Ancient Aztecs

Ancient Aztecs — page 7
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés the Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire was born in 1485 in Spain During the age of European exploration and colonization Cortés left law school in Spain to seek adventure and riches in the New World He first went to the Dominican Republic in 1504 In 1511 Cortés assisted Diego Velázquez another Spanish conquistador of a higher rank in conquering the island of Cuba In 1519 against Velázquez’s and the Spanish government’s wishes Cortés set sail on an expedition to Mexico Once he arrived Cortés discovered the Aztec civilization which was unknown to the Europeans Cortés became governor of the conquered lands in 1523 In 1541 he returned to Spain where he died six years later regard for normal civilized Aztec behaviors These strangers were from Spain and their leader was Hernán Cortés For ten years prior to the arrival of the Spaniards the Aztec people had witnessed a series of bad omens Aztec legend tells of a large flash that lit up the night sky In another omen a temple burned from a fire that no one set A woman’s weeping cries were heard every night She spoke of leaving the city A dark bird was caught in some fishermen’s nets It wore a mirror on its head that reflected visions of fighting men who rode animals like deer In yet another omen a man with two heads and one body ran through the city These omens stayed in the minds of the Aztecs during the Spanish arrival Soon a macehual common man brought more news Cortés wanted to meet Montezuma in the capital of the empire On hearing the plans of these A later artist imagined the meeting between Hernán Cortés and Aztec emperor Montezuma II in the capital city of Tenochtitlán 8