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Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire

The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was a pivotal event in the history of the Americas, marked by the collision of the Aztec Triple Alliance and the Spanish Empire, ultimately reshaping the course of human history. Taking place between 1519 and 1521, this event saw the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, and his small army of soldiers and indigenous allies, overthrowing one of the most powerful empires in Mesoamerica.

Led by the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II, the Aztec Empire had established dominance over central Mexico through military conquest and intricate political alliances. A combination of factors including superior weaponry, strategic alliances with oppressed indigenous groups, and the impact of European diseases contributed to the downfall of the short rule of the Aztec civilization.


The conquest of Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire, marked the beginning of Spanish dominance in the region and the establishment of New Spain. This conquest had profound consequences, as it led to the cultural assimilation of the Spanish culture, while also paving the way for the emergence of a new social hierarchy dominated by Spanish conquerors and their descendants.

1428 – Creation of the Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan

1492–93 – Columbus reaches the Caribbean; start of permanent Spanish settlements

1493–1515 – Spanish exploration, conquest, enslavement, and settlement in the Caribbean and the

Spanish Main

1502 – Moctezuma II elected huey tlatoani, emperor [literally: "Great Speaker"] of the Aztec Triple Alliance

1503–09 – Moctezuma's coronation conquests

1504 – Hernan Cortés arrives in the Caribbean

1511– Spanish viceroy in the Caribbean appoints to conquer and govern Cuba

Diego Velázquez

1510~ Francisco Vazquez de Coronado was born

1515 – Texcocan monarch dies; Cacamatzin succeeds to the throne; the rebellion of Ixtlilxochitl

Nezahualpilli

1517 – to the Yucatán coast

Expedition of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba

1517- City of secedes from Tlaxcalteca Alliance, becomes a tributary state of the Aztec Triple Alliance

Cholollan

1518 – Expedition of to the Yucatán and Gulf coasts; appointment of Cortés to lead a third exploratory expedition

Juan de Grijalva

Clodfelter, M. (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015 (4th ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.  978-0786474707.

ISBN

– web directory with thumbnail galleries

Hernán Cortés on the Web

(1911)

Catholic Encyclopedia

– website for 2001 PBS documentary

Conquistadors, with Michael Wood

presented online by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center

Ibero-American Electronic Text Series

(in Spanish)

La Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España