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Full name: Hernan Cortes de Monroy y Pizarro Born: In 1485, Medelln, Extremadura, Spain. Died: In 1547, Castilleja de la Cuesta, Seville province, Spain.
Late Life Cortes took Montezuma prisoner and was able to rule through him. In 1521, he countered a conspiracy against him and when Cuauhtmoc, ruler of Tenochtitln, was captured, the Aztec empire collapsed and Cortes claimed it for Spain, renaming it Mexico city. In 1530, Cortes returned to Mexico, which was in anarchy. He was in debt from financing expeditions and again in 1547, wanted to return to Mexico but died when he was in Spain.
Middle Life In 1504, Cortes arrived in Santo Domingo, Hispaniola. He was made a notary and took part in the conquest of Hispaniola and Cuba. In 1518, governor of Cuba Diego Velzquez, put Cortes in command of an expedition to explore Mexico, but instead, Cortes set out to conquer the Aztec empire. He went to Tenochtitln, the Aztec capital, recognized as an emissary of Charles V by the Aztec leader Montezuma II.
Early Life Cortez was born to a family of lesser nobility. At the age 14, Cortes was sent to study at the University of Salamanca in west-central Spain. After two years, Cortez returned to Medelln. His time in Salamanca and as a notary, sufficed him with the knowledge the legal codes of Castile. By this time, news of the discoveries of Columbus in the New World was streaming back to Spain.
Hernan Cortes
A first shot at power
in 1506, Cortes 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.
Hernan Cortes studied at the University of Salamanca at age 14. He studied Law and Latin
In 1511, Cortes accompanied Velzquez in an expedition to conquer Cuba. He was appointed magistrate of Santiago. On one expedition, Velzquez was jealous of Cortes for gathering 6 ships and 300 men and tension started growing between them. When Velzquez put Cortes in charge of an expedition to explore Mexico in 1518, Cortes didnt' listen to him and revoked his charter.
Cortes began a policy of attrition towards the island city of Tenochtitln, cutting off supplies and subduing the Aztecs' allied cities thus changing the balance, and organizing the siege of Tenochtitln, destroying the city. the Aztec Empire disappeared, and Cortes was able to claim it for Spain and then renaming the city Mexico City. He played a major role in establishing New Spain.
Hernan Cortes initiated the construction of Mexico City and rebuilding on the Aztec ruins what would became the most important European city in the Americas. He managed the founding of new cities and appointed men to extend Spanish rule to all of New Spain, imposing the encomienda land tenure system in 1524. He also supported efforts to evangelize the indigenous people to Christianity and sponsored new explorations. He then spent the next seven years establishing peace among the Indians of Mexico and developing mines and farmlands. Hernan Cortes 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!
Hernan Cortes in Spain history
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hern%C3%A1n_Cort%C3%A9s http://www.answers.com/topic/hern-n-cort-s http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/cortes.html
