By Chandler McKinney
 Hernando Cortes was born in 1485
 He was born in the kingdom of Castile in the city of
Medellin Spain
 He had an upper class family though his parents
weren’t wealth. He was also the families only son.
Left is a picture of a home in Spain.
Right is a castle of old Spain.
 At the age of 14 his parents sent him to the University
of Salamanca to study law
 At school he learned a little Latin and became good at
writing.
 After 2 years he had failed school and went home
where he was not happy. He heard about the “New
World” and wanted to be a part of it.
Pictures of the Salamanca school
 In 1504 Hernan boarded a ship commanded by Alonso
Quintero, heading for the west.
 Alonso wanted to keep the treasure for himself so he
tried to sneak away but he was unsuccessful.
 When Hernan reached Hispaniola which is now The
Dominican Republic and Haiti. He was granted a piece
of land but did not settle down. He was often in the
military, supervising native uprisings.
Pictures of Hispaniola and early villages in Hispaniola
 Mexico was just newly discovered when Hernan Cortes
was allowed to lead a small expedition to explore.
 The governor cancelled the expedition but Hernan
went any ways and on February 18 1519. He was 34 year
old when he left.
 He landed in Yucatán and met Jeronimo de Aguilar a
Franciscan priest who knew Mayan area.
Pictures of Yucatan Mexico and a Mayan temple.
 While in Mexico Cortes met his future wife who Mayan
and their language.
 He took his men to Veracruz to search for gold, money
and power.
 He said he was acting under the control of Emperor
Charles V. but, he was actually taking control of land
and wealth
Pictures of Veracruz Mexico and Hernan
meeting a Mayan solider
 Hernan Cortes was to become the governor of New Spain,
which is what his new territory was arrogantly called. He
was constantly seeking to get power, increase his wealth,
and put down his enemies.
 But in 1526 he was suspended in his role as Governor. He
retained much of his power, but was increasingly opposed
by his enemies.
 Suspected of poisoning new leadership, he returned to
Spain in 1528. He would never be governor again.
 Cortès marched on Tenochtitlan in mid-August 1519, along with
600 men, 15 horsemen, 15 cannons,
 On the way to Tenochtitlan, Cortés made alliances with native
American tribes such as the Nahuas of Tlaxcala, the Tlaxcaltec,
who surrounded the Spanish and about 2,000 porters.
 By the time he arrived in Tenochtitlan the Spaniards had a large
army. On November 8, 1519, they were peacefully received by the
Aztec Emperor Montezuma II, due to Mexican tradition and
diplomatic customs. Montezuma deliberately let Cortés enter the
heart of the Aztec Empire, hoping to get to know their
weaknesses better and to crush them later.
Pictures of Tenochtitlan City
 Cortés left 200 men in Tenochtitlan and took the rest to
confront Narvaez. He overcame Narvaez, despite his
numerical inferiority, and convinced the rest of Narvaez's
men to join him.
 On July 1, 1520 and Cortés decided to flee for Tlaxcala.
During the night the Spaniards managed a narrow escape
from Tenochtitlan across the causeway, while their back
guard was being massacred.
 They managed to reach Tlaxcala, after having lost 870 men.
With the assistance of their allies, Cortés's men finally
prevailed with reinforcements arriving from Cuba. Cortés
began cutting of supplies to the city.
Hernan Cortes leaving Tenochtitlan while fighting the Mayan people
 On 13 August 1521, the Aztec Empire disappeared, and
Cortés was able to claim it for Spain, thus renaming the city
Mexico City. From 1521 to 1524, Cortés personally governed
Mexico.
 Cortés made the construction of Mexico City, destroying
Aztec temples and buildings and then rebuilding on the
Aztec ruins what soon became the most important
European city in the Americas. Cortés managed the
founding of new cities and appointed men to extend
Spanish rule to all of New Spain.
 He also supported efforts to convert the indigenous people
to Christianity and sponsored new explorations
The fall of Tenochtitlan and
Hernan beginning his first day as
governor of Mexico City
 Having spent a great deal of his own money to finance
expeditions, he was now heavily in debt. In February
1544 he made a claim on the royal treasury, but was
given a royal runaround for the next three years.
Disgusted, he decided to return to Mexico in 1547.
When he reached Seville, he was stricken with
dysentery. He died in Castile de la Cutest, Seville
province, on December 2, 1547, from a case of a lung
disease at the age of 62.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernan_Cortes
 http://www.aztec-history.com/hernan-cortez-
biography.html
 http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/hernando-
cortes.htm