Hernán Cortés, Spanish conqueror to whom is due the incorporation of New Spain (now Mexico) to the empire of Carlos V. His feat, which involves the collapse of the power of the Aztecs, falls within the framework of the exploration and colonization of the island of Cuba and the continental coasts of Central America, carried out by Spain in the course of the second decade of the 16th century. The territorial implantation of the viceroyalty of New Spain opens the way for the conquest of California and the entire southern Pacific coast, especially the rich Inca Peru, which came to increase the vast empire of Carlos V, despite the indifference of the monarch towards his possessions. in the New World.
Data on the life of Hernán Cortés
1485 He is born in Medellin, Extremadura.
1504 He settles in Hispaniola (Santo Domingo).
1519 He arrives at Tenochtitlán and imprisons the Aztec emperor Moctezuma.
1520 He leaves the city in "Sad Night".
1521 He reconquered Mexico, after a year of fighting.
1530 He is appointed captain general and marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca.
1540 He definitely returns to Spain.
1547 He dies in Castilleja de la Cuesta.
An undetermined day in the year 1485, Doña Catalina de Paz, wife of former captain Martín Cortés de Monroy, gave birth to a child on the family farm near Medellin. The parents were somewhat older and with a certain lineage, but without many means, so when Hernán reaches adolescence they hesitate between dedicating him to study, to the service of the royal house or to the armies of Italy or the Indies. It was decided in principle to send him to Salamanca, where his uncles Francisco Núñez de Varela and Inés de Paz lived. The boy arrives there, only fourteen years old, and begins to study Latin, grammar and law, although he does not manage to graduate in anything.
Given the little benefit that his son obtained from the university, Don Martín brought him home at the end of 1501. The following year Hernán was determined to embark for the New World in the fleet of Nicolás de Ovando from Extremadura. But shortly before his departure, an unfortunate incident with an outraged husband leaves him battered by several wounds, which are joined soon after by quartan fevers. Restored, the young man decides to change course and join the forces of the Great Captain of Naples, for which he heads to Valencia. He wanders there for almost a year, without deciding to embark. His parents gather his savings and buy him a place on Alonso Quintero's ship, which together with other merchants sets sail from San Lúcar de Barrameda in the direction of the Indies.
The port of Hispaniola, founded by Columbus on the island of Santo Domingo, remained the center of Spanish administration in the Caribbean under the governorship of Diego Columbus, son of the discoverer. The young Cortés arrives there in 1504 in search of fortune. And since he seemed smart and some laws had rubbed off on him in Salamanca, he worked as a notary in the town of Azúa. With what his distracted studies are of some use to start his American journey.
From Cuba to Yucatán
Hernán, at the age of twenty, was a young man with a handsome face and a good figure, despite his somewhat slender legs. Cheerful, carefree and communicative, he establishes good relations with some important gentlemen (and ladies) in Hispaniola. Among them Diego Velázquez, an obese man with similar inclinations, who, however, agrees to marry one of the maidens that the governor has brought from the peninsula to "settle down" the Spanish. As a reward for such colonizing goodwill, Diego Colón appoints Velázquez Governor of Cuba , a charge that brought with it the conquest and population of that island. Cortés joins the expedition, which leaves in 1511, and soon stands out in various colonizing trades, such as farmer, rancher, gold prospector and merchant, showing an inclination towards rural businesses that would reappear throughout his life. When Santiago de Baracoa was founded, the prosperous young man is mayor of the council and maintains a tense understanding with the governor of Cuba.
The fact is that Velázquez's wife, surnamed Juárez, had some attractive sisters, who were haunted by both Hernán and other Cuban captains. Cortés is reluctant to fulfill the marriage commitment given to one of them, who coincidentally bore the name of the young man's mother, Catalina. This snub to the Juárez family brings some anger between both cronies, which leads to Cortés's house arrest. He finally agrees to marry Catalina Juárez , nicknamed the Marcaida , with which he ends up being the brother-in-law of the governor and ordinary mayor of the recently founded Santiago Cuba. Velázquez has been ordered to set up an expedition to the Yucatán and the nearby coasts , lands of which there is vague news about temples and cities of gold. He must choose a captain, and he decides on Cortés, who offers to finance a good part of the expenses.
Velázquez grants authorization only to "recognize and explore" those lands, without making settlements or founding cities, since he was suspicious of the ambition of his brother-in-law. Cortés, fearful that Diego would regret his appointment, hastened his departure. This is fulfilled on November 18, 1518, with eleven ships, seven hundred men and ten bronze cannons . He touches the island of Mujeres and travels along the coast, before disembarking on the mainland on February 18, 1519. They soon have their first encounters with natives, who, out of astonishment and fear, make them friendly. But shortly after they are attacked by battle-hardened Mayans and Zoques, with whom they have various skirmishes. The final clash occurs on the outskirts of Tabasco, where horses and firearms put the Yucatecans to flight, more terrified than defeated. Cortés baptizes the town as Santa María de la Victoria and in the agreements of submission he finds two valuable collaborators:the shipwrecked man and prisoner of the Indians Jerónimo de Aguilar, and an Indian named Malinali who is part of the twenty gifts given to the Spaniards. Both will serve him from now on as interpreters, although Malinali will also be an inseparable advisor and probably lover of the conqueror. She is christened Marina, and the Indians nickname her Malitzin , which the Spanish deform into Malinche . The Aztecs will also call Cortés that way, because he is always with her.
Near Tabasco Cortés receives the first emissaries of Moctezuma (or Motecuhzoma), the tlatoani most powerful of Mexico, but not its emperor, as the Spanish erroneously called him. The tlatoani They were lords of the different cities, who fought among themselves, sacrificed their prisoners to their gods and forced themselves to pay tribute. The Aztecs, excellent warriors, at that time dominated several cities and regions from coast to coast, although they did not have an imperial organization. There were continuous rebellions of the forced vassals and also these and the Aztec princes themselves often warred with each other. Moctezuma had allied vassals, forced vassals and declared enemies among the caciques and chiefs of that extensive territory. Cortes will soon notice this and he will use it in favor of his designs. For now, those emissaries leave with gifts for their lord (a hip chair, glass beads, a red hat) and the news that the white man represents the greatest king in the world and wishes to meet with Emperor Moctezuma.
While Cortés learns of the discontent against the Aztec hegemony and has to calm Velázquez's supporters in his own ranks with perquisites and threats, new emissaries arrive from México-Tenochtitlán, bringing offerings from Moctezuma. Fine cotton garments, feathers, masks and gold statuettes. But they avoid formulating a formal invitation to the Spanish chief. Apparently, the tlatoani he was an indecisive sovereign, who vacillated between the bellicose advice of his brother Cuitláhuac and the more conciliatory attitude of other advisers and himself. In the meantime, Cortés continues advancing and making detours, threatened on his internal front by the Velazquista minority, whom he will disarm with a stratagem. he founded the city of Villa Rica de la Veracruz and, since he has no authority to do so, he places it in the hands of his soldiers, in whom according to Thomistic law sovereignty resides in the absence of the king. These form a town hall, which designates Cortés captain general and chief justice, bypassing the authority of Velázquez. To reaffirm his isolated independence and prevent escape attempts to Cuba, he orders the sinking of the ships that have brought them to the Yucatan. He now only has to move towards Mexico.
In Moctezuma's domain
As he enters the territory, the conqueror follows his double policy of receiving Moctezuma's emissaries to exchange gifts and certain formal compliments, while continuing to establish pacts with rebellious or dissatisfied caciques. One of his best allies is the "fat chief" of the Totonacs, who reigns in Cempoala. Cortés convinces him to have Moctezuma's collectors arrested, and then sets them free, pretending that he has interceded for them. This demonstration increases his prestige before the Totonacs and receives the thanks of the puzzled Aztecs. He takes advantage of the captain general to make Moctezuma say that he either receives him at once or he will go in search of him and catch him wherever he finds him.
He knows that such a threat is nothing more than bravado, and decides on another cunning move. The best warriors in the region are the Tlaxcalans, commanded by the brave Jicoténcatl. As this haughty town refuses to submit, Cortés confronts them in unequal and
bloody battle that ends with the triumph of the Spanish. He enters Tlaxcala and is generous with the inhabitants and with their prisoners to achieve a military alliance. With 400 Spaniards and several thousand Cempoaltecas and Tlaxcaltecas, he begins the crossing of the mountain range towards the Aztec territory of Anahuac, whose capital is Mexico-Tenochtitlán (the first name designates the region, the second the city), leaving Juan de Escalante in Cempoala. . When arriving at the sacred city of Cholula, seat of the cult of Quetzalcóatl, the Aztec chiefs and priests receive him with great honors and signs of vassalage , consequently competing with those defeated in Tlaxcala. But the conqueror fears an ambush or perhaps needs a show of force. He orders the nobles, warriors and settlers to gather in the square, including women and children, and orders his troops to charge with their throats cut. A massacre takes place that lasts five hours and mows down 3,000 Aztec lives, largely due to the fierceness of the Cempoaltecas and Tlaxcaltecas.
After this bloody display of his power, he reaches the outskirts of Tenochtitlan in November 1519 and camps by the Texcoco lagoon. After further negotiations with ambassadors and tributary kings, such as the one from Texcoco, called Cacama, Cortés loses patience and enters the city with his entire army. Moctezuma rushes out to greet him with an entourage of 200 nobles and dignitaries. The interview is friendly but formal, and the Spaniard and his men are invited to stay in the palace of Axayácatl, father of the great tlatoani . In the days that follow, Cortés walks through the wonderful city, observing the market, the roads, fortifications, temples and palaces, whose magnificence fills the Spaniards with amazement and covetousness. He also meets several times with Moctezuma, a man in his forties, slender and jovial, but also insecure and weak of character, as a typical representative of an opulent and declining military aristocracy. The Extremaduran is also a name that shows ingenuity and lordship and it is very likely that the two rivals got along well.
Too much cordiality and too many attentions and entertainment for Cortés' distrustful mood, who decides to seize the naive monarch and keep him as a hostage. With the captains he trusts, he sets a trap for her to move to Axayácatl's palace, where he tells her that he will be retained as a "guest." There Moctezuma can continue governing Mexico and receiving his courtiers, under the supervision of Cortés, who romps with the daughters of the tlatoani in the adjoining rooms. His men also take advantage of the passivity of the permissive Aztec sovereign, dedicating themselves to looting all valuables and going on excursions to the sources of gold. Christian altars are built in the temples of the city and Cortés, in a trait of sadism, announces to the desolate Moctezuma that he will send him to Spain to pay personal vassalage to Carlos V. But not all the princes and nobles of Tenochtitlán see with good eyes the meekness of his sovereign in front of the white chief.
The «Sad Night»
At the beginning of May, events were precipitated by the announcement that a large reinforcement army was approaching under the command of Pánfilo de Narváez. Cortés rejoices to meet him, leaving Pedro de Alvarado in the care of Tenochtitlán. But upon reaching the coast he finds out that Narváez is actually coming to ask him to account on behalf of Diego Velázquez and ready to do battle. An outpost of Cortés commanded by Sandoval and Pizarro easily accounted for Narváez's vanguard in a battle in which the envoy himself lost an eye and was taken prisoner. The bulk of his troops changed sides when they learned about the city of gold and the beautiful natives, and Cortés became the owner of 18 ships and a considerable army.
But things have not gone well in Tenochtitlan. Alvarado does not have the subtlety or cunning of Cortés. He does not understand Moctezuma and takes the celebration of the annual festival of toxcatl for a possible rebellion. Without hesitation, the crude soldier orders the assassination of the 400 nobles and relatives gathered in a hall of the Axayácatl palace. The outraged Aztecs besiege the Spanish, depriving them of water and food. On June 25, Cortés returns to a silent and threateningly calm city. He meets with Moctezuma and agrees to release Cuitláhuac so that he can calm the rioters led by Cuauhtémoc, the tlatoani's nephew. But the freed prince joins the rebels and the situation becomes very compromised. Moctezuma tries to calm things down, but is stoned to death by his subjects. He would die on the 29th, it is not known if from those wounds or at the hands of the Spanish. On the 30th, the captain general decides to make an exit and break the fence to escape. In that action, known as the "Sad Night", more than 700 Spaniards and thousands of Indians allied with them died.
The disastrous conquerors seek refuge in Tlaxcala, where Cortés regroups his forces, begins the construction of two brigantines and receives spontaneous reinforcements from captains and adventurers who arrive after the gold from Mexico. The reconquest is an open military expedition that extends from September 1520 to August 1521. In the first six months. Cortés expels the Aztecs from the eastern zone and on December 31 enters Texcoco. He slowly surrounds the lagoon through Cuernavaca, Xochimilco and Coyohuacán to lay siege to Tenochtitlán on June 9, 1520. The defenders, commanded by Cuauhtémoc, give way until they are annihilated on the island of Tlaltelolco. His chief will be executed in 1522, after being pardoned and conspiring again against Cortés. This, victorious, proposes to Carlos V to baptize those lands with the name of New Spain of the Ocean Sea.
The Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca
Despite the many accusations that had come to court against Hernán Cortés, the king appointed him governor and captain general of New Spain , although cutting the powers of him with the designation of various royal officials. Widowed after the death of Catalina in November 1522, the conqueror wrote two years later his famous Ordinances, in which he gave rules for relations with the Indians, the defense of the territory, evangelization and the promotion of the economy. Shortly after, he must go to Hibueras (Honduras) to put down the rebellion of Cristóbal de Olid and, in his absence, the overseer Peramil de Cherino seizes power, believing him dead. This coincides with the arrival of Mr. Luis Ponce de León, who comes to sue the Captain General for residence. He dies shortly after disembarking, as does his successor Marcos de Aguilar. It is whispered that Cortés is the author of both deaths, and the new inspector, Alonso de Estrada, decides to send him to Spain to avoid greater evils.
Once again Carlos V ignored the gossip and showered the conqueror with honors.
He grants him the title of Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca and arranges his wedding with a high-ranking lady, Doña Juana de Zúñiga. He also maintains the position of captain general, although the effective government of New Spain remains in the hands of the new Court of Mexico. Cortés returns to his marquisate, where he will spend ten years dedicated to promoting agriculture and livestock and organizing expeditions to the Gulf of California. In 1535 his only legitimate son, Martín Cortés, was born, and in 1540 he returned to Spain to participate the following year in a disastrous imperial raid on Algiers. He will die in 1547, continuing to raise claims and requests to the emperor he admired.