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In 1519 Hermando Cortes sailed from Cuba to Mexico with one hundred ten mariners, five hundred and fifty-three soldiers, ten canon and sixteen horses. Over the next three years, he defeated an empire composed of some five million people. His victory was one of the most spectacular military exploits in history.

 

In his pursuit of glory, Cortes not only had to defeat the formidable Aztec empire, but also fend off a competitive Spanish force under the aegis of Diego de Velasquez, who was apprehensive over Cortes’s ambitions. 

 

After his troops landed on the Yucatan coastline, Cortes burnt his eleven boats in order to instill in his men their need to conquer or die. His troops destiny was firmly intertwined with the ambitions of Cortes to become a great conquistador (Conquorer). 

 

Cortes proved himself to be both an astute military leader and diplomat. He quickly forged alliances with many of the subjected tribes who despised their Aztec overloads. Frequently, Cortes needed to defeat a tribe before they joined his alliance. From these tribes, he learned that inland, at the Aztec capital of Tenochtitian, were large stores of silver and gold. As Cortes neared Tenochtitian, he also exploited the Aztec myth of a light skinned, bearded god-king name Quetzalcoati, who according to legend, had taught the Aztecs about agriculture and government and whose return they were to welcome with great ceremony.

 

Montezuma, the Aztec chief, and his successors tried to stop Cortes, but their defenses lacked tenacity both because of the Quetzalcoati legend, which dictated that the Aztecs welcome the return of the “white god,” the fear generated by Spanish horses and firearms, and Cortes’s deft alliances with the mistreated subjects of the Aztecs. At first, the Aztecs were not certain whether men on horseback constituted one or two beings. The horses further added the deification myth associated with the “white men.”  With very little resistance, Cortes entered the capital on November 18, 1519 and imprisoned Montezuma. Historical evidence remains unclear whether Montezuma died from stones thrown by his disgruntled followers or the Spanish. 

 

Cortes had begun to gather treasures of his conquest of the Aztecs when word reached him that a Spanish army under Panfilo de Narvaez had landed at Vera Cruz Mexico with orders from Velasquez to arrest Cortes because of the latter’s insubordination in exceeding his orders.  Cortes with some 200 hundred troops captured Narvaez, and convinced the survivors to join him. Cortes then returned to Mexico City, defeated the remaining Aztec warriors, and established a Spanish Colony.

 

Historical records accurately record Spanish cruelty toward their subjects. However, the widespread human sacrifice conduced by the Aztecs undermined their authority. On special feast days, thousands of subjugated Indians were slaughtered. The flesh of victims was given to their patron God of war.