Hernanando Cortes Research Paper

Hernanando Cortes was a Spanish conquistador who is known for conquering and bringing the downfall of the Aztec empire. He lead the first expedition into the new world for France and claim land all across. After all of Cortes’s conquests, he was made governor of New Spain for a brief time. Cortes was successful in his conquests of the New World because of his courage to explore new lands, find riches, and his resources available to him. Though, he may seem interesting, his life was actually quite normal until his expedition into the new world. Hernando Cortes spent his early life quite ordinarily, and did not do anything quite admirable, until his conquest of the New World. Cortes was born in 1485 in Medellin Spain. He came from a lesser noble family in Spain. He never accomplished anything major as a child. However, people speculate that he studied at the University of Salamanca for a
Because of the power he held, his power and authority were constantly being challenged. By 1523, he was the governor and captain general of New Spain. However, Cortes’s reign of power would not last forever and in only five years time. He was forced to return to Spain to have most of his power stripped of him. The king of Spain reinstated him as just captain general which greatly reduced his power. Not only that, Cortes’s actions were being monitored, with the belief that he may be plotting treason or abusing his power. Cortes returned to New Spain, and he continued exploring Central America in hopes of finding a strait to connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Though his attempts failed, Cortes did manage to find and name California. Cortes then retired and traveled back to Spain where spent the rest of his life seeking recognition of his achievements and support from the royal Spanish court. Cortes finally passed away near Seville in