Hernán Cortés died on 2 December 1547 in Castilleja de la Cuesta, aged about 62. 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
- 14 December 1546Birth of Tycho Brahe
- from 1547 to 1721Tsardom of Russia
- 28 January 1547Death of Henry VIII of England
- 29 September 1547Birth of Miguel de Cervantes
- 2 December 1547Death of Hernán Cortés
- January 1548Birth of Giordano Bruno
- 1550Construction of Süleymaniye Mosque
- 1550Founding of Concepción
- 1 February 1550Birth of John Napier
More in Exploration & discovery
- 27 April 1521Death of Ferdinand Magellan
- 24 December 1524Death of Vasco da Gama
- 1540Birth of Francis Drake
- 24 September 1557Death of Jacques Cartier
- 28 January 1596Death of Francis Drake
- 1603Birth of Abel Tasman
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.