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conquistadors found themselves facing danger. To protect themselves, they took hostages. The first of the conquistadors was Hernán Cortés, who invaded Aztec Mexico in 1519. By November, Cortés and his small army of only 550 Spaniards had reached Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City. They were greeted enthusiastically by the people of Tenochtitlán and their ruler, Montezuma, but not all Aztecs welcomed the Spanish intruders. The Aztec priests in particular hated and feared them, believing that the Spaniards meant to destroy the Aztec religion and the Aztec empire with it. This is exactly what the Spaniards meant to do, but they were greatly outnumbered; the Aztecs could easily have killed all of them. So, to gain control over the Aztecs, Cortés decided to make Montezuma his hostage. The emperor was impris- oned in his palace and from then on, he was manipulated by Cortés and forced to obey his orders.

Illustrations portraying the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés.

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