A Journey with Hernán Cortés

A Journey with Hernán Cortés — page 1 — INTRODUCTION AN IMPRESSION OF MEXICO CORTES In a 1519 letter to King Charles V Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés shared details from his Mexican expedition He told of Mexico's fertile plains and beautiful river banks He described the country's inhabitants as people of middle size with bodies and features well proportioned A letter like this is considered a primary source A primary source is a document image map or other object created by a person at the time in which that person lived Cortés had never been to Mexico before his expedition Cortés left Spain in 1504 and began his exploration of Mexico's geography and people in 1519 The explorer is shown in this nineteenth century engraving

A Journey with Hernán Cortés — page 2 — This map from one of Cortés's letters to the king shows the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán He had no idea how it might differ from his native Spain But part of his job was to learn everything he could about the place Knowing Mexico's geography and being able to communicate with its people were important for carrying out his mission to claim the land for Spain And Cortés stayed in touch with the king to tell him about his findings and the mission's progress Cortés's writings give important insight into his own thoughts and actions Without them we would still be able to learn about Cortés from primary sources such as diaries and artworks created by others of his time But his firsthand accounts are a valuable piece of the primary sources puzzle Historians rely on many different kinds of primary sources to study events and people and to present the most accurate information possible

A Journey with Hernán Cortés — page 3 — we om This modern photo shows the walls of the castle in Medellín Spain CHAPTER 1 CORTÉS'S YOUTH In about 1485 Hernán Cortés was born in the town of Medellín Spain His parents were Martin Cortés who was once an army captain and Catalina Pizarro Altamirano Martin's ancestry and military record meant the Cortéses were hidalgos or members of the Spanish lower nobility They were not rich but the family owned a bit of land And they were well respected in town Both of Cortés's parents were generous and honest As a child Cortés was often sick Yet he enjoyed seeking adventure with other boys in his village They climbed the cliffs around their homes ran around town and kicked

A Journey with Hernán Cortés — page 4 — leather balls back and forth in open fields Kids at that time enjoyed acting out war games behind the walls of the local castle There Christians had conquered Medellín from its Muslim rulers in 1234 as part of a long war that continued in southern Spain until 1492 Children in Cortés's time had grown up hearing stories of the war At the age of fourteen Cortés went to the University of Salamanca His father hoped Cortés would become a lawyer which he thought was the richest and most honorable career of all Cortés was very intelligent and clever in everything he did but he was restless at school He ignored his studies and dropped out after just two years CD This image shows a page from the book Las Siete Partidas Seven Part Code which was the Spanish code of law Cortés may have studied in school This code of law went into effect in 1348 It included information about the rights of masters and slaves in Spanish society In the sixteenth century many of these laws also spread to the New World

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