It is believed that Hernán Cortés murdered his first wife

Cortés sailed to Spain in 1528 to personally plead his case to King Ferdinand. He arrived with a large amount of treasure and a magnificent entourage. Charles received him at his court in Toledo, confirmed him as captain-general (but not governor), and created him marqués del Valle. He also remarried, this time into a ducal family. He returned to New Spain in 1530 to find the country in anarchy and so many accusations leveled against him-including the murder of his first wife, Catalina, who died that year-that he retired to his estates in Cuernavaca, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Mexico City, after reasserting his position and restoring some sort of order.

Cortés married Catalina Juárez, the sister-in-law of Cuba Governor Velázquez, while in Cuba. Catalina arrived in New Spain after the conquest. She had an awkward marriage with Cortés because she was related to Valázquez, with whom Cortés had a falling out. Nonetheless, he welcomed her, but was disappointed when she did not bear him children. Meanwhile, he had several mistresses, including La Malinche, an indigenous woman who served as his guide and interpreter. Cortés and La Malinche had a son together.

Everything happened in 1522, when Cortés was throwing a party in a house he owned in Mexico and his wife came to visit him. Cortés discovered her dead in her bed hours after the party ended, claiming she died of asthma.

The servants, on the other hand, tell a different story. They claim the couple fought the party over a remark Cortés made about a woman. They also claimed that her body bore strangulation marks and that there had been a fight in the bedroom. Catalina's family filed a lawsuit against Cortés, but the case was dismissed. This is a contentious Hernán Cortés fact.