Examine some of the rare books, maps, prints and other artifacts in this online exhibition. The exhibition explores several themes on the cultures and history of the Americas. The collection focuses on the period of pre-contact through...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson in which students examine 13th Century primary source material of historical record to determine what the encounter between Moctezuma and Cortes might have really been like. With downloadable...

This site demonstrates the impression that native Mexican people made on Hernando Cortes during his conquest. Includes good discussion questions.

Historical information about Montezuma II, ruler of the Aztecs at the time of the Spanish Conquest. The information is taken from heritage history books written for young people.

Fordham University gives the text of Cortes' second letter to King Charles V, describing the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan, and the people who lived there.

Lengthy description of the life of Hernan Cortes, the Spanish conquistador who brought down the Aztec Empire in Mexico. How this came to be is explained, with many details of the sophistication of Aztec civilization.

The history of Spanish territorial conquest in the New World is the history of the succession of conquistadors who often overwhelmed native empires, but were sometimes overwhelmed themselves. Read about the conquistadors who came to the...

Fordham University provides an excerpt of an Aztec account of the initial encounter of Montezuma and the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes, as published by noted anthropologist Miguel Leon-Portilla. The meeting-turned-massacre,...

Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes invaded the Aztec empire in the 16th century. This conquest led to the colonization of Mexico. The Newberry Library provides an in depth look into this period of Mexican history through photos,...

Kids learn about the history and timeline of the country of Mexico including the Aztecs, Mayan, Spanish explorers, Cortes, the Mexican Revolution, and independence from Spain on this website.

A chronology of the life of Hernando Cortez up to the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs.

Detailed information about Spain from a 1998 publication of the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. You can find information about the history, geography, government, economy, and people of Spain.

hernando cortes

Learn about the history and motives of the famous Spanish Conquistadors in the New World. Features biographies, pictures, and timelines about the life of the famous European Explorers.

hernan cortes

Under Moctezuma, the Aztec empire was strong and expanded its borders. However, when the Spanish arrived, their superior power and weapons enabled them to conquer the Aztecs. Read about Moctezuma's life, his interactions with the Spanish...

A collaborative project of the Wisconsin Historical Society and National History Day, this site contains over 18,000 pages of primary source, eyewitness accounts of North American exploration starting with the Vikings.

Kids learn about the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire including Hernan Cortes and Montezuma II on this site.

Read about the development of the Aztec Empire and its status just before the Spanish Conquest. Click on the hyperlinks or pictures for more information. From part of an extensive PBS website about the Conquistadors.

Read about what life was like for the Aztecs before the Spanish Conquest. This is part of a larger PBS site about the conquistadors.

The situation in Mexico in the 16th century, after the conquest. This brief site discusses Hernan Cortes, and the territorial expansion that characterized this time in Mexico's history.