Hernán Cortés

Francisco Pizarro

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The contrasting themes and traditions in Classical and Baroque Sculpture

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Spanish rule

Herńan Cortés

In 1519 Cortés led about 450 soldiers to Mexico and made his way from Veracruz on the Gulf coast to the island city of Tenochtitlan. Steel swords, muskets, cannons, and horses offered Cortés and his soldiers some advantage over the forces they met. Cortés’s expedition also benefited from divisions among the indigenous peoples of Mexico, mainly due to the taxes, which were despised. The conquistadores forged alliances with peoples who resented domination by the Mexica and also provided warrirs. Native allies also provided Spanish forces with logistical support and secure bases in friendly territory.

The conquistadores arrived in Peru just after a bitter dispute and exploited the differences between those factions. Already by 1533 they had taken the Inca capital at Cuzco. Under pretext of holding a conference, they called the Inca ruling elites together, seized them, and killed most of them. Pizarro and his conquistadores looted gold and silver plaques from Cuzco. Epidemic disease also discouraged resistance: smallpox had spread from Mexico and Central America to Peru in the 1520s.

Francisco

Pizarro

Spanish interest soon shifted from the Caribbean to the American mainland, where settlers hoped to find more resources to exploit. Hernán Cortés brought down the Aztec empire in Mexico, and Francisco Pizarro toppled the Inca empire in Peru. The conquest of Mexico began with an expedition to search for gold on the American mainland.