Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés was born in Medellín, in Spain, to a family of minor nobility. He studied briefly at Salamanca and in 1504 sailed to the island of Hispaniola, later taking part in the Spanish conquest of Cuba. In 1519 the governor of Cuba named him to lead an expedition to the Mexican coast, then tried to cancel it; Cortés sailed anyway with about five hundred soldiers. He was aided by a Nahua woman, Malintzin, known as Doña Marina, who became his interpreter and adviser. He made alliances with the Tlaxcalans and other peoples who resented Aztec rule. In November 1519 the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II received him in the island city of Tenochtitlan, and Cortés soon took him prisoner. In 1520 the city rose against the Spaniards, Moctezuma was killed, and the Spaniards fled with heavy losses. Returning with thousands of allies and boats built for the lake, Cortés besieged Tenochtitlan, which fell in August 1521 after a smallpox epidemic had weakened it. He built Mexico City on its ruins and governed New Spain for a time, but lost favor with the crown. He died in Spain in 1547.

Faith: A Catholic who sought to spread Christianity in Mexico. Source: Wikipedia