Hernan (Hernando, Fernando) Cortes de Monroy (born 1485 - death December 2, 1547) Spanish conquistador, that is, the conqueror. In his younger years, he served in the Spanish troops in Cuba. He led a campaign to Mexico, which led to the conquest of vast territories and the establishment of Spanish rule there. For a time he was essentially the ruler of Mexico.
Origin. Key dates
Origin - from a family of poor, but noble hidalgo. He studied for two years at the University of Salamanca, but preferred a military career. 1504 - moved to Hispaniola, 1510-1514 took part in the expedition to conquer Cuba led by Diego de Velazquez. 1519-1521 on his own initiative undertook the conquest of Mexico. 1522-1526 served as captain-general of the newly formed colony of New Spain, but because of a fierce struggle for power in 1528 he returned to Europe. the title of Marquis of Oaxaca was granted to him by King Charles V in 1529 1530 - Cortes returned to Mexico with the rank of military governor, but no longer having real power. 1540 - returned to Europe forever, took part in an unsuccessful campaign against Algeria in 1541. He died and was buried in Spain, in 1566 the ashes were transferred to Mexico.
How it all began
1518 - a Spanish detachment under the command of Juan Grijalva, having sailed from Cuba, after several unsuccessful attempts to land on the shores of the Yucatan Peninsula, heard from the local Indians about "Mexico City" - a country with a lot of gold. Soon the Spaniards were able to make sure that they were not deceived: the messengers of the supreme leader of the Aztecs who inhabited Mexico, offered them a lot of gold products in exchange for their goods. The Spanish soldiers took advantage of the gullibility of the natives and collected rich booty in a short time.
Continuing sailing in the waters of Central America, the Grihalva expedition discovered a small archipelago. On one of the islands, the Spaniards saw how the priests with stone knives cut the victims' breasts and tore out hearts as a gift to their deities. So the first meetings with a previously unknown civilization took place. A short expedition by Juan Grijalva discovered Mexico. However, another adventurer had to conquer it …
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Marine Expedition Cortez
Upon the return of Grijalva's detachment, Cuban Governor Diego de Velazquez decided to conquer Mexico. Equipping a whole fleet for this, he appointed the head of the expedition hidalgo Hernan Cortez. Describing it, the historian of the conquest of "New Spain" Bernal Diaz wrote: "He had little money, but a lot of debts." But this is a very subjective characteristic. According to the biographers of Cortés, Hernán Fernando, Cortés was the son of a landowner. He was born in the city of Medellin (province of Extremadura, in southern Spain). He studied at the Faculty of Law of the famous University of Salamanca and, although he did not complete the full course, received an education rare for the Spanish conquistadors of that era.
The young, ambitious hidalgo did not see opportunities for realizing his abilities at home. At the age of 19, Cortez set out on a ship across the Atlantic Ocean to seek wealth and fame in the New World. 1504 - He ended up in the West Indies. Things were going well for Cortez at first: he became a landowner and, possessing the exquisite manners of a Spanish grandee, won the favor of the governor of the island of Cuba, Diego de Velazquez.
Having gained confidence in him, Hernan Cortez was able to get the position of Velazquez's secretary, and soon he married his sister. Contemporaries considered Cortez to be a dandy and a bogeyman, paying tribute to his attractive appearance, subtle knowledge of etiquette and great personal charm. Sincere religiosity was combined with these qualities, as well as a sharp mind, audacity, courage, cunning and cruelty, contempt for danger and disregard for the cultural values of indigenous peoples.
By the time of his first campaign, Cortez was acting as mayor of the city of Santiago. If he had financial difficulties, they did not embarrass the hidalgo, who turned out to be a true passionate: dreams of exploits and glory made him easily solve material problems. For example, when it came time to recruit a team for the expedition, Cortez mortgaged his estate and began recruiting soldiers with the money received from the usurers. He promised the newly minted conquerors heaps of gold, rich estates and native slaves.
With a detachment of 500 soldiers armed with muskets and more than 100 sailors, even with a few guns, Cortez set about loading supplies and crew. On his ships, in addition to soldiers and sailors, 16 horses were placed. Horses were necessary for the conquistadors not only as a means of transport, but also to intimidate the natives, who did not know cattle breeding and had never seen armed four-legged people, as the Spanish horsemen seemed to them.
Meeting of Cortez and Moctezuma
Seeing the successful preparations of Cortez for the campaign and knowing his adventurous nature, vigilant officials reported to the governor that Cortez intended to conquer Mexico not for the Spanish crown, but for himself. Velazquez tried to displace Cortez and hold back the fleet, but the daring hidalgo set sail and went to sea. The pilot was an experienced sailor Anton Alaminos, a participant in the voyage of Christopher Columbus.
Cortez's contacts with the local population began even before arriving in Mexico, during a stop on the island of Cozumel.
The first clashes with the Indians showed that the Spaniards were dealing with brave warriors, who, moreover, had a large numerical superiority. It was here that Cortez needed horses. When the Spaniards landed on the southern coast of the Campeche Gulf, in the Tabasco country, Cortes met with serious resistance from the native troops. Even artillery could not frighten them. But the fate of the battle was decided by the "centaurs": the attack of 16 Spanish cavalry sowed panic horror in the ranks of the Indians. The local leaders, the Caciques, sent the conquerors the supplies they required and several young women. One of them, named Malinal, became a friend of Cortez and a translator. In the chronicles, she appears as dona Marina. She also found a place in works of art (for example, in the novel by R. Haggard "The Daughter of Montezuma").
The first successes did not turn the head of the cunning hidalgo. Cortez was well aware that the fear of firearms and mounted warriors is a temporary phenomenon, and the armed forces of the Aztecs are too great. It was necessary to gain a foothold and attract the natives to their side. On the coast of the mainland, the Spaniards built the city of Veracruz. With the help of dona Marina, Cortes was able to win over to his side the leaders of the local tribes, oppressed by the Aztecs. The Tlaxcalans, Indians from the country of Tlaxcala, rendered the greatest support to the Spaniards. Acting on the principle "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," they provided the conquerors with tens of thousands of soldiers, guides and porters. Now the army of Cortez was at least commensurate with the army of Montezuma - the supreme leader of Mexico.
Spaniards in Tenochitlan
Montezuma, the supreme leader of the Aztecs (some of the authors called him emperor), not daring to enter into armed conflict with the conquerors, tried to buy them off with gold and jewelry. But, not knowing the nature of the Europeans, by this he only whetted the appetites of the Spaniards. Seeing that the conquistadors are even more striving to seize his capital Tenochtitlan, Montezuma was confused and lost the will to resist: he called on the soldiers to repulse the enemy, and in case of failure, he simply renounced them. It ended with the fact that, with his consent, the Spaniards entered Tenochtitlan.
What he saw amazed the conquistadors. If they were more educated, they would have taken the city for the capital of the legendary Atlantis. Tenochtitlan was on an island in the middle of an artificial salt lake. Montezuma and his retinue gave the Spaniards a solemn welcome. Bernal Diaz wrote: “… we could not believe our eyes. On the one hand, on land - a number of large cities, and on the lake - a number of others … and before us is the great city of Mexico City, and we are only 400 soldiers! Were there such men in the world who would show such daring courage?"
The soldier was housed in a luxurious palace. Searching the interior, the Spaniards discovered a walled-up storeroom full of precious stones and gold. But the cunning hidalgo, accustomed to not trusting anyone, and especially yesterday's adversary, understood the current situation well: he was isolated with people and surrounded in a strange city. Cortez had a bold plan: when he invited the emperor to his residence, he was taken hostage and chained. After which Cortes became the de facto ruler of the Aztec state. He renamed Tenochtitlan Mexico City and began issuing orders on behalf of Montezuma. By forcing the leaders of the Aztecs to swear allegiance to the Spanish king, he made them tributaries to the crown.
But the discovered wealth haunted the Spaniards. All the gold items were melted down into ingots, and three large heaps were formed, which melted quickly. The officers and soldiers demanded a division, which ended, of course, in favor of Cortez.
At that time, Governor Velazquez sent a squadron of Panfilo Narvaez on the trail of Cortez, who received the order to capture Cortez and his soldiers "alive or dead". Upon learning that the pursuers were already in Veracruz, Cortez left a group in Mexico City to guard Montezuma and set out to meet Narvaez. Ahead of him, he sent envoys, whose outfits were hung with gold. This "psychic attack" worked. When Cortez's detachment attacked the enemy positions, Narvaez's men began to cross over to his side in droves. Narvaez was taken prisoner, officers and soldiers surrendered voluntarily.
Cortes sent several ships of Narvaeza to the north to survey the Mexican coast, returned weapons, horses and property to those who surrendered, significantly increasing his army. He did this in a timely manner, since in 1520 almost all of Mexico revolted. Cortez's detachment (1,300 soldiers, 100 horsemen and 150 riflemen), which was supplemented by 2,000 Tlaxcalans, entered the capital without hindrance. But the Mexicans every day attacked the Spaniards, among whom hunger, strife and despondency began. When Cortez ordered Montezuma to go to the roof of the palace and by his order to stop the assault so that the Spaniards could leave the city, the Mexicans threw stones at both the enemies and the royal traitor. The supreme leader of the Aztecs, Montezuma, was killed with a well-aimed arrow. It is possible that this was done by his relative, Prince Kuautemok.
1520, July - the Spaniards, left virtually without supplies and water, decided to leave the capital at night. But the Mexicans were well prepared and attacked the enemy on a portable bridge thrown over the canal. The bridge collapsed … The Aztec gods received an abundant sacrifice of 900 Spaniards and 1300 Tlascalans. The surviving Spaniards, reaching the shore of the lake, were forced to retreat to Tlaxcalo.
Fall of Tenochtitlan
1521 - Cortez, with an army from the Spanish "guard" and 10,000 allied Indians, again approached the walls of Tenochtitlan. Skillfully using the enmity between the tribes, he defended the Mexican tributaries from the Aztec troops, allowed the Tlaxcalans to plunder the Aztec villages, and with this kind of methods won a reputation as a wise and just ruler. Having built the simplest ships, the people of Cortez took possession of the lake. Tenochtitlan became a besieged fortress.
After the death of Montezuma, his young relative Cuautemoc, a brave warrior and talented military leader, was elected the supreme leader of the Aztecs. But even his outstanding abilities and the resilience of the besieged Mexicans could not withstand the cunning and cunning of Cortez. The Spaniards cut off the capital from the outskirts, destroyed the city water supply system, and set fire to buildings with burning arrows. The city was desperately defending itself for more than 3 months. But the landing of the Spaniards poisoned the wells, and the situation of the besieged became hopeless.
When the city fell, only women and children remained alive in it, since, according to B. Diaz, “… almost the entire adult male population, not only of Mexico City, but also of the surrounding area, died here”. The last emperor of the Aztecs, Kuautemok, was taken prisoner. He was persuaded for a long time to accept Spanish citizenship, promised estates and titles, severely tortured and blackmailed, but he remained adamant and in 1525 he was executed secretly from the Indians.
So Mexico was conquered. The Spaniards captured all the treasures of the Aztecs. The indigenous population was enslaved. The territory was covered with the estates of the Spanish colonialists. The population of the country has sharply decreased due to wars and infectious diseases previously unknown to the Indians, introduced by the Spaniards - measles, mumps, chickenpox and others, relatively safe for Europeans, but fatal for the aborigines of America, who did not have immunity …
After the fall of Mexico City, Cortez continued to expand the borders of New Spain, for which troops were sent out in all directions. He himself went to the northeast and finally conquered the country of the Aztecs, capturing the Panuco River basin, where he built a fortress and left a strong garrison.
Discovery of Guatemala and hike to Honduras
To the southeast of the capital, Hernán Cortes sent a detachment of Gonzalo Sandoval, who during the expedition discovered the mountainous region of Oaxaca, inhabited by the Zapotecs, and reached the Pacific Ocean west of the Tehuantepec Bay. There, the Spaniards faced unforeseen difficulties. While it was easy to conquer the low-lying areas, the Zapotec mountaineers stubbornly resisted. The Spanish cavalry could not climb high in the mountains (South Sierra Madre), and these places were almost inaccessible for the infantry. But the conquistador Pedro Alvarado discovered the Tehuantepec Isthmus, after which his detachment discovered and formally subjugated the Chiapas region in the basin of the Grijalva and Usumacinta rivers to Spain, as well as South Guatemala, the highest mountainous country in Central America. In total, by the end of 1524, the Spaniards passed the Pacific coast of Central America with a length of about 4000 km.
Cortez more than once heard from sailors that Honduras was rich in gold and silver, and sent a detachment of Cristobal Olida on 5 ships there for reconnaissance. Six months later, denunciations began to arrive in Mexico City that Olid took possession of Honduras for his own personal interests. Cortez sent a second flotilla there, but all of its ships sank during the storm, and the surviving part of the crew, led by Francisco Las Casas, surrendered to Olida. But that was a trick. To carry out Cortez's order, Las Casas and Gil Avila conspired, arrested Olida, tried and executed the separatist. The people of Olida recognized the power of Cortez.
General scheme of Cortez's campaign in 1519. The sea part is highlighted in red
Lacking information from Honduras, Cortez went there by dry route. Leaving Mexico City in October 1524 with a detachment of 250 veterans and several thousand Mexicans, Cortez decided to go to Honduras by the shortest route, leaving Yucatan to the north. But for this the detachment took more than half a year. The supplies were out, the people were feeding on the roots. Building bridges to the waist in water, they felled forest and drove in piles. People suffered from tropical rainstorms, humid heat and malaria. By the beginning of May 1525, the thinned detachment reached the coast of the Gulf of Honduras. In the city of Trujillo, founded by F. Las Casas, a malaria patient, Cortez got barely alive. He was able to return to Mexico City only in June 1526.
During his absence, Spain received many denunciations, and the king appointed a new governor, who in 1527 exiled Cortes to Spain. Considering the merits of the hidalgo to the crown, the king forgave him true and fictitious misconduct, awarded him rich estates, gave him the title of Marquis del Valle de Oaxaca and the post of captain-general of New Spain and the South Sea. But to govern the country, the king established a college headed by Nuno Guzman. This official was the most ferocious ruler of the occupied lands. Under him, the conversion of the Indians into slavery reached an unprecedented scale, and the province of Panuco almost became depopulated, for which Guzman was removed from power.
Discovery of the California Peninsula
1527 Hernán Cortes sent the first expedition to the South Sea (Pacific Ocean) on three small vessels. It was headed by Cortés' cousin Alvaro Saavedra. He received the assignment "to go to Moluccas or China to find out the direct route to the homeland of … spices." Saavedra set out on October 31, 1527. He did not return to Mexico, but made a number of discoveries in a completely different region of the Earth - Oceania. Cortez learned about his fate only in the mid-1530s.
In 1532-1533. Hernan Cortez organized two expeditions to search for a strait supposedly connecting two oceans, but they ended in the loss of ships and the death of crews.
1535, spring - despite all the setbacks, Cortes equipped and led a new expedition on three ships in order to search for pearls and organize a colony. Having landed in the "pearl" bay of La Paz, he called this land "Island of the Holy Cross" and from here sent ships for colonists and supplies, since the natives lived only by fishing and gathering. But it took a long time to wait for their return.
Most of the colonists were sick from heat and infections, including Cortez himself. Leaving the new colony, in the spring of 1537 he again organized an expedition on three ships under the command of Andres Tapia, who was able to explore the mainland coast of the Gulf of California for another 500 km.
More successful was the last expedition of Hernan Cortés, led by Francisco Ulloa, who went along the entire mainland coast and reached the top of the bay, which he called the Crimson Sea because of the red runoff of the Colorado River that he discovered, which flows into the bay. Ulloa climbed several kilometers up it and at the mouth of the river discovered a huge herd of sea lions. Then he passed 1200 km of the western coast of the Gulf of California, rounded the southern tip of the peninsula and moved along the western Pacific coast.
What is the result of Cortez's activities in the New World?
Starting in 1518, Hernan Fernando Cortez, leading detachments numbering from two hundred to several thousand people, was able to conquer Mexico and Guatemala, organized 7 expeditions that discovered the western shores of New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, the Admiralty and part of the Carolina, explored 2000 km of the Pacific coast Central America, the Revilla-Jihedo archipelago was discovered, the Western Sierra Madre mountains and the Colorado River were discovered, 1000 km of the coast of the California Peninsula were traced and the Pacific Ocean was crossed along the equator.
Cortez's literary legacy consists of his letters to the king, which are highly regarded by experts in the fine literature of the era of the great geographical discoveries. After returning to Spain (1540), Cortez commanded a squadron for some time, and then settled in his estate near Seville. The great conquistador died in 1547 and 15 years later was reburied in Mexico City, at the place of the first meeting with Montezuma. In honor of Hernan Cortez, 7 cities, a bay and a seashore are named.
N. Dorozhkin