Hernán Cortés Timeline

From 1521 to 1524, Cortés personally governed Mexico. Thinking himself beyond restraint, he disobeyed many orders of the Crown and said so in a letter to the emperor dated October 15, 1524.

Cortés's wife, Catalina Súarez, arrived in New Spain around the summer of 1522, along with her sister and brother.

Image source: Hernán Cortés

Catalina Suárez died under mysterious circumstances the night of 1–2 November 1522. The investigation documentation was published in the nineteenth century in Mexico and uncovered in archives in the twentieth century.

Cortés managed the founding of new cities and appointed men to extend Spanish rule to all of New Spain, imposing the encomienda system in 1524.

Image source: Encomienda

The Franciscans arrived in May 1524, a symbolically powerful group of twelve known as the Twelve Apostles of Mexico, led by Fray Martín de Valencia.

Image source: Twelve Apostles of Mexico

Before leaving on 12 October 1524, Cortés left officials in charge of the government. From 1524 to 1526 he headed an expedition to Honduras where he defeated Cristóbal de Olid, who had claimed Honduras under the influence of Governor Diego Velázquez.

Salazar and Almíndez Chirino spread a rumour that Cortés had died, and in May 1525 assumed all power for themselves, including seizing Cortés' property and torturing his cousin Rodrigo de Paz to reveal the whereabouts of alleged treasure.

At the end of January 1526, Cortés got a message back to his supporters that he was still alive.

In 1526, he built an imposing residence for himself, the Palace of Cortés in Cuernavaca, in a region close to the capital where he had extensive encomienda holdings.

Image source: Palace of Cortés, Cuernavaca

In February 1527 the aged Aguilar fell ill and before his death appointed Alonso de Estrada governor, in which function Estrada was confirmed by royal decree in August 1527. His authority circumscribed and persecutors unpunished, Cortés sailed for Spain in early 1528.

In May 1528, Cortés arrived in Spain with treasures and 40 Aztecs to impress and to appeal to the justice of his master, Charles V.

In return for expanding the Spanish Empire, Cortés was accorded the noble title of don and named Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca, and married the Spanish noblewoman Doña Juana Zúñiga after the 1522 death of his first wife Catalina Suárez.

Cortés returned to Mexico in 1530 with new titles and honours, remaining until 1541 while quarrelling with Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán and disputing exploration rights with viceroy Antonio de Mendoza.

Image source: New Spain

Cortés acquired several silver mines in Zumpango del Rio in 1534.

Image source: Zumpango del Río

In 1536, Cortés explored the northwestern part of Mexico and discovered the Baja California peninsula.

Image source: Baja California peninsula

The Gulf of California was originally named the Sea of Cortés by its discoverer Francisco de Ulloa in 1539.

Image source: Gulf of California

The emperor finally permitted Cortés to join him and his fleet commanded by Andrea Doria at the great expedition against Algiers in the Barbary Coast in 1541, then part of the Ottoman Empire.

Image source: Battle of Algiers (1541)

After his exploration of Baja California, Cortés returned to Spain in 1541, hoping to confound his angry civilians, who had brought many lawsuits against him for debts and abuse of power.

In February 1544, he made a claim on the royal treasury, but was ignored for the next three years. Disgusted, he decided to return to Mexico in 1547.

He died in Castilleja de la Cuesta, Seville province, on 2 December 1547, from pleurisy at the age of 62.

On 4 December 1547, he was buried in the mausoleum of the Duke of Medina in the church of San Isidoro del Campo, Sevilla. Three years later (1550), due to space requirements, his body was moved to the altar of Santa Catarina in the same church.

On 16 December 1560, the lawsuits related to vassals of the Cortes estate were resolved by a royal order issued by Philip II.

Image source: Philip II of Spain

So in 1566, his body was sent to New Spain and buried in the church of San Francisco de Texcoco, where his mother and one of his sisters were buried.

In 1629, Cortés's last male descendant, Don Pedro Cortés, fourth Marquez del Valle, died.

In 1716, his remains were moved to another place in the same church. In 1794, his bones were moved to the "Hospital de Jesus" (founded by Cortés), where a statue by Tolsá and a mausoleum were made.

In 1823, after the independence of México, it seemed imminent that his body would be desecrated, so the mausoleum was removed and the statue and coat of arms were sent to Palermo, Sicily, protected by the Duke of Terranova. In 1836, his bones were moved elsewhere in the same building.

It was not until 24 November 1946 that his bones were rediscovered, thanks to the discovery of a secret document by Lucas Alamán.

Image source: Lucas Alamán

Cortés was portrayed (as "Hernando Cortez") by actor Cesar Romero in the 1947 historical adventure film Captain from Castile.

Image source: Captain from Castile

In 1981, President López Portillo tried to bring Cortés to public recognition. A Maldonado statue commissioned for the Zócalo of Coyoacan had to be moved to the little-known Jardín Xicoténcatl park to quell protests.

Image source: José López Portillo

Cortés, voiced by Jim Cummings, is a villainous character in The Road to El Dorado (2000), an animated feature set against the Spanish invasion of Mexico.

Image source: The Road to El Dorado