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The conquistadores’ retreat from the Aztec capital on 1 July 1520 that made the infamous conqueror of Mexico weep.
Vamos.
It’s been 28 years since Christopher Colombus’ “great discovery” of the Americas in 1492. Despite what many of us were taught in school, Colombus isn’t the first; he is actually one of the last European explorers to reach the new world (Vikings arrive 500 years before he does). But it’s his explorations, sponsored by the Crown of Castile (a predecessor of modern-day Spain) that leads to the mass exploitation of an entire continent by the Spanish empire.
So far the Spanish have established a thriving hub in the Caribbean, which they call the West Indies to distinguish from the original Indies in Asia. Not at all confusing, right? Cuba has recently been annexed and exciting new expeditions are underway to explore the lands north of the Yucatán Peninsula, the southeastern tip of Mexico. It’s frontier dynamics at their best (or worst): power-hungry, glory-driven, gold-seeking nobodies from Europe making a name for themselves in the new world, all while trying to balance personal greed with the overarching objectives of a very distant crown. Ay, caramba…it’s politics, drama and ego galore.
Enter Hernán Cortés — a man of mystique and controversy, hated by most today, but easily the most…
