CORTÉS, HERNÁN. - B. at Medellín in 1485, d. at Siviglia on 2 Dec. 1547. Ambitious and avid for glory and adventure, in 1504 he was at S. Domingo, and in 1511 at Cuba. In 1519 he commanded the expedition for the conquest of the kingdom of the Aztechi. He entered the city of Messico on 8 Nov. 1519. Ferocious reprisals
against the rebelling Indians were carried out by Alvarado, whom C. had left as his lieutenant in Messico. C. was able to prevail only because the Indians of Tlascala remained faithful to him (1520). In 1521 he succeeded in taking King Guatimozino prisoner. On 5 Oct. 1522 Carlo V appointed him captain general of Nuova Spagna. His subsequent attempt to extend the conquest of Central America failed. A cultivated man (he had studied law at Salamanca) and deeply religious (he protected the Franciscan missions in Messico), he is among the most complex figures in the history of Spanish expansion.