ABSTRACT
Cortes was born in Medellín, Spain, in 1485. Forming alliances with the Tlaxcalans and other indigenous enemies of the Aztecs, Cortés marched to Tenochtidán, the magnificent Aztec capital (present-day Mexico City; its population dwarfed most European cities). In November 1519, Cortés entered Tenochtidán and took Montezuma hostage for several months. The rest of Cortes' life was spent consolidating his rule and defending his role in the conquest of the Aztecs. Deposed in 1526 by a coalition of his rivals, he traveled to Spain in 1528 to plead his case to the emperor in person. The momentous contact between two very different cultures produced wide-ranging effects on both societies. One was the rapid decline in the Amerindian population due to European diseases; as much as 90% of the Indian population was wiped out by the end of the sixteenth century. Many of the surviving Indians had European cultural practices imposed upon them: law, technology, and Roman Catholic Christianity.
