Hernan Cortes, the first Marquis of the valley of Oaxaca was born in 1485 in the town of Medellin, in modern day Extremadura, Spain, he was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the king of castle in the early 16<sup>th</sup> century. Cortes was part of the generation of Spanish colonizers that began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Cortes first arrival was in Santo Domingo in 1504, the capital of Hispaniola where he registered as a citizen which entitled him to a building plot and land to farm, Cortés was given an encomienda by Nicolas de ovando the governor of Hispaniola, and also made Cortés a notary of the town of Azua de compostela. In 1506, Cortés took part in the conquest of Hispaniola and Cuba, receiving a large estate of land and Indian slaves for his effort from the leader of the expedition.<!--more-->

Hernan Cortes in the year 1511 accompanied Diego Velázquez de cuellar in his expedition to conquer Cuba at the age of 26, at 26 Cortés was made clerk to the treasurer with the responsibility of ensuring that the crown received the quinto, or customary one fifth of the profits from the expedition. Cortes became secretary for  the governor Velazquez, Cortés was twice appointed municipal magistrate (alcalde) of Santiago, Cortés became a man of substance with an encomienda to provide Indian labor for his mines and cattle, the new position of power also made him the new source of leadership.

Cortes was appointed Captain – General of a new expedition in October 1518, but was advised to move fast before Velazquez changed his mind, whose relationship with Cortés stained due the Juan de Grijalva expedition made by Cortés establishing a colony on the mainland where there was a bonanza of silver and gold, and Cortés was the captain- general., with Cortés experience as an administrator, knowledge gained from many failed expeditions, and his impeccable rhetoric, he was able to gather six ships and 300 men, within a month. And this made Velazquez’s jealous and wanting to replace Cortés leadership of the expedition in other hands. Cortes began to look beyond his substantial status as a mayor of the capital of Cuba and as a man of affairs in the thriving colony.

Cortes in another expedition, the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire, in 1518 Valazquez put him in command of an expedition to explore and secure the interior of Mexico for colonization but due to the old gripe between Velázquez and Cortés, he changed his mind and revoked his charter but Cortés ignored the orders and went ahead anyway.  In February, 1519, in an act of open mutiny, Accompanied by about 11 ships, 500 men, 13 horses and a small number of cannons, he landed in the Yucatan peninsula in Mayan territory, there he encountered Geronimo de Aguilar, a Spanish Franciscan priest who translate the chontal Mayan language to Cortés. In March 1519, Cortés formally claimed the land for the Spanish crown, he stopped in Trinidad to hire more soldiers and obtain more horses. Then he proceeded to tabasco, where he met with resistance and won a battle against the natives. He received twenty young indigenous women from the vanquished natives and he converted them all to Christians, and among these women was La Malinche (Marina), his future mistress and mother of his child Martin, a woman who is likely responsible for much of the success Cortés had in communicating with the Mexican people.  .

The 1<sup>st</sup> Letter was likely written by Cortés early in 1519 after he has created a settlement in Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico, he bestowing gifts of elaborate gold and feather headdresses from the local people around Veracruz to Queen Dona Juana and King Don Carlos of Spain, and trying hard to justify his going around his superior officer Velazquez in Cuba. In July 1519, his men took over Veracruz by this act; Cortés dismissed the authority of the Governor of Cuba to place himself directly under the orders of Charles. In order to eliminate any ideas of retreat, Cortés scuttled his ships. In Veracruz, he met some of the tributaries of the Aztecs, and there he wrote the 2<sup>nd</sup> letter.

The 2<sup>nd</sup> Letter written by Cortés to the emperor Charles V describing the magnificent city found the “Temixitan” (Tenochtitlan), Cortés description of tenochitlan in letter 2 is full of wonder: gigantic market places full of people and foods and goods of all kinds, fresh water flowing in a canal from the mountains, and beautiful houses, and he then asked the Tenochtitlan to arrange a meeting with Montezuma 11, the tlatoani (ruler) of the Aztec empire. Moctezuma repeatedly turned down the meeting, but Cortés was determined, leaving a hundred men in Veracruz, Cortés marched on Tenochtitlan in mid-august 1519, along with 600 men, 15 horsemen, 15 cannons, and hundreds of indigenous carriers and warriors, On the way to Tenochtitlan Cortés made alliances with indigenous people such as the Nahuas of Tlaxcala and in October 1519, Cortés and his men, accompanied by about 3000 Tlaxcalteca, marched to Cholula, the second largest city in central Mexico. Cortes either in a pre-meditated effort to instill fear upon the Aztecs waiting for him at Tenochtitlan or (as he later claimed when under investigation) wishing to make an example when he feared native treachery, massacred thousands of unarmed members of the nobility gathered at the central plaza, then partially burned the city, Cortés took Moctezuma as a hostage in his own palace, indirectly ruling Tenochtitlan through him. On July 1, 1520 Moctezuma was killed (the Spaniards claimed he was stoned to death by his people; other claim he was murdered by the Spanish once they realized his inability to placate the locals.

Letter 3 follows the efforts of Cortés to surround and recapture the island capital Tenochtitlan, during the Noche Triste (30 June- 1 July 1520), the Spaniards managed a narrow escape from Tenochtitlan across the Tlacopan causeway, while their back guard was being massacred. Much of the treasure looted by Cortés was lost (as well as his artillery) during this panicked escape from Tenochtitlan, after a battle in Otumba, they managed to reach Tlaxcala, having lost 870 men. With the assistance of their allies, Cortés men finally prevailed with reinforcement arriving from Cuba. Cortes began a policy of attrition towards Tenochtitlan, cutting off supplies and subduing the Aztecs’ allied cities; clearly the people of the Tenochtitlan were starving and having trouble locating fresh water. Finally, after seventy five days and most of the city were under Spanish control, Guatimucin, the last “emperor” of the Aztecs was captured and the siege of Tenochtitlan ended with Spanish victory and the destruction of the city.

In January 1521, Cortés countered a conspiracy against him, headed by Antonio de Villafana, who was hanged for the offence. Finally with the capture of Cuannhtemoc, the Tlatoani (ruler) of Tenochtitlan, on 13 august 1521 the Aztecs empire disappeared, and Cortés was able to claim it for Spain, and thus renaming the city as Mexico City. Many historical sources have conveyed an impression that Cortés was unjustly treated by the Spanish crown, and that he received nothing but ingratitude for his role in establishing New Spain.

Letter 4, October 15, 1524, “Cortés personally was not ungenerously rewarded, but he speedily complained of insufficient compensation to himself and his comrades. Thinking himself beyond reach of restraint, he disobeyed many of the orders of the crown, and what was more imprudent in this letter Cortés besides recalling in a rather abrupt manner that the conquest of Mexico was due to him alone, deliberately acknowledges his disobedience in terms which could not fail to create a most unfavorable impression”, King Charles appointed Cortés as governor, captain general and chief justice of the newly conquered territory, dubbed “New Spain of the Ocean Sea”. But also, much to the dismay of Cortés, four royal officials were appointed at the same time to assist him in his governing- in effect, submitting him to close observation and administration. Cortes initiated the construction of Mexico, destroying Aztec temples and building and then rebuilding on the Aztec ruins what soon became the most important European city in the Americas. Cortes managed the funding of the 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 exploration.

Letter 5, from 1524-1526, Cortés headed an expedition to Honduras where he defeated Cristobel de Olid, who had claimed Honduras as his own under the influence of the Governor of Cuba Diego Velázquez, fearing that Cuauhtémoc might head an insurrection in Mexico, he brought him with him in Honduras and hanged him during the journey. Raging over Olid’s treason, Cortés issued a decree to arrest Velázquez whom he was sure was behind Olid’s treason. This, however, only served to further estrange the Crown of Castle and the Council of Indies, both of which were already beginning to feel anxious about Cortés rising power. On this fifth letter to King Charles Cortés attempts to justify his conduct, concludes with a bitter attack on “various and powerful rivals and enemies” who have “obscured the eyes of your majesty” Unfortunately, the Charles, who was also Holy Roman Emperor, had little time for distant colonies (much of Charles’s reign was taken up with wars with France, Germany Protestant and the expanding Ottoman Empire). The religious patriotism of Cortés takes the form of destroying any temples or religious shrines he should find and putting crosses and signs of the Virgin Mary in their place. Throughout the letters there is very little mention of the priest who accompanied his expedition, although pagden in his footnotes mentions that the priest attempted to stop him many times from his overt destruction of traditional Mexican religious artifacts as it definitely impede their attempts at peaceful conversion. Cortes also does not seem realize that much of the militant opposition he faces among the Indian population comes from this continual destruction of their traditional religious culture.

In conclusion, the five letters and the story behind Hernan Cortés shows a fascinating expedition by Cortés which cut across the entire Americas, a man who wanted to explore and conquer and dominate the entire America and this can be likened to a man full of “greed” and what t have it all, the only limit towards his expedition was illness and death.

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Question:
<ol>
	<li>What are the reasons that make the Crown of Castle and the Council of Indies to feel anxious about the Cortés rising power?</li>
	<li>What was the major event that took place in 13 August, 1521?</li>
</ol>
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Answers:
<ol>
	<li>a. When Cortes dismissed the authority of the governor of Cuba to place himself directly under the orders of King Charles.</li>
</ol>
b. When Cortés made a decree to arrest Velázquez who was his former Governor raging over Olid’s Treason.

2.  The total capture of the Aztecs Empire by Cortés for Spain.

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<b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Books Cited From</span></b>:

# The Social studies (2010) 101,232-235

Copyright Taylor &amp; Francis Group, LLC

ISSN: 0037-7996 print/2152-405X online.

# <a title="A Book Review of the Very First Historical Mexican Classic: Hernan Cortes. Letters from Mexico. " href="http://ehis.ebscohost.com.lsproxy.austincc.edu/ehost/viewarticle?data=dGJyMPPp44rp2%2fdV0%2bnjisfk5Ie41%2fOL8t%2fsRuvX54as2%2baH8eq%2bUa2oskewpq9LnqewUrCsuEqxlr9lpOrweezp33vy3%2b2G59q7RbensUu1rLFOtZzqeezdu33snOJ6u9e3gKTq33%2b7t8w%2b3%2bS7TbOpr0i1rbE%2b5OXwhd%2fqu37z4uqM4%2b7y&amp;hid=105">A Book Review of the Very First Historical Mexican Classic: Hernan Cortes.<b> Letters</b> from <b>Mexico</b>. </a> Full Text Available By: Pahl, Ron H. <i>Social Studies. </i>Nov/Dec2010, Vol. 101 Issue 6, p232-235. 4p. DOI: 10.1080/00377996.2010.524549.

Subjects: BOOKS -- Reviews; NONFICTION; HERNAN Cortes: <b>Letters</b> From <b>Mexico</b> (Book); PAGDEN, Anthony;CORTES, Hernan, 1485-1547.

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# Web: <a href="http://ehis.ebscohost.com.lsproxy.austincc.edu/ehost/results?sid=cecf5cda-6454-40e6-9cb9-995fb8de1699%40sessionmgr15&amp;v">http://ehis.ebscohost.com.lsproxy.austincc.edu/ehost/results?sid=cecf5cda-6454-40e6-9cb9-995fb8de1699%40sessionmgr15&amp;v</a>.

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# en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernán_Cortés