Table of Contents

Introduction: Who is Hernán Cortés?........................................pg 3

Chapter 1: Early Life.......................................................................pg 4

Chapter 2: Who funded Cortés’ voyages?..................................pg 7

Chapter 3: Contributions and Legacy.......................................pg 10

Chapter 4: Successful or not?.....................................................pg 13

Chapter 5: The Routes..................................................................pg 18

Chapter 6: Timeline of Hernán Cortés.....................................pg 19

Glossary...........................................................................................pg 24

Introduction: Who is Hernán Cortés?

    Born in 1485 at Medellín, Spain, Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, or Hernán Cortés for short, was a Spanish Conquistador (Spanish for “conqueror”). He is best known for conquering most of the New World, also known as the Americas, for Spain, Despite his reputation, he opened the door for further exploration and conquest to the New World for other empires and countries.  

Hernán Cortés

Chapter 1: Early Life

    Hernán Cortés was born in 1485 at Medellín, Spain to Catalina Pizarro Altamirano and Martín Cortés de Monroy, two minor nobles. He was called Hernando Cortés or Fernando Cortés. Cortés was frequently ill at a young age, but his heath improved as he grew into a teenager. In 1499, at the age of 14, his parents sent him to the University of Salamanca to prepare for a law career, but he 

Young Cortés

Logo for the University of Salamanca 

eventually became tired of his studies and dropped out of school two years later in 1501.

    Cortés wanted a life full of action, and was fascinated by the tales of the New World. The young 16-year-old signed up for a voyage to the New World, led by Nicholás de Ovando. But an accidental fall that made him buried in a pile of rubble severely injured his back and made himself unable to sail with Ovando’s fleet. 

Nicholás de Ovando

    Talk of the New World still fascinated young Cortés, and in 1504 at age 19, Cortés obtained a passage on a ship to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Cortés began farming in the colony, which made him wealthy, and owned several slaves, at a young age.

Map of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 

Chapter 2: Who funded Cortés’ voyages?

    Hernán Cortés has went on many voyages and expeditions conquering land for Spain, but it must have took a long time to raise money to fund the expeditions. So, who funded Hernán Cortés’ expeditions? Who gave him the money, ships, and other things that Hernán Cortés needed on his expeditions?

A portrait of Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar

Well, the answer to both of these questions is that Hernán Cortés actually got his men and ships himself! 

    When a Spanish soldier named Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar prepared for an expedition to conquer Mexico, he sent a

representative to Spain to request power to conquer the new lands. Velázquez was given the title of adelantado, or governor of Mexico and any other lands he will discover. But, he needed someone to lead the expedition, and after some time he chose Hernán Cortés. 

Cortés accepted the task and he started organizing a fleet and gathering volunteers. In less than a month, he got 6

ships and 300 men from Cuban seaports. By the time he set sail to Mexico on February 18, 1519, he had 11 ships, 508 soldiers, about 100 sailors, and 16 horses.

Contributions:

    Hernán Cortés contributed to many conquests and expeditions in the New World, some that are best known for him. 

    Some conquests Cortés contributed to were the conquest of Cuba in 1511, which was Cortés’s first mission to conquering land. It is also 

Chapter 3: Contributions and Legacy

Conquest of the Aztec Empire

the conquest of the Aztec Empire and the surrounding lands of Mexico for Spain in 1521 that Cortés contributed to, and what he is best known for. After his main expeditions, he contributed to the exploration of the Baja California peninsula in 1535.

Legacy:

Hernán Cortés remains one of the most successful Spanish conquistadors. He was a hero in the 16th century, but history remembers him differently. He had many conquests during his life, but he is best known for conquering the Aztec Empire in 1521. He enslaved much of the native population, and many of the native people were wiped out from European diseases 

such as smallpox. He was a smart and determined man who wanted to claim new land for Spain, convert native inhabitants to Catholicism, and rob the lands for gold and riches. However, we still see his role in history. He helped with the building of Mexico City, which is Mexico’s capital today. He opened the door for more exploration and conquest of Central America and eventually led to the obtaining of California.

Chapter 4: Successful or not? 

    Hernán Cortés has been on many voyages and expeditions, but which ones were success during which ones weren’t? Or, was he successful throughout all his expeditions, or vice versa?

    Well, according to the Mariners’ Museum and Park, “Hernán Cortés remains one of the most successful of the 

Spanish conquistadors.” I agree with this thought because many of his expeditions were successful if you relate it to what Cortés was expecting to happen. For example, Cortés wanted to conquer the Aztec Empire and Mexico for Spain, and guess what? He did it successfully in 1521.

Even though Cortés has been successful on some of his expeditions , it always hasn’t been that way, which is why I would say Cortés wasn’t successful at some points.

 Take his voyage to Baja California. What he was expecting when he arrives was an island he believed to be “rich in pearls and gold” and “populated by women, without a single mate.” But when he arrived, established the town of Santa Cruz, and started the colonization of California, he started looking for what 

Baja California

he expected.

    It turns out, he wasn’t on any ordinary island. He wasn’t even on an island; he was on what we now call the Baja California peninsula. 

    Santa Cruz wouldn’t last for long after establishment. More than 20 colonists starved in the desert, and a hostile reception by the peninsula’s inhabitants

Map of Santa Cruz

worsened the settlement’s problems. In just 2 years, the colony got abandoned.

    Hernán Cortés has been on some successful voyages, as well as some potentially unsuccessful ones too, that caused some

slight misadventure for Cortés. But anyways, I would go more with Hernán Cortés being successful rather than unsuccessful because what he wanted at first was to conquer Mexico, and that’s what he did, but his expedition to Baja California was unplanned because he unexpectedly found the area.