Hernan Cortes defeated the powerful Aztec Empire in just two and a half years. In 1519, the empire spanned 800,000 square miles and was home to 6 million people. Its capital, Tenochtitlan, was a marvel of civil engineering and one of the world’s largest cities at the time.
Despite its vast territory and powerful military, by 1521, the Aztec Empire had collapsed. The primary force behind this rapid fall was Hernan Cortes and his band of 500 conquistadors.
The ambitions of Hernan Cortes
After the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, the Spanish crown quickly took an interest in these unexplored and unknown regions of the Old World. After settling in Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, the Spaniards began exploring the coasts of mainland America.
Rumors spread throughout the colonies about a landmass to the west where the natives possessed vast amounts of gold. After expeditions funded by Diego Velazquez, the governor of Cuba, the Spanish discovered that this was not just a landmass but an entire continent.
Knowing the natives held immense riches, Velazquez commissioned his brother-in-law Hernan Cortes to explore the land. While Cortes was an ideal candidate, his ambition was excessive, and those around Velazquez recognized this.
Velazquez’s advisors warned him and persuaded him to remove Cortes from the expedition. However, Cortes got wind of the plan and set sail before the decision could officially reach him, turning him and his crew into mutineers.
Cortes knew that if he returned to Spain, he would likely be tried and imprisoned. But he believed the Spanish crown would pardon him if he returned with vast amounts of gold and silver.
Hernan Cortes prepares the conquest
At the head of a fleet of six ships, Cortes left Cuba on Feb. 18, 1519. With 508 soldiers, 110 sailors, 200 Cuban natives, 10 heavy cannons, four falconets, and 13 horses, Cortes unknowingly set out to conquer an empire populated by millions.
Upon arriving in the Bay of San Juan de Ulua on April 21, 1519, Hernan Cortes made a famous decision that cemented his legend in history: he burned the ships. The conquistador wanted to send a clear message to his men—there would be no turning back. It was victory through conquest, or dishonor and legal consequences back in Cuba.
Hernan Cortes and his men first stopped at Cozumel, where they already had good relations with the Mayans. They made a brief stop to stock up on munitions and supplies.
During their stop, they heard rumors of two Europeans living on the mainland. Cortes decided to investigate the claims himself. He found the men, both Spanish, who had lived on the mainland for eight years after being shipwrecked.
The two men had integrated into the local community, learning the Mayan language and customs. Recognizing the potential benefit of their expertise, Cortes invited them to join his expedition.
One of the men had a family and declined the offer. The other, Friar Geronimo de Aguilar, agreed to join Cortes.
With de Aguilar on his crew, they set sail for the Mayan mainland city of Potonchan. Since the Mayans there didn’t know them, they had to fight. After winning the battle, the town leader provided them with food, gold, and 20 slaves.
One of the slaves had a talent for languages, and recognizing her value, Cortes named her Marina and made her an essential member of his crew. Marina, also known as “La Malinche,” spoke fluent Spanish and Yucatec Mayan, but her native language was Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs.
Cortes developed a system with his two translators. He would speak in Spanish to de Aguilar, who would translate it to Yucatec Mayan for Marina, who would then translate it into Nahuatl.
With the combination of de Aguilar and Marina, Cortes unknowingly obtained the key to toppling the Aztec Empire.
Hernan Cortes arrives in the Aztec Empire
When Cortes and his crew reached the Aztec Empire on Nov. 8, 1519, they were surprised to be greeted with a welcome party.
Moctezuma knew of the Spaniards’ arrival on the mainland before they set foot in the Aztec Empire. Although Moctezuma didn’t fear Cortes or his crew, he was wary of the flag they represented. The risk of making an enemy out of Spain was significant, so instead of greeting Cortes with hostility, he greeted him with gifts of gold and riches.
According to tradition, the Aztecs’ hospitality was due to the resemblance between Cortes and Quetzalcoatl, the serpent god, whom Aztec beliefs prophesied would return in the form of a white, bearded man.
Moctezuma hoped to make an ally of the Spanish through these gifts, but his gesture had the opposite effect. The gifts alerted Cortes to the abundance of gold and silver in the land, and he became determined to seize it all.
Cortes first established a settlement named “La Villa Rica de la Veracruz,” which is known today as Veracruz. Then, he allied with the neighboring city of Cempoala, convincing them to rise against their Aztec rulers. Though his efforts sowed chaos, Moctezuma quickly quelled it by distributing more gifts to placate everyone.
The crew then made their way to Tlaxcala, a nation situated in the middle of the Aztec Empire, yet not part of it. They were met with hostility, but during the conflict, Cortes captured some soldiers. He communicated to them, through de Aguilar and La Malinche, that they came in peace and were enemies of the Aztecs. He then released the soldiers to relay this message to their people.
The plan successfully halted the conflict, and the crew was invited to the Tlaxcalan capital, Tlaxcala. Over the next three weeks, Cortes spoke with the leaders of Tlaxcala. He learned that they had been engaged in a generational conflict with the Aztecs, known as the Flower War.
During those three weeks, Cortes converted several Tlaxcalan nobles to Catholicism, arranged marriages between his lieutenants and Tlaxcalan princesses, and forged an alliance with the nation of Tlaxcala.
The Cholula Massacre
After leaving Tlaxcala, the crew arrived in the Aztec city of Cholula. Aware of their time in Tlaxcala and Cholula’s proximity to the capital, Moctezuma was not pleased with their arrival.
He ordered the local Cholula chiefs to assassinate Cortes and his crew under the cover of night. However, La Malinche learned of the plot from the wife of a noble and immediately informed Cortes.
In response, Cortes unleashed a massacre on the city, setting it ablaze, on Oct. 18, 1519. Reportedly, Cortes and his men killed 3,000 people in just three hours. This event would become known as the Cholula Massacre.
The capture of Moctezuma
After the event, Moctezuma could no longer keep the Spaniards out of Tenochtitlan, so he resigned himself to inviting them into the Aztec capital.
Tenochtitlan was an island city located in Lake Texcoco. The Aztecs had constructed causeways and bridges to connect the city to the mainland, making the city accessible only by boat or through the causeways.
If Cortes and his men had previously underestimated the Aztecs, their perspective changed upon entering Tenochtitlan. Thanks to the Aztecs’ superior civil engineering, the city was arguably one of the most advanced in the world. It had two massive aqueducts to bring water into the city and an ingenious canal system for transport and irrigation.
Tenochtitlan was home to 300,000 people, a stark contrast to London’s population of 50,000 at the time. The Aztecs had even built artificial islands around the main island to accommodate the growing population.
Moctezuma chose to greet the Spaniards in his finest gold garments on one of the bridges, welcoming them into the city with magnificent gifts.
No one knows exactly how it happened, but that night, Cortes captured Emperor Moctezuma II and placed him under house arrest. Although Moctezuma was allowed to carry out his duties within his home, from that point on, he was merely a puppet controlled by Cortes.
Velazquez’ vengeance
Meanwhile, Diego Velazquez assembled a crew led by the conquistador Panfilo de Narvaez. Narvaez’s crew was twice the size of Cortes’ and was equipped with horses and more munitions.
Narvaez’s crew attacked Cempoala, and Cortes responded by taking 200 of his best men and 200 Aztecs to reclaim the city.
Although Cortes was outnumbered two-to-one, he had the advantage of familiarity with the land and its people, allowing him to orchestrate a successful sneak attack in the middle of the night. He first targeted Narvaez’s horses and gunpowder before launching the main assault.
The attack was a resounding success. Upon learning of the Aztecs’ riches, the remaining members of Narvaez’s crew defected and joined Cortes. As a result of this battle, he gained hundreds of men and additional horses.
The Great Temple Massacre and the Night of Sorrows
While he was away, Cortes had left Pedro de Alvarado in charge, a man who would decisively alter the course of Aztec-Spanish relations.
The Aztecs held the Feast of Toxcatl in the great temple of Tenochtitlan, on May 22, 1520. The Aztecs, as was their custom, dressed in their finest gold garments for the occasion.
Whether de Alvarado had heard of a plot against the Spanish or was simply overcome by the sight of so much gold, but by the time Cortes returned, the city was ablaze, and the Aztecs and Spanish were in conflict.
During the Feast of Toxcatl, Alvarado led an attack on the Aztec elite, known as the Massacre in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Alvarado and his men slaughtered all the noblemen and mostly unarmed warriors present at the event, provoking a direct and definitive war between the Spaniards and Aztecs.
Upon his return, Cortes acted quickly, ordering Moctezuma to address the Aztecs from a rooftop, urging them to allow the Spanish safe passage out of the city. However, the Aztecs, aware that Moctezuma was compromised, ignored him.
Moctezuma was stoned to death on that roof by either the Aztecs or the Spanish; no one truly knows. Afterward, Cortes and his most trusted lieutenants escaped on horseback to Tlaxcala, but the rest of his crew wasn’t as fortunate. Tenochtitlan was nearly impossible to escape, and many Spaniards drowned or were killed that night, on June 30, 1520.
This event is known as the Night of Sorrows (Noche Triste). Eight hundred Spaniards and 4,000 natives died in the massacre.
The Battle of Otumba
Although Cortes managed to escape with some 500 Spaniards and their Tlaxcalan allies, the Aztecs were not finished. As he headed toward Tlaxcalan territory, Cortes and his men were pursued by the Aztecs, intent on wiping out the Spaniards.
After several days of pursuit, the Spaniards were finally cornered on the plains of Otumba, on July 7, 1520, the site of one of the most decisive battles in the conquest of the Aztec Empire. The few hundred Spaniards faced an army of more than 10,000 men ready to avenge their comrades massacred in Tenochtitlan.
Once again, Hernan Cortes demonstrated great cunning and ingenuity. Knowing he was doomed in a prolonged, direct confrontation that would favor the Aztecs due to their overwhelming numerical superiority, Cortes employed a specific strategy. Relying on his cavalry, he ordered repeated charges against the Aztec troops to demoralize and intimidate them, as well as to eliminate their military leaders.
According to the epic account by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Cortes led a decisive charge followed by his most loyal lieutenants. Juan de Salamanca, one of them, managed to kill the Aztec army’s leader, Maltatzincatl, with his lance and capture their standard, causing the Aztec troops to flee.
The fall of the Aztec Empire
After his triumph in Otumba and six months of reinforcing his army and recovering in Tlaxcala, Cortes returned to Tenochtitlan.
Upon leaving the city, the Spanish had left behind a devastating gift. Narvaez’s crew carried smallpox, which they transmitted to Cortes’ men, who then spread it to the Aztecs. While Europeans and Asians had dealt with the disease for millennia and developed some immunity, the North American continent had never encountered smallpox. As a result, nearly 50% of the population was wiped out in just three months, including the new Aztec emperor.
Cortes easily conquered the cities surrounding the lake and laid siege to the great city on May 22, 1521. He surrounded it with boats, destroyed the aqueducts, and blocked off the bridges and causeways, trapping the Aztecs.
The siege lasted for eight months before Tenochtitlan fell, and the reigning Emperor Cuauhtemoc was captured while trying to flee in a canoe. The city was in ruins, and by Aug. 13, 1521, the Aztec Empire was no more.
After the city’s destruction, the Spanish drained the lake and constructed a massive city, which Cortes named Mexico City. The city still suffers from being built on a lakebed, with frequent earthquakes. While Cortes founded the city and New Spain, the Spanish appointed Antonio de Mendoza as the governor of New Spain, as they couldn’t fully trust Cortes after his past actions.
Cortes spent the remainder of his life traveling between Old and New Spain, where he served as a trusted and prominent aide to the Spanish crown. New Spain eventually expanded to span 5 million square miles.
Smallpox, along with measles and influenza, devastated the native population. The population, which was 30 million at the time of Cortes’ arrival, had dropped to 3 million by the time New Spain was established.