Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (1485 - December 2, 1547) was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that brought the Aztec Empire to its knees and brought large portions of what is now mainland Mexico Cortés belonged to the generation of Spanish explorers and conquistadors who launched the first phase of Spanish colonization of the Americas.

Cortés, who was born in Medellín, Spain, to a family of lesser nobility, chose to seek adventure and riches in the New World. He traveled to Hispaniola and then to Cuba, where he was given an encomienda (the right to the labor of certain subjects). He was the alcalde (magistrate) of the second Spanish town founded on the island for a short time. In 1519, he was appointed captain of the third expedition to the mainland, which he helped to fund in part. His animosity with the Governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, resulted in the expedition being recalled at the last minute, an order that Cortés ignored.

When Cortés arrived on the continent, he used a successful strategy of allying with some indigenous people against others. He also used Doña Marina, a native woman, as an interpreter. She later gave birth to his first child. When the Governor of Cuba sent emissaries to arrest Cortés, he fought them and won, using the extra troops as reinforcements. Cortés wrote letters directly to the king, requesting recognition for his successes rather than punishment for mutiny. Cortés was given the title of Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca after overthrowing the Aztec Empire, while the more prestigious title of Viceroy was given to a high-ranking nobleman, Antonio de Mendoza. Cortés returned to Spain in 1541, where he died six years later of natural causes.