Hernando Cortés

1. Hernando Cortés Cameron Stowe CSC 101 | SCSU Summer 2005

2. … the Early Years … Hernando Cortés was born in 1485 to a Medellan family, a family of minor nobility, in southwestern Spain. Much of his childhood was spent in familial nature until the age of 19, where be briefly took interest in law. He then made the decision to flea Spain for America in seek of bigger fortunes. After many years as a common farmer, Cortés made the decision to join Velazquez’s crusade to conquer Cuba in 1511. Upon the seize and capture of Cuba, Cortés would move up in the armed forces and became the mayor of Santiago.

3. The Battles begin.. In February of 1519, Cortés took a fleet of 11 to the Yucatan Peninsula, and had little trouble gaining control of the natives. From that point, he decided he would next bring on the Aztec tribes of central and northern Mexico. All of these conquests only served to supplement his army. Cortés, to ensure that no one would try and back out on their crusades, burned the ships they come over in so that the only means of transportation was by foot.

4. Cortés continued his battles up the Mexican countryside, befriending his foes and then eventually seizing power from them to supplement his army. In November of 1519, Cortés and his army seized and captured Montezuma, the principal city of the Aztec territory. The opposing side gave little resistance due to the displacement of a myth they had believed for thousands of years. Another factor that also played in Cortés’ favor was that the Aztecs had never seen modern-day firearms, so they weren’t prepared. All of Montezuma was imprisoned. A year later, a revolt would occur only leading to the fall of Montezuma.

5. Years and many battles later, Cortés led another crusade to Honduras in 1524, with shaking support from Spanish royalty. In 1528, the King of Spain withdrew his funds for Cortés adventures, and ordered him to return to Spain. In 1536, Cortés chartered an expedition to later discover the modern day city of Baja, California. Cortés then tried to charter a trip to the Seven Cities of Cibola, but was denied access by the King, who later appointed F. Vazquez de Coronado for the task. (1539) Cortés was to remain in Spain.

6. In the End Cortés’ battles came easily and with minimal effort. That is the fact that seems common place throughout his entire tenure as a crusader. The most striking characteristic about Hernando Cortés was his quick ability to defeat his enemies due to his charm of befriending his enemies first, and then killing them. Cortés showcased the pinnacle of strategies and built up his armed forces with each new victory. This opened up the Western world to further European colonization and influences, most of which STILL have an impact on how things are in the present day.