Vintage engraving of Moctezuma
On Nov. 8, 1519, a pivotal encounter unfolded in the heart of the Aztec Empire. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, leading an expedition of roughly 500 men, arrived at the gates of Tenochtitlán, a sprawling island city that astonished the Europeans, and would later become Mexico City. There, Cortés met Emperor Moctezuma II, ruler of a vast and sophisticated civilization.
This encounter marked the beginning of a series of events that led to the downfall of the Aztec Empire and the establishment of Spanish rule in the Americas.
Historians differ on how the empire fell. Some accounts depict Moctezuma as paralyzed by superstition, believing Cortés to be the returning god Quetzalcoatl, a pale-skinned deity foretold to come from the east.
Scholars now believe this narrative may have been created by the Spanish and later perpetuated by the Aztecs to rationalize their defeat. Regardless, Cortés took Moctezuma captive in his own palace and attempted to govern through him.
As tensions mounted, violence erupted. During the fighting, Moctezuma was killed — some say by his own people, others by the Spaniards. His death marked the start of open warfare between the Spanish and Aztecs, and after a brutal siege, Tenochtitlán fell in 1521.