What Are Some Facts About Hernando Cortes?

You might know a little bit about the history of Hernando Cortes. However, be prepared to delve even deeper into the life of this well known individual.

Facts About Hernando Cortes

• Hernando Cortes was Spanish.
• He was born in 1485.

• He was born in Medellin, Spain.

• He was born of Spanish nobility.

• His parents' names were Martin Cortes and Catalina Pizarro Altamirano.

• The military ran in his blood, as his father was an officer in the Spanish army during his lifetime.

• He was very sickly when he was a child.
• His parents had sincerely hoped that he would become a lawyer one day.

• Cortes attended the University of Salamanca.

• He had started attending the university when he was 14 years old.

• In 1501, he failed his law studies and wound up leaving the University of Salamanca.
• The following year, he joined Diego Velazquez and Nicola de Ovando on their voyages to the New World.
• He is best known as a Spanish conquistador and explorer.
• He conquered the Aztec Empire.

• He tricked the Aztecs into giving him a lot of gold when he first arrived in Mexico.

• When he arrived in Mexico, some of the citizens mistook him for Quetzalcoatl, a god-king of the peoples of the land.

• When he arrived in Mexico, he was with approximately 500 other men.

• It took less than 1000 soldiers to conquer the nation which was comprised of five million people.
• When he first arrived in Mexico, the Talascan Indians attacked him and his crew. Two of his men died and 800 Indians perished.
• After one confrontation with the Indians, he discovered that a few thousand of them actually wanted to join him.
• Hernando Cortes was very warlike and confronted Indians with weapons quite a few times during his travels.
• He attempted to convert the Indians to his own religion, although he was not entirely successful.

• In 1536, he discovered the peninsula of California.

• Cortes was well liked amongst his fellow explorers.
• He was also a great soldier.

• While he was in the military, his nickname was Killer.

• He was known as Hernan Cortes, as well.
• He married Catalina Xuares, who passed away.
• He then married Dona Juana de Zuniga.
• They had four children together.
• Three of his children were girls.
• He held office once he had helped to colonize Cuba.
• He was also the Captain of Mexico at one point.
• According to the stories, Cortes' two loves were women and gambling.
• People said that he was willing to task risks when it came to love.
• Toward the end of his life, Cortes became less popular than he had been and he would often walk through crowds with people really not caring one way or another.

• Hernando Cortes passed away in 1547.

• He died near Seville.

• He was 62 years old when he passed away.

Now that you have read through some facts about Hernando Cortes, what do you think of him? Often times, when we talk about colonization and religious conversion, debates come about regarding whether one was a hero or a villain. Perhaps we will never know all of the details of Cortes' life, but we know enough that you could make a sound judgment for yourself.