Hernán Cortés had a large family

Hernán Cortés was born in 1485 in Medelln, then a village in the Kingdom of Castile and now a municipality in the modern-day province of Badajoz in the Spanish region of Extremadura. Martn Cortés de Monroy, son of Rodrigo or Ruy Fernández de Monroy and Mara Cortés, was an infantry captain of distinguished ancestry but limited means. Catalna Pizarro Altamirano was Hernán's mother.

Hernán was a second cousin once removed of Francisco Pizarro, who later conquered the Inca Empire of modern-day Peru through his mother, and not to be confused with another Francisco Pizarro, who joined Cortés to conquer the Aztecs. (His maternal grandmother, Leonor Sánchez Pizarro Altamirano, was Pizarro's father Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodriguez's first cousin.) Hernán was related to Nicolás de Ovando, the third Governor of Hispaniola, through his father. Rodrigo de Monroy y Almaraz, 5th Lord of Monroy, was his paternal great-grandfather.

Catalina Juárez was Hernando's first wife. They had no children together. During his expeditions, he had several extramarital affairs with indigenous women. From these relationships, he had five children, including his famous mistress Malinche. In 1528, following the death of his first wife, Hernando married Juana Ramirez de Arellano y Zuniga. They were the parents of six children, two boys and four girls. The first two died soon after they were born. Hernando never denied his children anything.