HernÐ"ÐŽN CortÐ"©S

HernÐ"ÐŽn CortÐ"©s was a Spanish conquistador who pillaged and explored the Mexican region of South America. HernÐ"ÐŽn's early life was a very unique one. Even though he went to school for law, fate had him taking another profession. HernÐ"ÐŽn CortÐ"©s is widely known for his historic invasions and explorations. He tricked the Aztec empire and ultimately destroyed the powerful empire. Although his life was filled with excitement, riches, and fame, he died struggling with debts and other grievances.

His early years greatly differed from the rest of his life. He was born in the year 1485 in the small Spanish town known as MedellÐ"­n. Much unlike his later years, HernÐ"ÐŽn was a pale and sickly child early in life. His father was an infantry captain and one of his second cousins was Francisco Pizarro, another conquistador which invaded the Incan empire. When he turned 14, HernÐ"ÐŽn enrolled in the University of Salamanca to study law. When he turned 16, much to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out. A part of action this was a result of hearing about the discoveries of Christopher Columbus. After hearing about discoveries of a supposed "New World", CortÐ"©s knew what his destiny was in life.

What made HernÐ"ÐŽn CortÐ"©s such an important figure in this time period is his presence in Mexico. In 1519, HernÐ"ÐŽn landed on Mexican shores with 400 men, 15 horsemen, 15 cannons, and hundreds of indigenous warriors. On the way to the Mexican capitol, Tenochtitlan, CortÐ"©s made alliances with several tribes along the way. With these new tribes, the Spanish army had grown exponentially and had become a considerable fighting force. When CortÐ"©s finally got to the capitol, he was welcome by the reigning king of the Aztecs who went by the name Moctezuma II. The Aztec leader thought that CortÐ"©s was a god when he saw his horses and cannons. Due to his illusion that CortÐ"©s was a god, Moctezuma II lavish gifted HernÐ"ÐŽn with vast amounts of gold and invited CortÐ"©s into the heavily guarded capitol. Seeing the gold and other valuable riches around, CortÐ"©s was overcome by greed. He ordered his troops to pillage the advanced village and take as much gold as they