Cortez

__Hernan Cortes__
__Born 1485__ __Died December 2nd 1547__ __What country he sailed for: Spain__


 * ~ : || Hernan Cortes ||
 * ~  || Hernan Cortes's Journey ||

Hernan Cortes explored Hispanola,Cuba,Hati,Mexico,Dominican Republic.They encountered Diego Velazquez, Tabascans.They took five trips in all. =Life on Hispanolia= In 1504 Cortes sailed from Spain to Hispanola. He went to Ovando, the governor of Hispanola and an old friend of his fathers. Ovando granted Cortes some farm land and slaves to do his work. =Life on Cuba= In 1517 Diego Velazquez in his conquest of the island of Cuba and made his courage and daring, while he was there he fought Indians and recruited some to help him conquer the Aztec empire and some of the Indians gave women to Cortes as gifts one of the women was called Malinche she learned Spanish so she could speak to Cortes and tell him what the Indians said.Cortes heard from the Indians about a great city in the West it had gold and many riches,this great city was the capital of the Aztec Empire.

Early Life
His father was Martin Cortes De Monray,his mother was Maria Cortes. Cortes's father was a captain in the Spanish army,and his parents didn't want him to become a soldier like his father they wanted him to get a education.At the age of 14 he was sent to study at the university of Saimanaca in west central Spain. Two years later Cortes was tired of schooling and returned home to Madelin, much to irritation of his parents who had hoped to see him equipped for a profitable legal career.

Five Fun Facts
1. Cortes had 13 children. 2. His nationality is a Castilon 3.Many men drowned when they tried to escape from the Aztec Empire because they stole their gold. 4.The Governor of Cuba put Cortes in charge of a small fleet and army of 650 men. 5.When Cortes attacked the Aztec Empire they took control of Lake Texcoco and trapped the Aztecs in Tenochtitlan. 6.Cortes had his own spy to spy on the Aztecs.

Significance of their journey
Along the way in Mexico Cortes met Princess Marina. She was one of the only people who spoke Aztec and Mayan language ,so Marina was Cortes's translator, But then Marina became a spy, telling Cortes all Aztecs thoughts. With the information Cortes would be able to conquer the Aztec Empire more easily. On December 26th 1519 Cortes led 25,000 men to Tenochtitlan. They built small boats and took over the Texcoco lake. Cortes now controled the island city no one could get in or out many Aztecs died for the next few months some died from war,lack of food,and small pox and other diseases. __Finally in 1520 Cortes Conquered the Aztec Empire for Spain__.

Websites we used
www.Wikipedia.com ( For information) @http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi (For pictures) www.nndb.com (For information) http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/0319-Hernan-Cortez.phphttp://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10968 @http://hernan-cortes.com/ @http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10968 http://www.hernancortes-vs-hernancortes.com/

Books we used
Hernan Cortes By: Thomas Streissguth The Travels Of Hernan Cortes By: Crisfield, Deborah

By: Victoria Stogowska Katie Novak Nicholas Robin