossed Central America.

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Cortés, Hernan (1485 - 2.XII.1547) - Spanish conquistador, conqueror of Mexico. Born into a poor noble family, he studied at the University of Salamanca. In 1504-1519 he served as an official and owned encomiendas in the West Indies (Santo Domingo, Cuba). In 1519-1521 he led a conquest in Mexico, during which Spanish dominance was established in the central part of the country. During the conquest of Mexico, Cortez showed great military and political ability, combined with extreme cruelty and treachery towards the Indians. The Spanish government appointed Cortés governor and captain general of New Spain (Mexico). Cortez died in Spain.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 7. KARAKEEV - KOSHAKER. 1965.

Cortes Hernando (1485–1547), Spanish conquistador, one of the discoverers of North and Central America. In 1504 he arrived on the island of Haiti and took part in the conquest of Cuba (1511); led two campaigns to the capital of Mexico (1519–1521), the result of which was the conquest of the Aztec empire by the Spaniards, led by Montezuma. With the rank of captain general of Mexico in 1522–1528, he made two more campaigns - to the Santa Maria River basin (1523) and to Honduras (1524–25). The detachments he sent in 1523–1524 for the first time traced almost 2000 km of the Pacific strip of Central America and discovered Southern Guatemala, the highest mountainous country in the region. Cortez himself in 1535 identified a small section of the coast of the California Peninsula, considering it an island. Seven cities, a bay and a shoal are named after Cortez.

Quoted from: Modern illustrated encyclopedia. Geography. Rosman-Press, M., 2006.

Hernan Cortes...a number of conquistadors also wrote memoirs about what they experienced in New Spain. Among them was Hernan Cortes, the leader of the Conquista, who led troops to Tenochtitlan and attracted Indians to his side along the way. Cortez's Letters from Mexico is an epistolary collection of five letters sent to the Emperor in Spain. Charles V and describing his life in New Spain. Cortez informs Charles that, having landed on the Mexican coast on April 22, 1519, he learned of the existence of a kingdom in the interior of the mainland, ruled by a powerful Motecusoma(Montezuma, Moctezuma). He decides to get to it and convince its ruler to recognize the seniority of Queen Juana and her son Charles, lords of Castile.

Despite messages from Moctezuma insisting that the uninvited guest leave his lands, Cortez and his army still move towards the Valley of Mexico and on November 8, 1519, finally enters Tenochtitlan. Motecusoma greeted Cortes and his warriors and invited them to settle in the palace; Cortes responded by arresting Montecusoma. This betrayal was the starting point in the defeat of the Aztecs, although they desperately resisted.

Aguilar-Moreno M. Aztecs. Encyclopedic reference book / Manuel Aguilar-Moreno. – M., 2011, p. 51-52.

Cortes Hernan (1485-1547). Born in Medellin (province of Extremadura) into a not very noble family. He studied law in Salamanca. In 1504 he went to America and reached Hispaniola (Santo Domingo), where he entered the service of Diego Velazquez and participated in the conquest of Cuba in 1511. Velazquez, who at one time distrusted Cortez and even put him in prison, in 1514 appointed Cortez alcalde of Santiago (in Cuba) and granted him lands and “encomienda”. In 1514-1515 Cortez married Catalina Juarez.

The exploratory voyages of Francisco Hernández de Cordoba (1517) and Juan de Grijalva (1518), for want of anything better, brought information about the coast of Mexico and such stories that Diego Velázquez decided to send there a much larger expedition with Cortés at its head; then, fearing Cortes' ambitions, he tried to replace him. However, Cortes was ahead of him and on February 18, 1519 he set off on a journey. Moving along the coast of Yucatan, then Tabasco, he acquired two valuable allies of his conquest: the Spaniard Jeronimo de Aguillar, who was shipwrecked and lived for many years among the Mayans and spoke their language; and a young captive of Mexican descent, speaking Mayan and Nahuatl, known to history as Doña Marina, or Malinche/Malintzin. These two intermediaries were subsequently present at all meetings and discussions with the Mexican emissaries.

In April 1519, Cortés entered Cempoala and tried to negotiate with the tribes recently conquered by the Aztecs and wishing to free themselves from their yoke. In addition, trying to show the irreversibility of his enterprise and warn possible deserters, he burned his ships. That same month, Cortés founded Veracruz; from the elected municipality he received legal powers and the rank of captain-general of New Spain (July 1519), that is, he found himself directly subordinate to the Spanish crown. Refusing the proposals of the ambassadors of Montezuma II not to meet with the Aztec ruler, Cortez entered the Central High Plateau. He found a strong ally in Tlaxcala, a determined opponent of the Triple Alliance.

Cortés entered Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519, after the bloody episode at Cholula. However, he was soon to return to repel the detachment of Panfilo de Navaez, sent by the governor of Cuba with orders to arrest him. Despite the unequal forces, Cortez defeats his opponent and gets the opportunity to recruit replenishment of his squad.

Upon his return to Mexico City, he found a riot in the city caused by the massacre of the Aztec aristocracy in the Main Temple on the orders of his lieutenant Pedro de Alvarado. The arrival of Cortes did not resolve the situation: Montezuma was killed by his own subjects when he addressed them with a speech. The new ruler of Cuitlahuac roused the population against the Spaniards, forced to abandon Tenochtitlan after the "Night of Sorrows" (June 30, 1520), during which hundreds of Spaniards were killed or drowned, becoming "victims" of their own greed. The unexpected victory at Otumba * allowed Cortes to retreat to Tlaxcala, which remained loyal to him, to reorganize his forces and continue the siege of Tenochtitlan from land and from the lagoon, thanks to the brigantines he built and armed. The siege lasted 75 days, from May 30 to August 13, 1521, the date of the capitulation of the last ruler, the heroic Cuauhtémoc.

1522: Cortés is appointed governor-general of New Spain, which he governs successfully for two years.

1522-1524: unsuccessful expedition to Honduras to suppress the rebellion of Cristóbal de Olida.

1525: Cuauhtémoc and the rulers of Texcoco and Tlacopan are executed.

In 1527, Cortes was removed by the government from his post as head of New Spain and in 1528 he returned to Spain to address the Council of the Indies. Although he ceased to be the governor of Mexico, he still retained rich lands in the province of Oaxaca, the title of Marquis of the Oaxaca Valley and the rank of captain general.

He married for the second time to Dona Juana de Zúñiga from the family of a major aristocrat.

In 1530 he returned to New Spain, where he tried to expand his marquisate and undertook several unsuccessful expeditions. In one of them, he discovered the bay, which would later be called California, and the peninsula with the same name.

In 1535 New Spain became a viceroyalty. Numerous legal disputes forced Cortés to return to Spain in 1540. In 1541, he took part in the Algerian campaign of Charles V. Cortes died in 1547, almost forgotten by everyone. According to his last will, his remains were buried in New Spain in the church of the hospital he founded.

Between 1519 and 1526 Cortes sent five Letters of Report to Emperor Charles V, in which he justified the legality of his conquests and his behavior.

The first letter was not found, and in the complete edition of 1868 it was replaced by the "Report of the Justice and Municipality of Villa Rica in Veracruz" (1519).

The most famous in terms of history and literature is his second letter, dated October 30, 1520, in which he describes the founding of Veracruz, then his difficult advance to Tlaxcala, the massacre at Cholula, his stay in Tenochtitlan and his meeting with Montezuma, and finally gives description of the still intact Aztec capital. The letter was widely circulated at that time and was translated into many languages, including French and German.

The third letter, dated May 15, 1522, written from Cohuacan, tells of the conquest of the Aztec capital and the submission of the provinces to the Empire. It did not have the slightest success, unlike the fourth letter of October 15, 1524, in which Cortes specifically mentions the structure of the conquered lands.

As for the fifth letter, dated September 3, 1526, it was not found and published until the 19th century, and it tells of Cortes' expedition to Honduras.

Notes

* The so-called “Battle of Otumba” on July 7, 1520 is a very dubious episode; modern historians tend to attribute it to the mythology of the Conquest. According to the official version, the Aztecs organized a pursuit, but the Spaniards defeated the Indian army.

Durand-Foret Jacqueline de. Aztecs / Jacqueline de Durand-Foret. – M., Veche, 2013, pp. 274-278.

Hernan Cortes. Drawing by Weiditz.
It is considered the most reliable portrait of the conquistador.

Hernán Cortés (c. 1485-1547). Born in Medellin, Extremadura, into a noble but poor family. He studied humanities at the University of Salamanca. Not feeling any inclination towards a sedentary lifestyle, in 1504 he went to India. In Hispaniola and later Cuba (1511) he participated in campaigns against unruly Indians and received an encomienda. He was engaged in cattle breeding and, on occasion, served as a notary (escribano). Thanks to his initiative and outstanding leadership qualities, he was noticed by the governor of Cuba, Diego Velazquez, who entrusted him with leading an expedition to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Cortes had at his disposal 11 ships, a hundred sailors, 508 soldiers, 16 horses and 14 cannons. The expedition set off on February 18, 1519, despite the ban from Velazquez, who, with some delay, saw the excessive ambition of his protégé and wanted to remove him from command. Since 1519, the name of Cortez has been inextricably linked with the history of the conquest of the Aztec Empire. His strategy for dealing with the Mayans of the Yucatan Peninsula was simple: negotiate, don't plunder, avoid fighting. It was here that he met his fate and luck - among the captives who were given to him by the cacique, there was an Indian woman who spoke the Mexica language, the famous Dona Marina, or Malinche, who became his mistress, translator and adviser. Having landed on the banks of Sempoala, Cortes took decisive action. He realized that the peoples conquered by Montezuma, but unreconciled, only dreamed of getting rid of the yoke of Mexico City-Tenochtitlan, and decided to enter into an alliance with them and conquer the entire country. With the help of a clever maneuver, he got rid of Velazquez's tutelage: he convinced his people to found the city of Villa Rica de Veracruz. According to Castilian traditions, the ruler of the city was given the rank of captain-general and the right to administer justice. After a year of war, in 1521, Cortés began the siege of the Aztec capital. It took him three months of continuous attacks to take the city by storm. The Aztecs, led by Cuauhtemoc, Montezuma's nephew, put up fierce resistance, which was not broken by either famine or smallpox epidemics. Finally, on August 13, 1521, the city fell. Cortez's unsuccessful campaign in Honduras against one of the mutinous lieutenants - during which he executed Cuauhtemoc - freed the hands of his enemies. Having restored order in Mexico City, he went to Spain to report on his actions to the Crown. Charles V granted him the marquisate of the "Valley of Oaxaca" and seigniorial rights to the richest provinces of New Spain. Having married again, Cortes became related to the highest Spanish aristocracy. In 1530 he returned to India and began to develop his possessions. Attempts to explore the Pacific Ocean were not particularly successful, but it is to him that we owe the discovery of California (1534-1535). Numerous lawsuits in which he became involved forced him to return to Spain (1540). He died in the city of Castilleja de la Cuesta, near Seville, while preparing to sail to New Spain.

Mazen O. Spanish America XVI – XVIII centuries / Oscar Mazen. – M., Veche, 2015, p. 306-307.

Meeting of Cortez and Montezuma.
Florentine Codex. XVI century.
Dona Marina switches the conversation.

Cortes Hernan Fernando. Hernán Fernando Cortés was born into a poor family of minor nobles in southern Spain. He studied law in Salamanca and received an education rare for Spanish conquistadors of that era. However, in his homeland he did not see an opportunity to realize his abilities and at the age of 19 he set off on a ship across the Atlantic Ocean to seek wealth and fame in the New World.

In 1504 he found himself in the West Indies. Things were going well for Cortez: he became a landowner and soon received the position of secretary of the governor of the island of Cuba, Diego de Velazquez, winning his favor and trust. Hernán Cortés married his sister and at one time served as mayor of the city of Santiago. It was a time when the Spaniards of Hispaniola dreamed of only one thing - the untold riches that the land of the Indians on the other side of the Caribbean Sea contained. But to get to their gold, they first had to conquer these lands.

Diego de Velazquez had already tried twice to conquer the Aztec Empire, but each time his military campaigns ended in failure for various reasons. Velazquez began to equip a new, third military expedition to the mainland, where the Spaniards had visited a year before.

Initially, he put his sister’s husband in charge of the expedition, but then reversed his decision because he began to seriously fear the ambitious intentions of Hernan Cortes, who did not hide them. If the expedition under his command was successful, the viceroy could lose his position at the royal court.

Cortez did not obey Velazquez's new decision. In February 1519, he sailed into the Caribbean Sea in eleven small ships and headed west, toward sunset.

The flotilla circled the Yucatan Peninsula and entered the mouth of the Rio Tabasco. Having landed on the shore, the Spaniards easily captured the city of Tabasco. The local Indians expressed complete submission to the king of Spain and paid tribute. But they did not possess great wealth.

From local Indians, Hernan Cortez learned about the fabulously rich Aztec Empire, located inside the mainland.

Local Indians supplied the Spaniards with food and guides. To prevent the possible escape of his soldiers, many of whom were afraid to go to an unknown country, Cortez ordered the ships to be burned.

On the way to the Aztec capital, Cortez easily won victories over several local Indian tribes, including numerous Tlaxcalans. The defeated Indian tribes, dissatisfied with the rule of the Aztecs, willingly joined the conquistador.

However, the inhabitants of the city of Cholulu offered strong resistance to the conquerors, and Cortes ordered a bloody massacre against them.

Solemn procession of Emperor Montezuma.

Hernán Cortés entered the Mexican capital of Tenochtitlan and took into custody the Aztec high priest Montezuma. He realized too late the danger that the Spaniards posed to his fatherland. Montezuma tried to prevent the conquerors from entering Tenochtitlan, but his actions were characterized by inconsistency that was surprising for a ruler. In addition, the warriors of the Aztecs, as well as other Indian tribes, were terrified of the firearms and horses of the conquerors, about whom they had not the slightest idea.

Assault on Tenochtitlan by the Spaniards.

Montezuma recognized the power of the Spanish king over himself and agreed to pay a huge tribute annually, mostly in gold.

Meanwhile, the royal governor of Cuba, de Velazquez, sent a punitive expedition to the Mexican shores under the command of Panfilo de Narvaez to deal with the rebellious Cortes, who had violated the chain of command and exceeded his authority.

Hernan Cortes was prepared for this turn of events. He left 150 Spanish soldiers in Tenochtitlan under the command of one of his officers, de Alvarado, and with the remaining 250 soldiers hastily marched to Veracruz to prevent the offensive actions of the troops of the governor of Hispaniola.

At night, the conquistadors attacked the camp of Panfilo de Narvaez and defeated the enemy. Narvaez and most of his warriors were captured. Cortes did not have much difficulty convincing the prisoners to enter his service.

Meanwhile, in the Aztec country, under the leadership of the leader Cuauhtémoc, a rebellion broke out against the Spanish conquerors.

Near the village of Otumba, the Aztecs blocked the Spaniards, exhausted after a long retreat, from reaching the sea coast, towards Veracruz. On July 8, 1520, a battle between the troops of Cortes and the army of the rebel Aztecs took place here. Only about 200 Spanish soldiers and several thousand Tlaxcalan warriors remained under the command of Cortes. The Aztec army numbered (according to clearly exaggerated data from Spanish sources) 200 thousand people. After many hours of battle, the Spanish detachment was on the verge of destruction.

The fate of the Battle of Otumba was decided by the conquistador himself. Cortes, at the head of a small detachment of cavalry, attacked the core of the enemy army, where the Aztec military leaders were located. The Aztecs, at the mere sight of horses galloping on them, became dismayed and fled in disarray. The victory of the Spaniards was complete, and after that they continued unhindered to the Caribbean coast.

A year later, Cortez made a second campaign against the capital of the Aztec state.

On his second campaign, Cortes set out with significant military forces. Cortés learned lessons from the recent defeat by the Aztecs. Their capital stood on the shores of Lake Texcoco, on which there was a large flotilla of pirogues. During the uprising and fighting in Tenochtitlan, they quickly transferred large detachments of Indian warriors in the right direction. Cortes ordered the construction of several small galleys and armed them with cannons. These disassembled galleys were carried by Indian porters behind the Spanish detachment.

Approaching Tenochtitlan, which had prepared for defense, Spanish troops began bombarding the city with artillery guns. The first assault was successfully repulsed by numerous defenders of the city, bringing down a hail of spears, darts and stones on the heads of the attackers. The siege of the Aztec capital lasted three months. Only after destroying most of it did the Spaniards take possession of the city. A large number of Indian warriors and townspeople died during the siege of Tenochtitlan.

The galleys delivered by porters were assembled on the shores of Lake Teskogo and launched. With the help of cannons mounted on galleys, the Spaniards defeated the Aztec pirogue flotilla and finally blocked Tenochtitlan. Now it became difficult for the besieged to destroy bridges across the canals and prevent Spanish troops from moving along the dams.

Soon famine and epidemics began in the besieged city. Cortez knew about this and therefore was in no hurry to storm the Aztec capital. In August 1521 Cuauhtemoc with his family and other leaders tried to escape from Tenochtitlan on pirogues, but were overtaken and captured by a Spanish galley flotilla. Cuauhtemoc was subjected to severe torture, but the Spaniards were never able to find out from him where the Aztec treasures were kept. The leader was thrown into prison and soon killed. In modern Mexico, the Aztec war chief Cuauhtémoc is a national hero.

The besieged, left without their military leaders, stopped resisting. Tenochtitlan was severely destroyed and completely plundered by the conquerors.

Cortez renamed Tenochtitlan Mexico City. He sent the captured Aztec treasures to Spain. The response of the Spanish monarch Charles V was the appointment of Cortes, a former state criminal, as captain general and governor of New Spain. The first thing the governor-general of the new colony began his reign with was the inculcation of Christianity among the Indian tribes by force of arms.

In 1526, the great conqueror arrived in Spain in triumph. There he received from the king the title of Marquis del Valle de Oaxaca. At the royal court he already had many ill-wishers who were not happy with the proud and ambitious marquis. As a result of court intrigues, the king deprived Cortes of his governorship in New Spain.

The conquistador returned to Mexico City without any authority. In 1536, he led a new military expedition, discovering the Mexican Pacific coast and California. Three years later, he tried to obtain royal permission to lead a detachment to search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. But the king rejected this request, choosing Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. Offended, Cortes left New Spain forever and returned to Europe.

He settled on an estate near Seville and lived there in luxury until the end of his days thanks to the treasures looted from the Aztec country. In 1541, Cortez took part in the Algerian military expedition of Spanish troops, but did not achieve glory in North Africa. In 1547 he fell ill with dysentery and died soon after. After 15 years, his remains were transported to Mexico. There they were reburied several times to save them from destruction. They finally found their peace only in 1823 in Naples, in the crypt of the Dukes of Terranzova-Montemon.

Material used from the site http://100top.ru/encyclopedia/

Read further:

Literature:

Madariaga S. de, Hernân Cortés, (6 ed.), Mexico - V. Aires, 1955;

Bernai Diaz del Castillo, Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España, v. 1-2, Mexico, 1943.

Name: Fernando Cortez de Monroy and Pizarro Altamirano (Hernan Cortez)

Years of life: approximately 1485 - approximately 1547

State: Spain

Field of activity: Traveler

Greatest Achievement: He was one of the first conquistadors. Under his leadership, Spain conquered Mexico

Latin America is a long-suffering continent. The local residents were unlucky in the sense that as soon as the Europeans discovered American lands, a stream of conquerors immediately poured in, and not with the most rosy intentions. The Spaniards and Portuguese made special efforts in the southern part of the continent. Thanks to them, all of Central and South America speaks Spanish and Portuguese, and also professes Catholicism, and the population can be considered educated, comparable to the European one.

But behind this seemingly peaceful façade hid an ugly truth - the destruction of indigenous peoples, the eradication of culture, local language, traditions and customs. These lands have seen many conquerors over several centuries, but only a few names remain in history. Not only thanks to his discoveries of uncharted lands, but also to his exorbitant and often unjustified cruelty towards local tribes, who, as a result of the barbaric actions of the conquerors, disappeared from the face of the earth. One of these illustrious names is the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes. Who was this proud Spaniard? More on this below.

Biography

It is very difficult to accurately indicate Hernan’s date of birth - for some personal reasons, he preferred not to dwell on this topic. Most of the information can be gleaned from the notes of Hernan’s biographer, his spiritual father Francisco de Gomar. It is known that he was born in 1485 in Spain. Cortes was the only son of Martin Cortes de Monroy and Doña Catalina Pizarro Altamarino - both parents came from ancient respected families, the so-called Hidalgos. “They had little wealth, but a lot of honor,” this is how de Gomara described the Cortes family.

The father's fortune was indeed modest, which, however, did not prevent him from sending his son at the age of 14 to study in Salamanca, in western Spain. Gomara described the teenager as ruthless, arrogant, disobedient and quarrelsome (all these qualities would later be felt by the local American tribes). Studying at the university did not attract the young man. In those years, the fame of Christopher Columbus was just booming, about the long voyages he made and about the discoveries of new lands. Hernan was inspired and also wanted to serve his homeland. He went to the east coast port of Valencia with the idea of serving in the Italian Wars, but changed his mind and put his dream on hold for almost a year. Obviously, the southern ports of Spain, with ships full of wealth from India, proved more attractive. He finally sailed to the island of Hispaniola (now Santo Domingo) in 1504. He wanted independence and wealth.

In Hispaniola he became a farmer and a notary in the city council; During the first six years, Hernan tried to make a fortune for himself, but could not - he had more debts than income. In addition, the long-awaited dream of American lands had to be postponed due to the fact that he contracted syphilis and missed the expedition of Diego de Nicueza and Alonso de Ojeda, who went to the South American mainland in 1509. By 1511, he had recovered and, together with Diego Velazquez, set off to conquer Cuba. There Velazquez was appointed governor, and Cortes official treasurer. Cortés received repartimiento (land and Indian slaves) and the first house in the new capital of Santiago. He also became the first mayor of the capital and Velazquez's close associate (also because he married his sister Catalina to his advantage).

Cortes was twice elected alcalde (mayor) of the city of Santiago. He set himself up as God's true representative on these lands. Therefore, it was to Cortes that Velazquez turned when, after the progress of Juan de Grijalba in establishing a colony on the mainland became known, it was decided to send him help. In October 1518, an agreement was signed appointing Cortes captain of the new expedition. But for this it was necessary to collect the required number of ships and finances. His abilities as an orator brought him six ships and 300 men in less than a month. Velazquez's reaction was predictable, his jealousy was awakened, and he decided to transfer leadership of the expedition to other hands. Cortés, however, hastily put to sea to pick up more people and ships in other Cuban ports.

Expedition to Mexico. Discovery of Hernán Cortés

When Cortés finally sailed for the shores of Yucatan on February 18, 1519, he had 11 ships, 508 soldiers, about 100 sailors, and 16 horses. In March 1519, he landed in the city of Tabasco (now a state in Mexico), where he stayed for some time to obtain information from the local Indians. Cortés also received gifts from them, including about 20 women, one of whom, Marina (Malinche), became his concubine and translator and bore him a son, Martin.

Cortés sailed to another location just above Tabasco on the southeastern coast of Mexico and founded the city of Veracruz (which is now also a state), mainly to ensure that his soldiers would obey only him, thus destroying Velázquez's power. On the mainland, Cortés did what no other expedition leader had done: he trained and disciplined his army, creating a cohesive force. So that the soldiers would not even think about escaping, Hernan ordered all the ships to be burned. Now the Spaniards were left alone with the local peoples.

Cortés often went to explore the Mexican interior, sometimes relying on force, sometimes on friendship with the local Indian peoples, but always trying to keep conflict with them to a minimum. The key to Cortez's subsequent conquests lay in the political crisis in the Aztec empire. For example, the people of Tlaxcala, who were in a state of chronic war with Montezuma II, the ruler of the Mexican Aztec Empire, initially resisted Cortez, but became his most loyal ally.

Rejecting all of Montezuma's threats and entreaties to keep him away from Tenochtitlan or Mexico, the capital (restored as Mexico City after 1521), Cortés entered the city on November 8, 1519 with his small force. In accordance with the diplomatic customs of Mexico, Montezuma received him with great honor. Cortes soon decided to capture Montezuma in order to hold the country through his monarch and achieve not only political conquest, but also a change of religion. Cortez's success was obvious not only because the Spaniards shocked the Aztecs with their appearance on horseback (they had never seen these animals, so they were afraid), but also because he was ideal for the role of the local deity Quetzalcoatl, who wore a beard and had white skin, and who taught the Aztecs the wisdom of agriculture.

After the capture of Montezuma, the Spaniards were surprised to discover that the Aztecs were an incredibly rich people (the Europeans had never seen so much gold and jewelry). And the robbery began - many valuable figurines and objects were melted down into ordinary ingots. Naturally, Cortez kept most of the loot for himself. The Aztecs defended their city, Tenochtitlan, to the last. Cortes tried several times to take it, subjugating neighboring territories. So far he has not succeeded. He laid siege to the city itself, conquering it street by street until Tenochtitlan fell on August 13, 1521. This victory marked the fall of the Aztec empire. Cortes became the sole ruler of a vast territory stretching from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

Later years

In 1524, his restless desire to explore and conquer led him south into the jungles of Honduras. The two difficult years he spent on this disastrous expedition damaged his health and position. Intrigues began to weave against him - the main one was Velazquez, who did not forgive Cortes for his popularity among the locals and success in the conquest.

In 1528, Cortés traveled to Spain to personally appeal to the king. He brought with him a huge amount of treasures. He was received by Charles at his court in Toledo. He also married again, this time to the Duke's daughter. But Hernan's success was short-lived. Very soon he fell out of favor with the king. Charles removed him as governor of Mexico. He returned to New Spain in 1530 to find the country in a state of anarchy.

Charges were brought against him for the murder of his first wife, Catalina (using poison). Trying to somehow regain his former position, in 1536 Cortez set off on another expedition to the shores of California in search of gold. Hernan tried to persuade the king to finance the entire peninsula, but the king rejected this offer. Cortés retired to his estate in Cuernavaca, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Mexico City. There he concentrated on building his palace and exploring the Pacific Ocean.

In 1540, Cortez returned to Spain. By then he was completely disillusioned and his life had become miserable due to the litigation. In addition, the health of the 62-year-old conquistador was undermined. In 1547, the legendary Aztec conqueror Hernán Cortés died of dysentery on an estate in Seville.

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Hernando (Hernan) Cortes (1485 - 1547)

Hernando (Hernan) Cortes

(1485 – 1547)

Friends, let us follow the cross, and if we have faith, we will overcome with this sign.

Motto on the flag of Hernando Cortez

We elected city governors, erected a pillory in the market, and built a gallows outside the city.

Bernal Diaz. "The True History of the Conquests of New Spain"

Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of Mexico, which resulted in the establishment of Spanish rule there. He made a significant contribution to the discovery of Central America, which he crossed in search of a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Significantly expanded the geographical horizons of the Spaniards. Studied and compiled a map of the California coast. Founded the cities of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Saccatula (state of Guerrero), Colima, Panuco, Coatzacoalcos (Puerto Mexico City), Puerto Cortes.

According to the participant in the campaigns in Mexico, conquistador and historian Bernal Diaz, “Cortes had lofty plans, and in his desire to command and dominate he imitated Alexander the Great.”

Truly, this man's claims knew no bounds. He was smart, energetic, determined and cruel. Obviously, this is what allowed him to conquer the most powerful Central American country - the Aztec state.

The future conqueror was born in Medellin, a small town in the province of Extremadura. Hernando was a nobleman and was known as a dandy and a spendthrift. His parents, Captain Martin Cortes de Monroy and Donna Catalina Pizarro Altamirano, were poor but respected people. Both dreamed of a legal career for their son and sent him to the University of Salamanca. However, the young man was not diligent. After two years of study, he barely mastered the compulsory Latin and acquired some oratory skills. Seeing his son's inability for academic studies, his father allowed Hernando to enter military service, which determined his future fate.

History is silent about the reasons that pushed the young Hidalgo in 1504 to go in search of fortune to the New World. Apparently they were typical of impoverished Spanish nobles. But Cortez apparently still had some kind of fortune. It is known that he received money for his trip to Mexico, significant money at that, from a moneylender on the security of his estate. This was hardly possible in the case of severe poverty, as was the case with most beggar conquistadors. Most likely, unquenched ambition and an insatiable thirst for power played a decisive role.

However, at first the young man had to humble his temper. In Hispaniola (Haiti) he was asked to engage in farming. Despite the proud statement: “I came here to mine gold, and not to plow the land like a man,” Cortez was forced to accept a significant plot of land with the necessary number of Indian slaves for its cultivation and become a planter. At the same time, as an educated person, he performed the duties of a local notary. However, these activities did not attract the young adventurer. Therefore, in 1511 he took part in the conquest of Cuba, led by Velazquez.

Thanks to his open and cheerful disposition, Cortez quickly became close to the boss, who became the governor of Cuba. But after some time, a cooling set in due to Hernando’s refusal to marry Catalina Juarez, who belonged to a family of close friends of the viceroy. Relations became so strained that Cortez even took part in a conspiracy to remove Velazquez, was imprisoned and unsuccessfully escaped several times. After the last escape, he considered it necessary to come to Velazquez of his own free will, managed to justify himself, agreed to marry Catalina and lived a quiet and peaceful life with his family for several years.

However, this state of affairs did not suit the adventurer. When in 1518 Grijalva, sent there by Velazquez, returned from the coast of Yucatan and brought news of the rich country of the Aztecs, the governor immediately began to equip an expedition for conquest. Fearing Grijalva, who was popular among the soldiers, he appointed Cortes as the head of the expedition, but soon regretted it. The young Hidalgo showed unprecedented energy in recruiting soldiers. The headphones claimed that he was coming to conquer Mexico for himself. A frightened Velázquez sent Cortes an order for his removal. He politely advised the governor not to listen to the snitches, and when the order came to arrest and delay the fleet, Cortes replied that he was going to sea the next day.

On February 10, 1519, the rebellious conquistador took nine ships out of the port, carrying more than 500 people, 16 horses and 14 guns. The leader thirsted for power, glory and gold. But besides this, he was also guided by missionary goals. Being devout (he used to listen to mass before each battle), Cortez considered himself called to convert the Mexicans, whose land he sought to conquer, to Christianity.

The squadron landed near the mouth of Tabasco and founded Veracruz nearby. According to legend, Cortes ordered, like the Greeks at Troy, to destroy the ships so that there would be no way back. The campaign of conquest has begun.

The translator for the Spaniards was a young beautiful Indian woman who was captured in Tabasco. At baptism she was given the name Marina. She was born in Mexico, but was sold by her mother to the cacicu of Tabasco and knew the Mayan and Aztec languages well, and soon mastered Spanish. Constantly staying with Cortez, she soon gained the love and respect of both the Spaniards and the Indians. Mexicans still honor her under the name Malinche. And in those distant years, Cortes himself was most often called Malintzin by local residents, not excluding Montezuma, “the ruler of Malinche.” Unlike many of his comrades, Cortez could not marry an Indian. After all, Catalina was waiting for him in Cuba. Many years later, Marina married a Spanish nobleman.

A lot has been written about the history of the conquest of Mexico, and of course, Cortes is the central figure in it and acts primarily as a commander and politician. However, the result of his activities was not only the territorial acquisitions of Spain and gold. Thanks to Cortez, Europeans gained a real understanding of the unknown American territory and the characteristics of its population. The consequence of the campaign was also the strengthening of the position of Spain in the New World, which received full possession of the conquered rich lands, New Spain, and the treasures of the Aztecs, and therefore great opportunities for expanding expansion through the implementation of more and more new geographical discoveries.

Many of them were carried out at first by Cortes, sending out detachments for more and more new conquests and searches for a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Thus, the Pacific coast of Mexico and Guatemala, the mountain range of Southern Guatemala, the islands of Las Tres Marias, Socorro, San Benedicto, etc. were discovered.

In 1524, Cortes, at that time the viceroy, commander-in-chief and chief judge of New Spain, himself set out on a land campaign to Honduras. Over 500 km through difficult tropical forest, swampy and swampy terrain, infested with snakes, were overcome with the greatest effort and almost cost him his life.

The conqueror tried to establish Mexican dominance in the Pacific Ocean and conduct independent trade with India. He managed to establish a naval base in Mexico and send a flotilla to Asia. But the Spanish government prevented the successful completion of this endeavor. The metropolis was afraid of the strengthening of the colony and its governor, whose authority in New Spain was extremely high. It was not without reason that in 1528, during a visit to the court of King Charles V, he was removed from the post of governor, receiving, however, the title of Marquis del Valle of Oaxaca.

Returning to New Spain with his widowed mother and second wife Juana de Zuniga (Catalina had long since died), Cortes spent some time farming with some success. This, however, could not satisfy the active nature of the former conqueror and governor.

In April 1535, Cortes equipped a new expedition. Three ships were sent to search for pearls in California in the Gulf of Las Paz, which had already been discovered by an expedition led by Ortuña Jimenez, which he had organized. Here Cortes compiled the first map of the eastern coast of the peninsula with Las Paz Bay and three offshore islands. He managed to trace the mainland coast of California to 29° N. sh., prove its peninsular character, discover about. Tiburon. The name of the peninsula also belongs to Cortez. Because of the heat, he dubbed it “Kalida forna” - “Hot oven”.

In May 1538, Cortes returned to Mexico City and soon, apparently due to the fact that his last expeditions did not bring gold and other valuables, which means his position was shaken, as well as for a number of other reasons, the once formidable conqueror together with his eldest son Martin, he left for Spain. The king received him with honors, but refused to satisfy the request for monetary compensation for the last expeditions. Very little time passed, and the hero of the Mexican campaign ceased to be noticed, and soon was completely forgotten.

Trying to rectify the situation, in 1541 Cortes managed to take part in a military campaign against Algeria, which, however, did not bring him any success. On December 2, 1547, he died in the town of Castillejo de la Cuesta near Seville. A few years later, Cortez's ashes were transported to Mexico, which became his real homeland. Several centuries later, during the Mexican Revolution, the conqueror’s grave was going to be desecrated, but followers of the hero of the Mexican campaign managed to hide his remains. There were undoubtedly reasons for this.

Unlike Quesada, Cortes did not become a national hero of the country he conquered. However, in addition to the incalculable suffering of the Indians and the destruction of their culture, Mexico also owes him some positive initiatives. Thanks to Cortez, sugar cane, hemp and flax began to be cultivated here. The viceroy sought to strengthen Mexico's position in the international arena as an independent state independent of Spain, which displeased the king and for which he ultimately paid.

A Russian translation of the description of Cortez’s campaign in Mexico, made by its participant Bernal Diaz, was published in 1924 under the title “Notes of the soldier Bernal Diaz.”

author

Hernan Cortes. Preparing an expedition to Mexico Hernando Cortez was born in 1485. From an early age, he thought about how to move to the newly discovered lands of the New World. A story has been preserved about how seventeen-year-old Hernando, a dropout student, a mischief-maker and