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Hernan Cortes was born in 1485 in a town called Medellin, which is now called Extremadura, Spain. His parents names were Martin Cortes (Dad) and Maria Cortes' (Mother). Cortes' cousin was Francisco Pizarro.
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In 1499, when Hernan Cortes was 14 years old, his description was sickly and very pale. Also at 14 years old, he went to Salamanca to study his uncle-in-law.
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In 1501, after 2 years of being in Salamanca, he was tired of going to school, which seemed to make his parents irritated. His parents were also irritated because he came back without a profitable career.
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In the year of 1504, he sailed to Santo Domingo. Then in 1511, sailed to Cuba, where he helped Diego Velazquez in his journey and made his reputation.
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In 1518, Cortes wanted to be commander of his expedition to Mexico. After awhile of Cortes pleading to Velazquez, he finally let him take control of his expedition. He wanted to explore Mexico because he heard a rumor that Mexico held great wealth.
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In 1520, Cortes headed off to go to Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital city. It took Hernan Cortes 3 months to finally reach Tenochtitlan due to big waves and hard terrain to go through. People believed that Cortes received lavish gifts from the Aztecs because he arrived when the Aztecs were talking about a white skinned god coming through the east.
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In April of 1520, Diego Velazquez started an expedition for some of his sailors to go and capture Cortes. Cortes found out and tried to head to to fight the journey that Diego started. Until the Aztec’s leader was killed due to being hit in the head with a stone. Then, Cortes came back to secure the Aztecs to another city.
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In 1521, Cortes gathered his forces and traveled back to Tenochtitlan. After they finally got back to Tenochtitlan, they settled a new settlement called Mexico City, which is currently still here today. After settled, he allowed indigenous people to stay in Mexico, which made a lot of people come there.
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In 1522, Cortes married Catalina Marcaida. Soon after that, they had they had children like Martin Cortes. His wife died on November 1, 1522 the year of their marriage.
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Hernan Cortes died on December 2, 1547. His death was due to western standards. You’ll find Cortes’ grave underground of Veracruz, Mexico.
