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Cortes and the Aztecs

Learn about Hernán Cortés' journey, conquest of Mexico, alliances, and controversies. Explore Aztec culture, diseases, human sacrifices, and the fall of Tenochtitlan.

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Cortes and the Aztecs

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  1. Cortes and the Aztecs Genocide

  2. Childhood • At the age of 14, Cortés was sent to study at the University of Salamanca in west-central Spain. This was Spain's great center of learning. • He learned Law and Latin • helped him to justify his unauthorized conquest of Mexico

  3. His time in the New World He listened to the tales of those returning from the Indies, who told of discovery and conquest, gold, Indians and strange unknown lands. left for Hispaniola in 1504 where he became a colonist in 1506, Cortés took part in the conquest of Hispaniola and Cuba, receiving a large estate of land and Indian slaves for his efforts from the leader of the expedition.

  4. His time in the New World • He listened to the tales of those returning from the Indies, who told of discovery and conquest, gold, Indians and strange unknown lands. • left for Hispaniola in 1504 where he became a colonist

  5. Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar • a Spanish conquistador. He conquered and governed Cuba for Spain. • He initially backed Hernán Cortés's famous expedition to Mexico. However when Cortés tried to seize and claim Mexico for himself. Velázquez charged Cortés with exceeding his authority and ordered Pánfilo de Narváez to arrest him. Cortés defeated Narvaez's troops in a surprise attack and persuaded the survivors to join him. Thus Velázquez saw none of the riches which came from Mexico

  6. Conquest of Mexico • 1518- Velázquez put him in charge, but revoked his charter • Cortés ignored the orders and went ahead anyway, in February 1519, in an act of open mutiny

  7. Conquest of Mexico • Mutiny- open rebellion against constituted authority • Supplies- 11 ships, 500 men, 13 horses and a small number of cannons, he landed in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mayan territory

  8. La Malinche or Dona Marina • Through her help, Cortés learned from the Tabascans about the wealthy Aztec Empire and its riches. • She was one of twenty slaves given to Cortés by the natives of Tabasco in 1519 • La Malinche or Doña Marina- his future mistress and mother of his child Martín. • Malinche knew both the (Aztec) Nahuatl language and Maya, thus enabling Hernán Cortés to communicate in both.

  9. On the way to the Capital City • Corez marched on Tenochtitlan in mid-August 1519, along with 600 men, 15 horsemen, 15 cannons, and hundreds of indigenous carriers and warriors • fearing native treachery, infamously massacred thousands of unarmed members of the nobility gathered at the central plaza, then partially burned the city.

  10. At the Capital City • On November 8, 1519, they were peacefully received by the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II, due to Mexican tradition and diplomatic customs.

  11. A God? • Considered by the Aztecs to be either an emissary of the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl or Quetzalcoatl himself • The patron god of the Aztec priesthood, of learning and knowledge

  12. Prisoner • decided to take Moctezuma as a hostage in his own palace, requesting him to swear allegiance to Charles V.

  13. King Charles I of Spain, who had become Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1519, appointed Cortés as governor, captain general and chief justice of the newly conquered territory, dubbed "New Spain” • Cortés was one of the first Spaniards to attempt to grow sugar in Mexico and one of the first to import African slaves to early colonial Mexico. At the time of his death his estate contained at least 200 slaves who were either native Africans or of African descent

  14. Aztec Culture • spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries • ethnic groups of central Mexico • agricultural basis of maize cultivation • the calendric system of a xiuhpohualli of 365 day

  15. Disease • In 1520–1521, an outbreak of smallpox swept through the population of Tenochtitlan and was decisive in the fall of the city. It is estimated that between 10% and 50% of the population fell victim to this epidemic

  16. Human Sacrifice • It was extreme in the Aztec Culture • For example, for the re-consecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed 84,400 prisoners over the course of four days

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