When the Cuban governor Diego Velazquez de Cuellar heard the accounts of the voyage and saw the gold he immediately sent messages to the King Charles I (the Charles V), along with some golden objects. From their legendary land of Aztlán, the Aztecs came into contact with the highly developed Toltec civilization of central Mexico and its capital, Tula, a magnificent urban centre with pyramids, temples, public buildings, statuary, private residences, and ball courts. During the 15th century they had spread over vast territories, subjugating various peoples and making them tributary. (See also Aztec; history of Latin America: Early Latin America.). Start studying Aztecs & the Spanish Conquest. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Nevertheless, the relation of these noble groups to the Aztec kings, to the rest of society, and to land ownership was distinct from Old World feudalism, partly because the Aztec monarch’s rule was more absolute. The swamp-surrounded island on which the Aztecs took refuge was so uninviting that none of the powers in the Valley of Mexico had claimed it. Along with their feverish efforts at political organization, the Aztecs had the strength to subjugate their allies, Texcoco and Tacuba, and to undertake new campaigns as far south as Central America. If the Spaniards had stood alone, it's likely they'd had never made it. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire is the subject of an opera, La Conquista (2005) and of a set of six symphonic poems, La nueva España (1992–99) by Italian composer Lorenzo Ferrero. Probably in keeping with an ancient tradition, the merchants (pochteca) of Aztec society were organized in powerful guilds, which even started wars on their own and sent trading expeditions as far as Central America. Among them were the Acolhua in the 1100s and, in the 1200s, the Chichimecs, who settled at Tenayuca; the Otomí, who took control of Xaltocan; the Tepanecs, who conquered Atzcapotzalco; and the Aztecs. During this time the Aztecs established a precarious home near the ruins of Tula, where they improved their agricultural methods and other technological knowledge. His success was the result of a combination of factors: Montezuma’s initial suspicion that Cortés was a returning god; Cortés’s abilities as a leader and diplomat; European arms—crossbows, muskets, steel swords, and body armour—and horses and dogs (which were all trained for battle); deadly European diseases against which the indigenous Americans had no immunity; and the aid of Cortés’s interpreter-mistress, Marina (La Malinche). If you want to continue reading about the Conquest of the Aztec Empire, go to part II. By the time Ferdinand I died, it was already "known" that there were tribes in the Americas that had wealth beyond imagining in gold and other precious metals. Once again, this only woke the greed of the conquistadors: Hernan Cortez realized the Aztec empire's wealth was enormous...and also that the subjected peoples resented the Mexica. Unbeknownst to Cortés, his arrival coincided with an important Aztec prophecy. When he first encountered the totonacs, he offered to free them from the Mexica in exchange for a military alliance. Conquest of the Aztec Empire Part I Hernán Cortés was born in Seville in 1485. As their power grew, the Aztecs ritually murdered prisoners from all parts of what is now Mexico in Tenochtitlán, often by ripping their still-beating hearts from their chests. In 1517, the Mexica governor, Moctezuma Xocoyotzin (also known as Montezuma) carried on with the expansion campaigns. There were many factors that contributed to the remarkable victory by the Spanish in Mexico. Cuauhtámoc, Cuitláhuacs successor as emperor, was taken prisoner and later executed, and Cortés became the ruler of a vast Mexican empire. Consequently, the Spanish conquest of Mexico relied on a combination of Spanish tactics – tactics not always employed only on the battlefield – with their influence on the Aztec people, indicating a victory based more on the actions of the Spanish than the Aztecs. In fact, a significant percentage of the Aztecs were of a tribe called the Mexica Tribe and the people were referred to as the Mexica People. Between 1519 and 1521 the Spanish, under the leadership of conquistador Hernan Cortés, conquered the Aztec Empire. After battling his way across the sky each day, he returned to the bosom of the earth, his mother (Coatlicue), where he renewed his strength in order to take up the fight against darkness. The Council of the Indies was constituted in 1524 and the first Audiencia in 1527. Aztec tradition has it that the god Huitzilopochtli ordered them to leave again in search of a permanent home, which would be indicated by an eagle perched on a nopal cactus with a serpent in its beak. The Spaniards’ ability to verbally communicate with the Aztecs (and the… Of exploration power had emerged in the 15th century, the Valley of Mexico history... A brutal two-year campaign on with the ships on November 18, 1518 right to your inbox who. 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