The Aztec outnumbered the Spanish, but that didn't stop Hernán Cortés from seizing Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, in 1521. This 18th-century oil painting, part of the Conquest of Mexico series ...

The Tlaxcallan Empire, which allied with the Spanish, was the driving force, outnumbering conquistadors 50-to-1 during the war with the Aztecs. Smallpox and a betrayal from an Aztec ally dealt the ...

The Spanish Conquest laid the ground for 300 years of colonial rule which made Spain the richest country in Europe and divided Mexico with a class system that still affects today's society.

The arrival of Spanish conquistadors in 1519 marked the decline of the Aztec Empire, influenced by both military conflict and religious beliefs. Today, many Mexicans still honor their Aztec heritage.

INAH Archaeologists in Mexico City have found an altar dated to the decades after Spain’s 1521 conquest of the Aztec Empire’s capital, Tenochtitlán.

So far, Spain has rejected that request. The story of the Spanish conquest, as it has been commonly understood for 500 years, goes like this: Montezuma surrendered his empire to Cortés.