By some accounts, Cortés then had all his ships destroyed except one, which he sent back to Spain. In February 1519, the expedition reached the Mexican coast. In a mutinous act of defiance, Cortés ignored the order, setting sail for Mexico with more than 500 men and 11 ships that year. In 1518, Cortés was to command his own expedition to Mexico, but Velázquez canceled it. There, Cortés worked in the civil government and served as the mayor of Santiago for a time. He joined an expedition of Cuba led by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar in 1511. Settling in the new town of Azúa, Cortés served as a notary for several years. He traveled to the island of Santo Domingo, or Hispaniola. In 1504, Cortés left Spain to seek his fortune in New World. Some reports indicate that he studied at the University of Salamanca for a time.

He came from a lesser noble family in Spain. Early LifeĬortés, marqués del Valle de Oaxaca, was born around 1485 in Medellín, Spain. As a reward, King Charles I appointed him governor of New Spain in 1522. In 1518, he set off to explore Mexico.Ĭortés strategically aligned some Indigenous peoples against others and eventually overthrew the vast and powerful Aztec empire. Cortés later joined an expedition to Cuba. He first set sail to the New World at the age of 19. Born around 1485, Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who defeated the Aztecs and claimed Mexico for Spain.

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