Age of Discovery and the New WorldWars and battles
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
Hernán Cortés’s expedition, together with numerous Indigenous allies, destroyed the Aztec Empire within two and a half years.
- Date
- February 1519 – 13 August 1521start: month known; end: exact date · duration: ≈ 2 years
- Place
- Tenochtitlantoday: Mexico City, Mexico · Latin America
- Route
- Cape San Antonio (Cuba) → Cozumel Island → Yucatán Channel → Off Cape Catoche → Off the northern coast of Yucatán → Off the coast of Campeche → Potonchán (Battle of Centla) → San Juan de Ulúa (Veracruz) → Cempoala → Tlaxcala → Cholula → Tenochtitlan
- Participants
- Hernán Cortés, Moctezuma II, Spanish Empire, Aztec Empire
- Threads
- Age of Discovery and the New World
Cortés sailed from Cuba in February 1519, landed near San Juan de Ulúa in April and founded Veracruz, then marched inland after securing an alliance with the Totonacs and Tlaxcala. On 8 November 1519 the Spaniards were admitted into Tenochtitlan, and a week later they took Moctezuma II into custody. In the summer of 1520 the city rose in revolt, Moctezuma was killed, and the Spaniards fled the city with heavy losses (La Noche Triste, the “Night of Sorrows”). Relying on his allies and taking advantage of a smallpox epidemic, Cortés laid siege to the Aztec capital in May 1521.
Connections
Includes
- Fall of Tenochtitlan13 August 1521 · Latin America
Related events
- Battle of Cajamarca16 November 1532 · Latin AmericaPizarro repeated Cortés’s tactic of seizing the ruler
Same participants
- Dedication of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan1487 · Latin Americavia Aztec Empire
- Balboa reaches the Pacific Ocean25–29 September 1513 · Latin Americavia Spanish Empire
- First circumnavigation of the globe10 August 1519 – 8 September 1522 · Western and Central Europevia Spanish Empire
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 5 years of this event
Western and Central Europe
- First circumnavigation of the globe10 August 1519 – 8 September 1522
- Election of Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor28 June 1519
- Ninety-five Theses31 October 1517
Eastern Europe
- Battle of Orsha8 September 1514
- Capture of Smolensk (1514)between 30 July and 1 August 1514
Balkans and Anatolia
- Accession of Suleiman the Magnificent30 September 1520
Middle East and Egypt
- Battle of Ridaniya22 January 1517
- Battle of Chaldiran23 August 1514
- Portuguese conquest of Hormuz25 September 1507 – 1 April 1515
Africa
South Asia
- First Battle of Panipat21 April 1526
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Battle of Mactan27 April 1521