When Cortez came with his expedition from Cuba to Mesoamerica in 1519, he did it largely at his own expense, and without the blessings of his compatriot, the Governor of Cuba, Diego Velazquez de Cuellar. In fact, Cuellar actually cancelled Cortez’s expedition at the last minute, but Cortez didn’t care. He had largely funded it, and there were bigger things for him to see and do, and conquer, in the new world.

When Cortez and his crew did land on the continent at Yucatan, the Aztecs were there, a sprawling empire that had popped up after 1300, after three native tribes created an alliance that led to the rapid conquest and domination of Mesoamerica, and who established a capital at Tenochtitlan, on a nondescript swampy island in Lake Texcoco. By 1519, the Aztec empire sprawled from the belt line of Mexico south to where modern day Guatemala is, reaching from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico.

Cortez discovered the Aztecs had enemies in other native peoples who had been made tribute states to the empire, and working from that knowledge, the conquest-hungry Cortez used political astuteness, maneuvering, acts of betrayal, and intrgues to persuade Aztec enemies to join his troops as they made their way to Tenochtitlan, where they were welcomed as guests. When two Spaniards were killed in an altercation with an Aztec lord in a peripheral town, though, Cortez took the Aztec king hostage, and although he was allowed to remain governor, the Aztec’s reprisal involved the killing of some of Cortez’s men in the capitol for ritualistic ceremonies. Cortez tried to persuade the antagonized Aztecs to cooperate by threatening their king, but they didn’t care. They made his brother their new king, and the Spaniards decided they had better leave town. One night, they executed a plan to quietly pull out of the city, but they were discovered and attacked. A percentage of Cortez’s forces died. But the Europeans had left their own time bomb for the Aztecs to suffer. A small pox epidemic wiped out a large constituency in the Aztec capitol and its environs, and after regrouping, Cortez, his allies, and his men marched to siege Tenochtitlan. After a significant period, Aztec defenses in the city faltered, and Cortez and his troops seized the city.

And the Aztec empire fell, as New Spain was established, when Tenochtitlan was captured in 1521.

Cortez, in the pomp of his victories, made himself regional king for a spell, despite his affiliation with his home country and its crown in Europe. He was first in on many of the spoils recovered from wealthy Aztec sites. He was also first in on receiving tributes from wealthier districts under his new domain, which included the collection of cash, crops, and slaves. His main men took it upon themselves to draw benefit from the rest.

Within a few years, edicts from Spain chastised Cortez for his independence, autocratic interests, and his excessive self-reward following his unsanctioned campaign. It didn’t matter much to Cortez, though. He was already putting together another expedition to head north and explore. And he owned lots of Tenochtitlan- known in later years as Mexico City.