The Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan took place over a period of nearly two years, from April 1519, when Hernán Cortés landed on the coast of Mexico, to August 13, 1521, when the last Mexica emperor, Cuauhtémoc, surrendered to the Spanish. The conquest was one of the most consequential events in the history of the Americas, and it marked the end of the Mexica state and the beginning of three centuries of Spanish colonial rule in Mexico.
The Arrival of the Spanish (1519)
Hernán Cortés landed on the coast of Mexico near modern Veracruz on April 21, 1519. He brought with him about 600 men, 16 horses, and a small number of cannons. He founded a settlement, which he called Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, and he began to make alliances with the peoples of the region. The first major ally was the Totonacs of Cempoala, who had been recently conquered by the Mexica and who were eager to find allies against their new overlords.
In August 1519, Cortés left the coast and began his march to Tenochtitlan. The march took him through the territory of the Tlaxcalans, a fiercely independent people who had resisted Mexica conquest. After several battles, Cortés was able to negotiate a peace with the Tlaxcalans, and the Tlaxcalans became his most important allies in the conquest. Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlan in November 1519, and he was received by Moctezuma II in a series of elaborate ceremonies.
The First Stay in Tenochtitlan (1519-1520)
The Spanish were housed in the palace of Axayacatl, the father of Moctezuma, and the subsequent months were marked by a series of misunderstandings, provocations, and outbreaks of violence. Cortés took Moctezuma hostage in November 1519, an act that disrupted Mexica government and provoked resistance. The Spanish used Moctezuma as a puppet ruler, and they extracted from him a series of concessions, including the surrender of gold and the acknowledgment of the Spanish king as overlord.
The situation in Tenochtitlan deteriorated in the spring of 1520, when Cortés was forced to leave the city to deal with a Spanish expedition that had been sent from Cuba to arrest him. Cortés left Pedro de Alvarado in charge of the Spanish forces in Tenochtitlan. Alvarado committed one of the great atrocities of the conquest when he ordered the massacre of Mexica nobles during the festival of Toxcatl in May 1520, which provoked a Mexica uprising.
The Noche Triste and the Retreat (1520)
Cortés returned to Tenochtitlan in June 1520, and he found the situation desperate. The Spanish were exhausted and short of supplies, and the Mexica were resisting fiercely. Moctezuma was killed in the fighting, either by the Spanish or by the Mexica. On the night of June 30, 1520, the Spanish attempted to break out of the city, an event known as La Noche Triste. Most of the Spanish were killed or wounded as they fought their way across the broken bridges and the causeways, and the gold and silver they had accumulated vanished into the shallow waters of Lake Texcoco.
The Spanish retreated to Tlaxcala, where they were given refuge by their allies. The Spanish were defeated and humiliated, and the conquest of the Mexica state seemed impossible. Yet Cortés was determined to continue the campaign, and he began to rebuild his forces and to plan a new assault on Tenochtitlan.
The Siege of Tenochtitlan (1521)
Cortés regrouped at Tlaxcala, where he received reinforcements from Cuba and from Spain. He built a small fleet of brigantines, which he had transported in pieces over the mountains from the coast. The brigantines gave the Spanish control of the lake, and they were essential to the final assault on Tenochtitlan. Cortés returned to the siege of Tenochtitlan in May 1521.
The siege lasted for about three months, and it was marked by house-to-house fighting, starvation, and a devastating smallpox epidemic that killed much of the Mexica leadership. The last Mexica emperor, Cuauhtémoc, was a young and determined leader who refused to surrender despite the desperate situation. He was finally captured on August 13, 1521, when he tried to escape from the city in a canoe. He was brought before Cortés, who treated him with respect but kept him in captivity. The fall of Tenochtitlan marked the formal end of the Mexica state and the beginning of Spanish colonial rule in Mexico.
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