科尔特斯(1485～1547年)

Cortés, Hernán

受封为Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca

西班牙殖民者，曾为西班牙君主夺得墨西哥。出身於古老世家，十九岁时即离开西班牙远航伊斯帕尼奥拉岛（今圣多明哥）。1511年与委拉斯开兹.德奎利亚尔（D. Velazquez de Cuellar）航海去征服古巴。1519年他募集了十一艘船、五百零八人和十六匹马，驶至墨西哥东南海岸建立据点，以摆脱委拉斯开兹.德奎利亚尔的权威。他把自己的船烧掉，以督促自己和全军︰只有征服才能求生存。此後科尔特斯向墨西哥内地进军，有时依靠武力，有时依靠对当地印第安人的友好态度，并利用阿兹特克帝国内部的政治危机，终於进入阿兹特克首都特诺奇蒂特兰（Tenochtitlan，今墨西哥城）。阿兹特克统治者蒙提祖马二世（Montezuma II）相信他是阿兹特克人崇拜的魁札尔科亚特尔（Quetzalcoatl）神的化身，非常隆重地迎接他，但科尔特斯却将他囚禁，以便实现政治征服。不久科尔特斯得到情报，说由纳瓦埃斯（P. Narvaez）率领的一支西班牙军队从古巴前来剥夺他的指挥权，他留下一些人卫戍特诺奇蒂特兰，自己率兵前去迎击纳瓦埃斯，把对方的军队纳入自己的部下。班师时，他发现在特诺奇蒂特兰的西班牙卫戍部队已被阿兹特克人包围，由於进逼过紧，又缺乏食品，科尔特斯决定夜里出城。1521年他与特拉斯卡拉盟友携手，再次占领该城，这一胜利标志着阿兹特克帝国的衰亡。科尔特斯变成了从加勒比海直至太平洋的一块广大领土的绝对统治者。1524年他得到批准进入宏都拉斯丛林探险，两年的艰苦生活损害了他的健康和地位。晚年生活诸多不顺，苦不堪言。

English version：

1485～1547年

Cortés, Hernán

Spanish conquistador who won Mexico for Spain. Born into an old family, he left Spain for the New World at 19, joining Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar (1465-1524) in the conquest of Cuba (1511). In 1519, with 508 men and 16 horses, he burned his ships on Mexico's southeastern coast, thus committing himself to conquest. After accumulating thousands of Indian allies who resented Aztec domination, he forged ahead to Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital (today Mexico City). The emperor Montezuma II, believing Cortés to be the god Quetzalcóatl, welcomed him, but was taken prisoner. Hearing that a Spanish force from Cuba was coming to relieve him of command, Cortés left Tenochtitlán under the command of a captain and set out to defeat his Spanish opponents. Returning with the opposition forces now under his command, he discovered that the city had revolted; he led his troops away by night in a costly retreat, but returned in 1521 to conquer the city and with it the empire. The absolute ruler of a huge territory, he was forced to retire after a disastrous expedition in 1524 to the Honduran jungles. His final years were beset by misfortune.