Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who led the 1519–1521 campaign that overthrew the Aztec (Mexica) empire. Born in Medellín, Extremadura, he is reported to have studied briefly at Salamanca (per his 16th-century biographer Francisco López de Gómara, though the account is uncertain and may reflect grammar or Latin study rather than university enrollment), then sailed to Hispaniola in 1504 and took part in the Spanish occupation of Cuba. Departing Cuba in 1519 against orders, he marched inland, formed alliances with peoples subject to the Mexica, seized the emperor Moctezuma II, and after fierce fighting captured Tenochtitlan in 1521, founding Mexico City on its ruins. He served as governor of New Spain and, on a 1528–1530 return to Spain, was received by Charles V and created Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca. He later led expeditions to Honduras and Baja California, returned finally to Spain around 1540, and died there in 1547.