"Conquest: Postconquest Central Mexican History and Philology."" The key to understanding how considerable continuity of pre-Conquest indigenous structures was possible was the Spanish colonial utilization of the indigenous nobility. In the colonial era, the indigenous nobility were largely recognized as nobles by the Spanish colonial regime, with privileges including the noble Spanish title ""don"" for noblemen and ""doña"" for noblewomen. To this day, the title of Duke of Moctezuma is held by a Spanish noble family. A few of the indigenous nobility learned Spanish. Spanish friars taught indigenous tribes to write their own languages in Latin letters, which soon became"
"de las Banderas. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire began in February 1519 when Hernán Cortés arrived at the port in Veracruz with ca. 500 conquistadores. After taking control of that city, he moved on to the Aztec capital. In his search for gold and other riches, Cortés decided to invade and conquer the Aztec empire. When the Spaniards arrived, the ruler of the Aztec empire was Moctezuma II, who was later killed. His successor and brother Cuitláhuac took control of the Aztec empire, but was among the first to fall from the first smallpox epidemic in the area"
"Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, or the Spanish–Aztec War (1519–21), was the conquest of the Aztec Empire by the Spanish Empire within the context of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. It was one of the most significant and complex events in world history. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the events by Spanish conquerors, their indigenous allies and the defeated Aztecs. It was not solely a contest between a small contingent of Spaniards defeating the Aztec Empire but rather the creation of a coalition of Spanish invaders with tributaries to the"
"Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ""Conquistador"" who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of what is now mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish colonizers who began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Born in Medellín, Spain, to a family of lesser nobility, Cortés chose to pursue adventure and riches in"
"Francisco de Aguilar (conquistador) Francisco de Aguilar (1479 — 1571?), born Alonso de Aguilar, was a Spanish conquistador who took part in the expedition led by Hernán Cortés that resulted in the conquest of the Aztec Empire and the fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec state in the central Mexican plateau. He was granted an ""encomienda"" after the conquest, but in 1529, eight years after the fall of Tenochtitlan, he gave up his ""encomienda"" and entered the Dominican Order, adopting the name ""Francisco"". Aguilar spent the remaining 40 years of his life as a Dominican friar. According to"
"published in 1900 by the Mexican historian and archivist, Francisco del Paso y Troncoso. A modern English translation of Aguilar's chronicle is published in ""The Conquistadors: First-Person Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico,"" In his elderly years, he was diagnosed with gout and he soon died in Mexico at the age of 92. Francisco de Aguilar (conquistador) Francisco de Aguilar (1479 — 1571?), born Alonso de Aguilar, was a Spanish conquistador who took part in the expedition led by Hernán Cortés that resulted in the conquest of the Aztec Empire and the fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec"
"Fall of Tenochtitlan The Siege of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, was a decisive event in the Spanish conquest of Mexico. It occurred in 1521 following extensive manipulation of local factions and exploitation of preexisting divisions by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who was aided by the support of his indigenous allies and his interpreter and companion La Malinche. Although numerous battles were fought between the Aztec Empire and the Spanish-led coalition, which was itself composed primarily of indigenous (mostly Tlaxcaltec) personnel, it was the siege of Tenochtitlan—its outcome probably largely determined by the effects of a smallpox epidemic"
"by Jim Cummings. The aftermath of the Spanish conquest, including the Aztecs' struggle to preserve their cultural identity, is the subject of the Mexican feature film, The Other Conquest, directed by Salvador Carrasco. Historian Daniele Bolelli did an in-depth coverage of the Spanish conquest over four episodes of his ""History on Fire"" podcast. Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, or the Spanish–Aztec War (1519–21), was the conquest of the Aztec Empire by the Spanish Empire within the context of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. It was one of the most significant and"
"which was the base for later conquests of other regions. Later conquests were protracted campaigns with less spectacular results than the conquest of the Aztecs. The Spanish conquest of Yucatán, the Spanish conquest of Guatemala, the war of Mexico's west, and the Chichimeca War in northern Mexico expanded Spanish control over territory and indigenous populations. But not until the Spanish conquest of Peru was the conquest of the Aztecs matched in scope by the victory over the Inca empire in 1532. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire was led by Hernán Cortés. The victory over the Aztecs was relatively"
"(which devastated the Aztec population and dealt a severe blow to the Aztec leadership while leaving an immune Spanish leadership intact)—that directly led to the downfall of the Aztec civilization and marked the end of the first phase of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The conquest of Mexico was a critical stage in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Ultimately, Spain conquered Mexico and thereby gained substantial access to the Pacific Ocean, which meant that the Spanish Empire could finally achieve its original oceanic goal of reaching the Asian markets. In April 1519 Hernándo Cortés, an ambitious nobleman"
"set sail, thus beginning the expedition of exploration and conquest. The Spanish campaign against the Aztec Empire had its final victory on August 13, 1521, when a coalition army of Spanish forces and native Tlaxcalan warriors led by Cortés and Xicotencatl the Younger captured the emperor Cuauhtemoc and Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. The fall of Tenochtitlan marks the beginning of Spanish rule in central Mexico, and they established their capital of Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochtitlan. Cortés made alliances with tributaries city-states (""altepetl"") of the Aztec Empire as well as their political rivals, particularly the"
"last Aztec emperor, Cuauhtémoc (who was the son of a Chontal princess and Ahuizotl), came from Ixcateopan. After the fall of Tenochtitlan, there was little resistance by the peoples of the Guerrero area to the Spanish and a number of them, such as the Amuzgos, actively sided with the Europeans. In 1521, Rodrigo de Castañeda entered the Taxco area, while Gonzalo de Sandoval marched on the Chontal region, the Sierra del Norte, the Iguala valley and later the Costa Chica. Juan Rodriguz de Villafuerte took the Costa Grande area. After the Spanish Conquest, the territory was part of the “audencia”"
"Aztec domination. Spanish objective, however, was that they themselves would benefit from the destruction of Tenochtitlan, making the native peoples not free, but rather more subservient to the Spaniards than they were to the Aztecs. Moctezuma, then-chief of the Aztecs, had been receiving accounts of the Europeans' arrival since their ships (reported as towers or small mountains on the eastern sea) arrived in the Yucatán then Veracruz. First-hand accounts indicate that the Aztec were under some impression that Cortés was the god Quetzalcoatl. According to these reports, the direction of the ships’ arrival and because of the Spaniards light skin,"
"Juan Velázquez Tlacotzin Juan Velázquez Tlacotzin was an Aztec leader in Tenochtitlan, during the final decades of the Aztec Empire. He then was the first post-Spanish conquest ""Tlatoani"" (Aztec ruler) from 1525 to 1526. Tlacotzin was grandchild of the Cihuacoatl Tlacaeleltzin. He was a Cihuacoatl (counselor) during the rule of Moctezuma II and of Cuauhtémoc. Tlacotzin was captured and later tortured by Hernán Cortés, along with Cuauhtémoc, to reveal the location of Royal Treasures and gold of the Imperial Family. After the execution of Emperor Cuauhtémoc he was chosen as the Cuauhtemoc's successor. Immediately after the execution of Cuauhtemoc, Cortés"
"Spain, and two years later in 1521, the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan was conquered. Francisco Hernández de Córdoba explored the shores of southeast Mexico in 1517, followed by Juan de Grijalva in 1518. The most important of the early Conquistadores was Hernán Cortés, who entered the country in 1519 from a native coastal town which he renamed ""Puerto de la Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz"" (today's Veracruz). In a series of wars and counter-rebellions over the next two centuries, Spain would expand and consolidate its Mexican territories. The Aztecs, the dominant empire in Mexico, believed ""that Quetzalcoatl would return on"
"to explore the Mexican coast. By August 1521 the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had fallen to the Spanish. The Spanish conquered a large part of Mexico within three years, extending as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The newly conquered territory became New Spain, headed by a viceroy who answered to the Spanish Crown via the Council of the Indies. The discovery of the Aztec Empire and its great riches changed the focus of exploration out of Panama from the south to northwest. Various expeditions were then launched northwards involving notable conquistadors such as Pedrarias Dávila, Gil González Dávila,"
"to impose his own. Moreover, throughout the film, a fundamental question arises: Who is really converting whom? On November 8, 1519 the Spanish Conqueror Hernando Cortés and his small army rode into the Aztec capital of the vast Aztec Empire, where they were welcomed by the Emperor Moctezuma. Within two years, the Aztec civilization was in a state of collapse, the survivors having lost their families, homes, language, temples... and gods. ""The Other Conquest"" opens in May 1520 when Topiltzin (Damián Delgado), a skillful Aztec scribe who is one of Moctezuma's illegitimate sons, survives the Massacre of the Great Temple"
"detail by Spanish conqueror Bernal Díaz del Castillo in his first-person account of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire. The Nahuatl word for market place, ""tianquiztli"" has become in modified fashion in modern Mexican Spanish the word ""tianguis"". Many Mexican towns with a significant indigenous population continue to hold regularly scheduled market days, frequented by locals for ordinary household or work goods, with craft goods being particularly appealing to tourists. During the Aztec period, an elite group of long-distance merchants, the pochteca functioned as traders in high value goods as well as scouts to identify potential areas for future"
"exiled god, Quetzlcoatl, who was supposed to return pale and bearded. The Aztecs were conquered by Spain in 1521 after a long siege of the capital, Tenochtitlan, where much of the population died from hunger and smallpox. Cortés, with 508 Spaniards, did not fight alone but with as many as 150,000 or 200,000 allies from Tlaxcala, and eventually other Aztec tributary states. It was not difficult for Cortes to find allies to fight with him, the Aztecs were not generally liked by the neighbouring city-states. Cuauhtémoc, the last ""Hueyi Tlatoani"" surrendered to Cortés on August 13, 1521. It took nearly"
"emperor Ahuitzotl, between 1497 and 1502. Although, they were not fully conquered. The Mixtecs and Zapotecs allied together and were able to survive. The Oaxaca Valley was subsequently subsumed within the Aztec Empire. The Aztec empire collapsed when their capital, Tenochtitlan, fell to the Spanish in August 1521. Several months later, on November 25, 1521, Francisco de Oruzco arrived in the Oaxaca Valley to claim it in the name of the conquistador Hernán Cortés. Cortés, who had been granted Oaxaca as his prize for conquering New Spain by the Spanish crown, was thereafter named ""Marques del Valle de Oaxaca"". In"
"Cuauhtémoc Cuauhtémoc (, also known as Cuauhtemotzín, Guatimozín or Guatémoc; c. 1495) was the Aztec ruler (""tlatoani"") of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, making him the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means ""one who has descended like an eagle"", and is commonly rendered in English as ""Descending Eagle"", as in the moment when an eagle folds its wings and plummets down to strike its prey. This is a name that implies aggressiveness and determination. Cuauhtémoc took power in 1520 as successor of Cuitláhuac and was a cousin of the late emperor Moctezuma II. His young wife, who was later"
"rich empire of the Aztecs on the mainland to the west and, in 1519, Hernán Cortés set sail with eleven ships to explore the Mexican coast. By August 1521 the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had fallen to the Spanish. Within three years of the fall of Tenochtitlan the Spanish had conquered a large part of Mexico, extending as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The newly conquered territory became New Spain, headed by a viceroy who answered to the Spanish Crown via the Council of the Indies. Cortés despatched Pedro de Alvarado with an army to conquer the Mesoamerican"
"heard rumours of the rich empire of the Aztecs on the mainland to the west of their Caribbean island settlements and, in 1519, Hernán Cortés set sail to explore the Mexican coast. By August 1521 the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had fallen to the Spanish. The Spanish conquered a large part of Mexico within three years, extending as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The newly conquered territory became New Spain, headed by a viceroy who answered to the Spanish Crown via the Council of the Indies. The conquest of Central America that followed was effectively an extension of"
"who was simultaneously emperor-elect of the Holy Roman Empire during the fall of the Aztecs and fully emperor during the fall of the Incas. Incidentally by being king of Spain, he was also Roman (Byzantine) emperor in pretence through Andreas Palaiologos. The translations of their titles were provided by the Spanish. The only pre-Columbian North American rulers to be commonly called emperors were the ""Hueyi Tlatoani"" of the Aztec Empire (1375–1521). It was an elected monarchy chosen by the elite. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés slew Emperor Cuauhtémoc and installed puppet rulers who became vassals for Spain. The only pre-Columbian South"
"showing three crowns representing the three Aztec emperors of the conquest era, Moctezuma, Cuitlahuac, and Cuauhtemoc and the other showing the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Encircling the central shield are symbols of the seven city-states around the lake and their lords that Cortés defeated, with the lords ""to be shown as prisoners bound with a chain which shall be closed with a lock beneath the shield"". Cortés's wife Catalina Súarez arrived in New Spain around summer 1522, along with her sister and brother. His marriage to Catalina was at this point extremely awkward, since she was a kinswoman of the"
"Hernán Cortés’s expedition. Spaniards were appalled at the ritual practice of human sacrifice and initially attempted to suppress it, but until the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire was accomplished, it was not stamped out. The rulers of Cortés's allies from the city-state of Tlaxcala converted to Christianity almost immediately and there is a depiction of Cortés, Malinche, and the lords of Tlaxcala showing this event. But it was not until the fall of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521 was a full-scale conversion of the indigenous populations undertaken. The justification of Spanish (and Portuguese) overseas conquests was to"
"thirteen brigantines. Other sources estimate that around 860 Spanish soldiers and 20.000 Tlaxcalan warriors were killed during all the battles in this region from 1519–1521. It is well accepted that Cortés' indigenous allies, which may have numbered as many as 200,000 over the three-year period of the conquest, were indispensable to his success. Fall of Tenochtitlan The Siege of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, was a decisive event in the Spanish conquest of Mexico. It occurred in 1521 following extensive manipulation of local factions and exploitation of preexisting divisions by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who was aided by"
"the Cerro (large hill) del Fortín to keep an eye on the Zapotec capital of Zaachila and secure the trade route between the Valley of Mexico, Tehuantepec and what is now Central America. When the Spanish arrived in 1521, the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs were involved in one of their many wars. Spanish conquest would end this fighting. The first Spanish expedition here arrived late in 1521, headed by Captain Francisco de Orozco, and accompanied by 400 Aztecs. Hernán Cortés sent Francisco de Orozco to Oaxaca because Moctezuma II said that the Aztec's gold came from there. The Spanish expedition"
"of Mexico. The Spanish wished to inculcate in the Indians ""the economic, religious, and cultural orientation of Spain."" Isabel, whether by desire or necessity, was the first great success of the assimilation of Spanish and Indian. Isabel Moctezuma Doña Isabel Moctezuma (born Tecuichpoch Ixcaxochitzin; 1509/1510 – 1550/1551) was a daughter of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II. She was the consort of the Aztec emperors Atlixcatzin, Cuitláhuac, and Cuauhtémoc and as such the last Aztec empress. After the Spanish conquest, Doña Isabel was recognized as Moctezuma's legitimate heir, and became one of the Mexican Indians granted an ""encomienda."" Among the others"
"Battle of Otumba The Battle of Otumba was a battle during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The battle was fought at Otumba de Gómez Farías, Mexico in 1520. Around the end of March 1519, Hernán Cortés landed with a Spanish conquistador force at Potonchán on the coast of modern-day Mexico. Cortés had been commissioned by Governor Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar of Spanish-controlled Cuba to lead an expedition in the area, which was dominated by the Aztec Empire. At the last moment, though, Velázquez revoked Cortés's commission, but he decided to launch his expedition regardless. Through a combination of"
"Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire, or the Triple Alliance (, ]), began as an alliance of three Nahua city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled the area in and around the Valley of Mexico from 1428 until the combined forces of the Spanish and their native allies under defeated them in 1521. The Triple Alliance was formed from the victorious factions in a civil war fought between the city of and its former tributary provinces. Despite the initial conception of the empire as an alliance of three self-governed city-states, quickly became dominant militarily. By the time the Spanish"
"the Aztec Empire. In the 12th century, Olmeca, Xicalancas, also Nahuatl speakers, came into the area from Tlaxcala, but were later displaced by the Toltecs after the fall of Tula. After this, there were other migrations of Nahuatl speakers in the area. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Spanish soldiers took possession of the land and its people under the encomienda system. The first Spanish lord of the Zacatlán area was Hernán López de Avila. In 1522, the indigenous inhabitants were moved to what is now Tenamitec, then to San Pedro Atmatla in 1524. In 1562, they were"
"conquered states were the Aztec Empire in modern Mexico (conquered in 1521) and the Inca Empire in modern Peru (conquered in 1532). During this time, pandemics of European disease such as smallpox devastated the indigenous populations. Once Spanish sovereignty was established, the Spanish focused on the extraction and export of gold and silver. Voyages of Christopher Columbus In 1492, a Spanish-based transatlantic maritime expedition led by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus encountered the Americas, continents which were largely unknown in Europe and were outside the Old World political and economic system. The four voyages of Columbus began the Spanish colonization of"