{"id":15754,"date":"2022-06-30T07:31:30","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T05:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=210098"},"modified":"2022-06-30T07:48:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T05:48:11","slug":"why-we-should-remember-when-cortess-conquistadors-were-forced-to-flee-the-aztec-capital","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/why-we-should-remember-when-cortess-conquistadors-were-forced-to-flee-the-aztec-capital\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we should remember when Cort\u00e9s\u2019s conquistadors were forced to flee the Aztec capital"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 30 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Five hundred years ago, on the night of 30 June 1520, Spanish forces and their allies fled from the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan under attack. Known as La Noche Triste (Night of Sorrows), this shameful retreat marked a key moment in the conquest \u2013 or, as it should more accurately be called, invasion \u2013 of Mexico.<\/p>\n

The Spanish were led by Hern\u00e1n Cort\u00e9s, whose illegal expedition had begun\u00a0in February 1519. Cort\u00e9s had left Cuba against the direct orders of his superior, Diego Vel\u00e1zquez, and evaded arrest several times. He had forged alliances with several indigenous groups, including the Tlaxcalans, who were enemies of the Aztecs<\/a>. In November, the Spaniards reached Tenochtitlan, where they were received peacefully by Moctezuma II. However, they soon took the emperor hostage as a puppet ruler. Meanwhile, Vel\u00e1zquez sent a force of 1,100 men, led by P\u00e1nfilo de Narv\u00e1ez, to arrest Cort\u00e9s, landing in Veracruz in April 1520. Cort\u00e9s headed out to face them with only 226 soldiers, but he captured Narv\u00e1ez in a surprise attack and persuaded his men to join the mission to conquer Tenochtitlan.<\/p>\n