Hernan Cortes Before Mexico

If you have a passing knowledge of Mexican history

, you might know Hernan Cortes. He was the man who finally conquered the Aztecs and established colonial Mexico. However, who was he, and how did he end up sailing to Veracruz in 1519? Here's the first part of his story.

The family he was born into in 1485, had modest means but noble blood. His father, Martin, was an infantry captain with a well-regarded ancestry. Hernan was distantly related to several men who would play a role in exploring the Americas: none other than the conqueror of the Incas, Francisco Pizarro; and Nicolas de Ovando, the third Governor of Hispaniola. Cortes was a sick, pale child, often spending his days indoors with books. When he was 14, Cortes went to the University of Salamanca, one of the country's most prestigious learning centers. He gave up studying Latin and law after only two years, and returned home.

Cortes' decision to abandon school was greatly disappointing for his parents, who'd hoped that the boy would go into work as a lawyer. But he was restless, frustrated at the confines of his small town, and unsure of what he wanted to do--essentially the prototypical teenage kid. News of Christopher Columbus' travels in the New World had come back to Spain, and Cortes was fascinated by the stories he read. Plans were made to send him to the Americas with his relative, Ovando, but Cortes missed the boat after sustaining an injury while escaping the bedroom of a local married woman. He took in the tales of the returning conquistadors, while he traveled around the country for about a year. He finally left for the Caribbean in 1504, at the age of eighteen.

Many of Cortes' future decisions were shaped by this major event of going to Cuba. His ship was commanded by a man named Alonso Quintero, who had lied to his superiors back in Spain and was trying to get to the New World first, in order to grab the riches first. Cortes would later exhibit this rebellious viewpoint; in a time when loyalty to king and country was still second nature, the promise of riches made many conquistadors into back-stabbers and mutineers.

Cortes reached Santo Domingo, registered as a citizen, and was granted an ecomienda, or farm, in the town of Azua de Compostela. The next five years were spent overseeing workers, participating in colonial efforts, and helping with other conquests. Cortes was part of the expedition which conquered Cuba in 1511; Diego Velazquez, who was the new Governor of the region, made Cortes his secretary and the municipal magistrate of Santiago. But relations between the Governor and his assistant began to sour, especially because Cortes was wooing (and cheating on) Velazquez's sister-in-law.

At the same time, two Velazquez-approved expeditions to the mainland had been complete failures. In October 1518, he appointed Cortes as the Captain-General of a new expedition, but advised the young magistrate to move fast, before he changed his mind. Cortes was thrilled--here was a chance to go forth and truly explore new lands. But things were not going to be that easy, and he had a long way to go before setting sail.

by: Robert Nickel

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