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-As a young man he wanted to be famous like Christopher Columbus.
-He studied at a university in Spain.

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-In 1511 he joined a spanish explore and sailed to Cuba.
-In 1519 arrived in Mexico.
-Fought with natives.
-In 1519 with 6,000 natives and 450 spaniards arrived in Mexico city.
- Attacked some Mexicans who had followed him to Mexico city.
-Put Montezuma in prison.
-Executed Montezuma.
-Concerned Mexico and the Aztec in 1521.
-Believe he had done the right thing.
-Return in spain 1540.

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Background and Initial Formation

The Aztecs began as a union of three powerful city-states in Mexico. Namely, these were the city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. These city-states had become powerful as a result of the assimilation into their cities's jurisdictions of the smaller units of villages and outlying area that they were able to respectively subjugate. The alliance helped to defeat the formerly dominant Tepanec Azcapotzalco in the region. The written history of the Aztecs, as illustrated by their pictographic codices, show their place of origin was in Aztlan, Mexico. Soon, these people managed to form a triple alliance that would become the Aztec Empire. The word "Aztec" itself is a modern term coined by archaeologists as a way of differentiating the people from the Mayas and others. The Aztec Empire, according to scholar Alexander Motyl, was a hegemonic alliance.

Rise To Power And Accomplishments

The leaders of the three city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan and their previous communications with each other helped in the formation of their new, powerful alliance. They formed a union to dominate Central Mexico in 1428, at a time when wars were being fought between various villages and cities for regional dominance. The Aztecs proved effective in governing, and they did so by working through the local governments already in place underneath them. Their strategy was to ally with political units and consolidate power by intermarriage. The Aztec Empire was built on blood and wars that, at one time, saw 20,000 captives being sacrificed to their sun god, Huitzilopochtli. The year 1519 saw the Aztec Empire reach its peak, as it dominated Mexico and the tributes kept pouring into its imperial treasuries.

Challenges and Controversies

The military might of the empire was centered in Tenochtitlan (in and around modern Mexico City). This city was where the Aztecs' military forces resided and spearheaded their military campaigns from in their pushes for domination over the surrounding region. However, this was not always the case, as in the beginning the three city-states remained at odds with each other as well. However, after the Triple Alliance was forged, the union created the empire. Then, in 1519, Hernan Cortes, first Spanish conquistador to reach the area, arrived by ship. The Spaniards were totally astonished by the wealth of the Aztecs, as the local markets were filled with precious stones, silver, and gold. They saw the mineral wealth, exotic fruits, and other goods held by the Aztecs as theirs for the taking.

Decline and Demise

The introduction of Christianity and the conquistadors' greed for gold took hold at a rapid pace. The resulting treachery started by the Spaniards was aided by local natives, resulting in the successive toppling of one Aztec leader after another. It only took two years for the great Aztec Empire to fall, and its surviving leadership was either executed or enslaved. Cortes used treachery to capture the Aztec Emperor Montezuma, and the Aztecs attacked the palace where the deceitful Cortes had been given quarter as a guest. The mob accidentally killed the emperor in the ensuing chaos. Escaping that night to Tlacopan to reorganize his forces and strategize, Cortes raised an army of 100,000, mostly comprised by natives. Cortes then attacked Tenochtitlan once again, which was already weakened after half of its population had died of the small pox introduced into the region by the conquistadors. The city easily fell.

Historical Significance and Legacy

The Aztec Empire left a profound cultural legacy, inclusive of language, national identity, architecture, and cuisine alike. Today, the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs is still spoken by about 1.5 million indigenous people in the back country areas of Central Mexico where the original Aztecs hailed from. The words tomato and xocolatl (chocolate) are both derived from this Aztec language. The population of Mexico still has indigenous Mexicans whose ancestors also formed part of the Aztec civilization. Mexico City still retains many Nahuatl names for its streets. Some city and town names in the region also come from the same language. Mexican cuisine has retained some of the Aztec flavors, as well as their dishes' Nahuatl names. Many archaeological sites and museums exhibit Aztec art, and Aztec influences are found in Mexico still today.

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What Do You Know About The Aztec Empire?

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The Aztecs began as a union of three powerful city-states in Mexico. Namely, these were the city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. These city-states had become powerful as a result of the assimilation into their cities's jurisdictions of the smaller units of villages and outlying area that they were able to respectively subjugate.

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-Natives were scared of the Spaniards horses and guns.
-They offered a slave as a peace offering.
-It is believed that the slaves helped Cortes conquer Mexico.
-When some Spaniards wanted to return to Cuba, Cortes burned his 10 ships.
-He became friendly to the natives that were enemies of Montezuma.
Montezuma sent messengers to meet Cortes.
-Cortes asked them if they had any gold.
-He told them his soldiers had a disease that only gold can cure.
-This disease was peer greed and was cause for many crimes against the Aztec.
-Cortes pushed on to Mexico city and Montezuma.
-Some of the frighten natives try to do human sacrifice.
-Montezuma received Cortes with kindness and gave him a place to use.
-Cortes believe he needed to show his power.
-Cortes had to retreat.
-Within two short years Mexico has been conquered by Spain.
They have murdered more Aztec then they have offered sacrifices in the past ten years.
-Cortes destroyed all the temples and idols that the Aztec used for there worship, In there place he set up christen stauses.

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It is given to us by pastors, writers, and musicians as an illustration for how sold out for Jesus we should be when we give our lives to him. It's the story of how we should be like Cortes, the great Spanish explorer who burned his entire fleet upon reaching the destination of his mission. Landing at present-day Veracruz, Mexico, he destroyed his ships so that when the going got rough his men would have no means of retreat. It was do or die trying. No going back, only pressing on.

It's a great message and an attitude for which every Christian should strive to emulate. Christ calls us and calls us fully. No cheap grace. We are to die to everything else and live fully for the one who has saved us.

Search for "Burn Your Ships" and you'll find dozens of sermons written and preached on this topic. But while the message is true, the illustration is not. At least not completely.

Scholars have long researched and written on the fascinating life of this Christianizing explorer and conqueror and have remarkable detail and knowledge of Cortes's exploits in the Americas. Among these scholars, it is well documented and common knowledge that the historical record does not indicate Cortes actually burned his boats, as folklore popularly has it, nor removed any chance of retreat.

He did not burn his boats at all, but scuttled them-at least most of them. As ordered, the crew ran all but one aground and physically stripped the vessels of all their rigging, sails, weapons, and tackle, using the materials and timbers to build the necessary houses for the troops. Cortes explained in his own writing that the "we're all in and there's no turning back" part of the story is largely true in sentiment if not in actuality. After dismantling their ships, each man, as he reports, "then had nothing to rely on, apart from his own hands, and the assurance that they would conquer and win the land, or die in the attempt."

The scuttling was not motivated by bravery and commitment, but solely to prevent Cortes's men from escaping the trials and dangers ahead in their conquest by leaving for the safety and resources of Cuba. And they did leave that one ship intact, kept for riches and treasures to be sent back to their king in Spain. The boat also afforded a remaining opportunity for the higher-ranking men to beat a hasty retreat if things turned really bad.

However, the assumption that the boats were burned rather than manually deconstructed was not created out of thin air. The celebrated British historian Hugh Thomas in his magisterial history of Cortes's adventures explains how the misunderstanding likely arose:

The mistake [originating in the latter half of the 16th century] perhaps derives from the fact that the early documents spoke of the boats breaking, quebrando; thanks to the bad handwriting of a scribe. . . . [The early historian recounting the tale] may have read the word as quemando, "burning."

But Thomas and other scholars show that Cortes himself, writing his account of the experience, explains that it was a deliberate grounding and dismantling, not a burning, that destroyed nearly all of his ships.

So let's use the story of Cortes and his ships to illustrate the truth of the radical commitment Christ calls us to. But let us do it with the story as it truly was.

Resources:

Winston A. Reynolds, " The Burning Ships of Hernán Cortés," Hispania, Vol. 42 (1959), pp. 317-324.

Hugh Thomas, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortez, and the Fall of Old Mexico (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993) p. 222-223.

Other articles in this series:

Misquoting Francis of Assisi

The Cross an Electric Chair?

Divorce Rate Among Christians

Do Faithful Christians Take the Bible Literally?

Is the 'I Only Need Jesus!' Declaration Christian?

Who Really Started the Family 'Culture War'?

Are Your Kids Likely to Lose Their Faith?

Are Millennials More Self-Sacrificing and Community-Minded Than Previous Generations?

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FactChecker: Burning Your Ships for Jesus

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It is given to us by pastors, writers, and musicians as an illustration for how sold out for Jesus we should be when we give our lives to him. It's the story of how we should be like Cortes, the great Spanish explorer who burned his entire fleet upon reaching the destination of his mission.

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Born in spain 1485
died 1547

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Hernán Cortés, marqués del Valle de Oaxaca, was a Spanish conquistador who overthrew the Aztec empire and won Mexico for the crown of Spain.