Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire

The Spanish-led campaign that defeated the Mexica-led Aztec Empire and captured Tenochtitlan in 1521, with decisive Indigenous allies and devastating epidemic disease.

Siege of Tenochtitlan: The 1521 siege in which Spanish and Indigenous forces captured the Mexica capital after cutting its water and supply routes. This final campaign brought the conquest to its military conclusion.
Hernán Cortés: The Spanish commander who led the expedition that overthrew Mexica rule and founded Spanish power in central Mexico. He directed the Spanish campaign and negotiated its Indigenous alliances.
Mexica: The Nahua people who founded Tenochtitlan and formed the dominant power in the Aztec Triple Alliance. Their political power and capital were the campaign's central targets.
New Spain: The Spanish colonial viceroyalty established in the Americas, centered on Mexico and founded after the conquest. Spanish rule replaced the Mexica-led imperial order with colonial government.
Black Legend: A polemical portrayal of Spanish rule as exceptionally cruel, shaped by rival European powers and later critics. It frames the conquest through a contested tradition of anti-Spanish interpretation.
Cortés's Indigenous allies: Indigenous communities and armies that allied with Hernán Cortés against Mexica rule, especially the Tlaxcalans. Their soldiers and local knowledge made the Spanish-led campaign possible at scale.
Cuauhtémoc: The last Mexica ruler of Tenochtitlan, captured by Spanish forces during the city's fall in 1521. His resistance marked the final defense of the Mexica capital.
Tlaxcala: An independent Indigenous polity in central Mexico that resisted Mexica expansion and allied with Cortés. Its longstanding conflict with Mexica power helped draw it into the Spanish-led campaign.
Mexico City: The capital of modern Mexico, built atop the ruins of Tenochtitlan after the Spanish conquest. The conquerors remade the captured capital as the center of colonial power.
Mexica resistance: The military and political efforts by Mexica forces and allies to resist Spanish invasion and rule. It counters accounts that present the conquest as a straightforward Spanish victory.

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