Hernan Cortes is best known for conquering the Aztec Empire. With a bit of luck, some help from his mistress and lots of cunning, he managed to overthrow Moctezuma and claim land and treasure for King Charles V of Spain. The first site I chose portrays Cortes as a man who would just not give up. He actually sinks his own fleet so that his men are unable to retreat! This site also has links on key words- so as you are reading about Cortes sailed off and claimed Veracruz in the name of Carlos V, if you click on the word emperor you are taken to a short bio of King Charles- and also are provided a link to show all of Charles's territory. I liked that because it put the entire history of the conquer into perspective.
The second site I chose, The Spanish Conquest of Mexico, has a great picture of Cortes (put a face to the name). It also has 2 great maps- one of the Aztec empire and one of the route Cortes took. It then goes on with a great easy-to-read outline of the conquest. This outline mentions that the Spaniards not only brought horses with them, but also a new disease-smallpox-that would be a key to the Spaniards overtaking the Aztecs. It also shows how Cortes and Moctezuma gave a speech about religion together, Cortes talking about Catholicism and Moctezuma being polite with his reply.
The last site, The Conquest of Mexico Re-examined, is interesting because it puts the conquest in a different perspective, that from the Aztecs point of view. Moctezuma and the Aztecs thought that it was possible that Cortes was actually Quitzalcontlin- a god of Aztec prophesy who left in the 10th century and vowed to return to reclaim the Aztec Empire. It's easy to see how they could have thought that, since the Spainards had guns, steel armor and horses- things that the Aztecs had not seen before. They lavished gifts and gold on the Spainards, just in case it was Quitzalcontlin. It has a very accurate timeline that actually shows the length of time the conquest took.
After the conquest, Cortes could have gotten exiled- the original intent of the conquest was a religious one. But once it occured, King Charles hailed Cortes. The acquisition was one of the largest additions of land and treasury ever secured for the Spanish Empire. Cortes and his men were greatly outnumbered. I wonder how history would have been rewritten, had Moctezuma ordered an attack right away on the Spaniards?
