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Cortes founded the city of Veracruz. He gathered an army there,
and then marched on to the Aztec capital city
of Tenochtitlan, where he met with Montezuma, the Aztec
emperor.
Following Aztec religious traditions, Montezuma believed that Cortes and the other Spaniards were descendants of the god Quetzalcoatl. Using this to his advantage, Cortes took Montezuma hostage. Cortes and his men were forced to flee when the Aztecs revolted against them, but in 1521 Cortes returned and conquered the city, and soon all of the Aztec empire. For the next 300 years, Mexico was a colony of Spain. You can find the whole story of Cortes and Montezuma in the book Montezuma and the Aztecs.
Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, was one of the most powerful gods of the Aztecs. He was associated with the quetzal, a beautiful, plumed bird that lives in the Mesoamerican cloud forest. |
