28 May 2025 / 8 Alligator
The Spanish ‘Conquest’
Cartoon by Viv Quillin on the Spanish conquest
Terms can be controversial: some feel we shouldn’t refer to the Spanish Conquest of Mexico but rather to the Spanish Invasion or ‘Spanish-Aztec War’, nor say ‘pre-Hispanic’ but rather ‘pre-Cuauhtémoc’, and that ‘Conquistador’ is insidiously romantic. One thing is clear: whilst no-one made a surviving record of Cortés’s arrival in Mexico we often don’t realise how important an event is until long after it happened. ‘Cortés launched a stunning political experiment: the world’s first ocean-spanning empire of land and sea. Previously, land empires produced commodities, while maritime empires aimed chiefly to control trade-routes. Acquisition of vast lands in Mexico turned Spain’s into the first - and for a long time the only - empire to combine both characteristics’ (Felipe Fernández-Armesto).
Our tongue-in-cheek cartoon above comes courtesy of and thanks to Viv Quillin...
NB Please note that we have several features relating to life in Mexico for the Nahuas after the Spanish invasion in other parts of the website; check for instance our ‘Ask Us’ section...
A few years ago the BBC recorded a discussion on the Siege of Tenochtitlan for the Radio 4 ‘In Our Time’ series. Two of the panellists are on our Panel of Experts. Link below...
Who were the conquistadors? What was their cultural background...?
The story of eight omens foretellingthe Spanish invasion was a myth...
Engaging video of how Indigenous, notSpanish, defeated México-Tenochtitlan
The story of danza azteca beginswith the Concheros...
Exploring La Ruta de Cortésfrom the seat of a touring bicycle...
Just how were beards viewed in Mexico before thearrival of Spaniards?
How the Spaniards distorted the Nahuatl textin the Florentine Codex version of the invasion
Part Four of our month-by-month guide to thequincentennial of the Spanish invasion of Mexico
Indigenous Nahua costume and language help buildresilience and strengthen place-based identity...
What kind of teteo are you?Initial indigenous perception of Cortés
What is the historical connection betweenthe concha guitar and the armadillo?
Part Three of our month-by-month guide to thequincentennial of the Spanish invasion of Mexico
Part Two of our month-by-month guide to thequincentennial of the Spanish invasion of Mexico
Month-by-month guide to the quincentennialof the Spanish invasion of Mexico...
IN THE NEWS: epidemic, self-isolationand the preservation of memory
Could this be the very first imageof Africans in the Americas...?
A time to celebrate the achievements and advancesof Mesoamerca prior to the Spanish invasion...
The Spanish demonised the Aztec underworldMictlan - turning it into a place of torment...
IN THE NEWS: the gender pay gap -see just how wide it was in 1550s New Spain...!
How wise spiritual leaders of Nahua communitiesended up branded as charlatans by the Spanish...
Malinche and Pocahontas: the stories of two womenwho survived through a time of great crisis...
Experts offer some provocative thoughtson the impact of the Spanish invasion...
The Spanish invasion of Mexico- the perspective of women...
The skills of Aztec artistswere judged ‘razor-sharp’ by Europeans
The Spanish-Aztec War was a ‘failure of basic understanding’...
A new resource for GCSE studentson the Aztecs & the Spanish Conquest
‘The Aztecs & the Spanish Conquest’for GCSE: Part Two
‘The Aztecs & the Spanish Conquest’- arguments and controversies...
Conquest, Invasion, or just‘Spanish-Aztec War’...
The Spanish conquest was a campaign wonmostly through politics and diplomacy...
‘Memory cannot be burned’ - it finds refuge‘in mouths that sing the glories of men and gods...’
Why would a Catholic priestdecide to build an Aztec pyramid?
How would the world be differentif the Aztecs had defeated the Spanish?
English pirates secured new homesfor Mexican gold in our museums...
‘Syncretism’: how the Mexica (Aztecs)became Christians in the sixteenth century...
The Spanish Conquest andthe ‘Stranger Effect’...
The ‘Manuscript of a Dogging’ is a lasting memorialto the violence of spiritual as well as military conquest...
Did any pre-Columbian dancessurvive the Spanish Conquest?
‘How long did it take the Aztecs torealise that Cortés was not a god?’
Follow the road taken by Cortésto reach Tenochtitlan in 1519...
Hear Professor Davíd Carrasco explain for ushow the Aztecs viewed the Spanish invaders
Doña Marina -a study in survival...
Doña Marina -a study in survival - Conclusion
What happened to the Aztec/Mexica godsafter the Spanish Conquest? (2)
What happened to the Aztec/Mexica godsafter the Spanish Conquest? (2) - Conclusion
Did the Aztecs really knowof their impending doom?
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Cartoon by Viv Quillin on the Spanish conquest
More Spanish Invasion
- The Spanish ‘Conquest’Who were the conquistadors?The myth of the omens‘The Native Conquest of the Aztecs’Danza Azteca For BeginnersReimagining La Ruta de CortésThe question of beardsSpanish distortion of the Nahuatl textEncounters Countdown (4)Dress and identity in the Nahua worldWhat kind of teteo are you?The concha guitar and the armadilloEncounters Countdown (3)Encounters Countdown (2)Encounters Countdown (1)IN THE NEWS: epidemic, self-isolation and the preservation of memoryFirst image of Africans in the Americas?A celebration of Mesoamerican achievementsAztec Hell - Christian MictlanIN THE NEWS: gender pay gapThe fate of the wise tlamatqueRESOURCE: Doña Marina and PocahontasExpert opinions (1)Expert opinions (2)Aztec art was considered ‘razor-sharp’ in EuropeExpert opinions (3)The Aztecs and the Spanish Conquest for GCSE (I)The Aztecs and the Spanish Conquest for GCSE (II)The Aztecs and the Spanish Conquest for GCSE (III)New terms, new resources, ‘New Conquest History’...Communication and Conquest (1)Communication and Conquest (2)The burning of [Maya] books‘The Aztecs are back...!’What if the Aztecs had defeated the Spanish?Privateers, Pirates and Aztec GoldSyncretism: Aztec ChristiansThe ‘Stranger Effect’‘Manuscript of a Dogging’Did pre-Columbian dances survive the Conquest?‘How long did it take the Aztecs to realise that Cortés was not a god?’The road Cortés followed to reach TenochtitlánJust how DID the Aztecs see the Conquistadors?Doña Marina (Part 1)Doña Marina (Part 2)What happened to the Aztec gods after the Conquest? (2) Part 1What happened to the Aztec gods after the Conquest? (2) ConclusionBad omens!