Hernan Cortes was the Spanish Conquistador who conquered the Aztecs and became Governor of New Spain. Scholars estimate that there were ten million natives living in what is now Mexico and Central America when Cortes arrived with 1,000 soldiers.

How was he able to conquer this vast empire in a little more then a year?

One significant reason was smallpox. Carried by the invaders, this new disease in the Americas spread quickly through the Aztec capital. Some estimates suggest that 80% of the natives died of smallpox. In any event, smallpox made capturing this city much easier.

Another reason was gold. The gifts from Moctezuma to Cortes led Spaniards to believe that vast riches lay in this area. Had Cortes not succeeded in his conquest, others would certainly have followed with greater numbers.

Also, the Aztecs had been cruel masters to the surrounding tribes, constantly demanding tribute and human sacrifices. Cortes used cunning and deceit to get the enemies of the Aztecs to join his army. He also successfully deceived Moctezuma, the Aztec leader.

One of the most important reasons for his success was La Malinche. She was born into an Aztec noble family. Her father died and her mother remarried and had a son. Her mother then sold her as a slave to the Cacique, or military chief, of Tabasco, the main city of the Mayans. La Malinche was living with the Mayans in the Yucatan when Cortez was given her and 19 other young girls by the Cacique. She was 16 years old.

When Cortez arrived in what is now Mexico in 1521, he discovered that his translator, Jeronimo de Aguilar, could not speak Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. He was a Spanish priest who was shipwrecked off Cozumel and was living with the Mayans.

Initially, La Malinche translated from Nahuatl to Mayan, and de Aguilar completed the translation to Spanish. La Malinche was very intelligent and quickly learned Spanish. She acted as Cortes's translator, mistress and secretary. It was she who permitted Cortes to convince the enemies of the Aztecs to join his army and helped him to outwit Moctezuma. In a letter written by Cortes, he states "After God we owe this conquest of New Spain to Doña Marina." (La Malinche's Christian name)

The name, La Malinche, appears to mean "the captain's woman." Certainly, Cortes was always addressed by the Aztecs as "Malinche" meaning captain. When La Malinche converted to Christianity, she took the name Doña Marina.

She bore Cortes a son, Don Mahin Cortes, who many considered the first "Mexican". He rose to high government position and was a "Comendador" of the Order of St. Jago. In 1548, accused of conspiring against the Viceroy, he was tortured and executed.

After the Conquest, Cortes, with a wife in Spain, arranged to have Doña Marina married to a Castilian knight, Don Juan Xamarillo.

La Malinche has appeared frequently in Mexican art from the time of the Aztecs to the present. In Mexico today, a Malinchista indicates a person who is working with foreigners in a way unfavorable to Mexico. Yet, an alternate intrepretation of Mexican history suggests that Doña Marina liberated the citizens from its cruel Aztec rulers with the help of the Spaniards.