Hernán Cortés was born in 1485 in Medellín. A Spanish conquistador, Cortés went to the Caribbean as a young man and in 1519 led an expedition to Mexico, defying the governor of Cuba. Allying with peoples who resented Aztec rule, notably the Tlaxcalans, and aided by the interpreter Malintzin, he marched on the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, where he was received by Moctezuma II. After a violent breakdown in relations, and a siege in which epidemic disease played a large part, the city fell in 1521. Cortés became governor of New Spain and was named Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca. His conquest began three centuries of Spanish rule in Mexico.
Before and after
- 10 November 1483Birth of Martin Luther
- 1 January 1484Birth of Huldrych Zwingli
- c. 1485Painting of The Birth of Venus
- from 1485 to 1491Ottoman–Mamluk War
- 1485Birth of Hernán Cortés
- from 22 August 1485 to 24 March 1603House of Tudor
- 22 August 1485Battle of Bosworth Field
- 16 December 1485Birth of Catherine of Aragon
- from 1487 to 1491French–Breton War
More in Exploration & discovery
- 1298The Travels of Marco Polo
- 24 February 1304Birth of Ibn Battuta
- 1451Birth of Christopher Columbus
- c. 1469Birth of Vasco da Gama
- 1480Birth of Ferdinand Magellan
- 31 December 1491Birth of Jacques Cartier
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.