Hernan+Cortes

= Hernan Cortes =

Hernan Cortés’s background:
Hernan Cortes was born in 1485 in Medellin, Badajoz, and Extremadura, Spain from a poor family and he died in December 2nd, 1547 in Castile de la Costa, Seville Andalusia, Spain. The Spanish pronunciation is ernan kortes. At first he wanted to become a lawyer and studied law. But later he wanted to explore. He is the conqueror of Mexico. His reasons for going exploring to Mexico were mainly for gold and riches. He is mainly famous for his march across Mexico and for conquering of Aztec Empire in Mexico. His father was called Martin Cortes and his mother is called Catalina Pizarro Altamira. Hernan Cortes’s voyage:  He sailed for Spain. Hernan Cortés’s first voyage was in 1508. He first went to Hispaniola at the age of 19 in the Caribbean and then to Cuba. He led an expedition to Mexico. He went on 3 voyages. Mexico was his most successful voyage because he found what he wanted which was gold and riches in Mexico. Cortes sailed to Mexico with 11 ships. Cortes arrived in Mexico in 1519 with 600 men and few horses. His trip to Mexico: On his way to Tenochtitlan which is the capital city of Aztec, hi made friends with the native group called the Tlaxcala’s who are the enemies of the Aztec. When Cortes arrived in Tenochtitlan, they first thought he was the God. But later he was afraid that Montezuma might get rid of him so took Montezuma hostage and asked for gold and jewels. Cortes found out that it was true that the Tenochtitlan were trying to get rid of him. Later Cortes again went in the summer of 1521 to capture Tenochtitlan. And Cortes conquered the Aztec nation of 5 million with less than 1000 soldiers. Later after he conquered Aztec s he thought he was a good person to the Mexico, but it was wrong and he got kicked out by the natives. Random facts about Hernan Cortes:   Mexico has been discovered a year ago before Cortes went. At that time in Mexico, it was ruled by the Aztec Empire and its leader Montezuma II. Hernan Cortes lived during the period where lots of people went exploring. One of the city that he visited in Mexico which was unpleasant for him was called Veracruz.  The Aztec had a temple and it was to kill people that were caught in the war they had and they would take out their heart and stab athem in the stomach. then they would throw them down the stairs. The heart is going to be burnt, for the fire God they believed in. About Tlaxcala’s: The Tlaxcala was a group of people about 500 years ago. As Tlaxcala were the enemies of Aztec, they helped Henan Cortés fight in the war.