Life of Hernán Cortes

 Borned on 1485 in a Medellin family.

 Studied law.
 Joined Diego De Valazquez to capture Cuba.
 Became mayor of Santiago
 He is an explorer.
 Spanish conquistador .
 Died on Dec. 2, 1547.
 I am
Exploration Velazquez
the Cuban
governor.
Year 1581

 Velazquez gave Cortes the permmision to commend an

expedition to Mexico.
 Velazquez cancelled the expedition due to Cortes’
ambition and refuse to follow order.
 Cortes continued his journey even when Velazquez
cancel it.
Explore Yucatan
Year 1519
 Sail Westward with 11 ships.
 Landed at Yucatan Coastline.
 Learned that Aztec Empire is very wealthy.
 Decide to advance against the Aztec.
 At the capital of Tenochtitlan he took Aguilar and a
mistress for translating the Aztec and Mayan
language.
Capital of Tenochtitlan
 On the way to Aztec he defeated other tribes such as
Tlaxcalans.
 Formed alliances with Tlaxcalans.
 Created bigger forces with the native.
 My name is
Montezuma I
fear Cortes
Aztec Empire
 Montezuma is the Aztec leader.
 He is feared that Cortes will conquer his land.
 He tried to stop Cortes by sending him gifts.
 Montezuma believe that Cortes is the “white god”
according to the aztec prophecy.
 Montezuma offer gifts such as precious stones and
feather ware.
 He ordered his steward to offer Cortes some blood on
straw to show respect.
Aztec Empire
 Cortes scared the Aztec by showing them powerful
item. Such as…
 Since the Aztec has no resistant over Cortes, he
defeated the Aztec army swiftly.
 By 1519 – Cortes successfully entered Aztec capital and
imprisoned Montezuma.
Arresting Cortes
 In 1520 Velazquez sent Narvaez to arrest Cortes of
Cortes’ greed and ambitions.
 Cortes let Alvarado in charge of his 200 soldiers while
he went to capture Narvaez.
 He successfully captured Narvaez and convinced the
survivors to join his force.
War Breakout
 Alvarado treated the Aztec harshly.
 He ordered a massacre.
 Foods and drinks were shortage.
Open War Breakout
 Tension rises and Aztecs revolted.
 Cortes forced Montezuma to persuade his people but
instead he was killed by hail of stones and arrows.
 The Spanish started to flee the city because the Aztec
were angry with the dead of Montezuma II.
Mexico City
 2 years later, Cortes came back to Mexico.
 He rebuild and bring in more Spanish colonists.
 He renamed the Aztec city as “ Mexico City”.
 In 1523, Cortes lost his power and went back to Spain.
 In 1547, he died in Seville Spain.
Thank You