The story of human exploration is as old as the story of civilisation, and many of the stories of these explorers have become legends over the centuries.

Here are 15 of the most famous explorers during the Age of Exploration, before and after.

1. Marco Polo (1254-1324)

A Venetian merchant and adventurer, Marco Polo travelled along the Silk Road from Europe to Asia between 1271 and 1295.

Originally invited to the court of Kublai Khan (1215-1294) with his father and uncle, he remained in China for 17 years where the Mongol ruler sent him on fact-finding missions to distant parts of the empire.

Polo wearing a Tartar outfit, print from the 18th century

Image Credit: Grevembrock, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Upon his return to Venice, Polo was imprisoned in Genoa alongside the writer Rustichello da Pisa. The result of their encounter was Il milione (“The Million”) or ‘The Travels of Marco Polo’, which described his voyage to and experiences in Asia.

Polo was not the first European to reach China, but his travelogue inspired many explorers – among them, Christopher Columbus.

His writings also had a significant influence on European cartography, ultimately leading to the Age of Discovery a century later.

2. Zheng He (c. 1371-1433)

Known as the Three-Jewel Eunuch Admiral, Zheng He was China’s greatest explorer.

Commanding the world’s mightiest fleet of 300 ships and as many as 30,000 troops, Admiral Zheng made 7 epic voyages to southeast Asia, south Asia, the Middle East and Africa between 1405 and 1433.

Setting sail aboard his “treasure ships”, he would exchange valuable goods such as gold, porcelain and silk for ivory, myrrh and even China’s first giraffe.

Despite being instrumental in extending the influence and power of the Ming dynasty China, Zheng’s legacy went overlooked after China entered a long period of isolation.

3. Henry the Navigator (1394-1460)

The Portuguese prince has a legendary status in the early stages of European exploration – despite never having embarked on an exploratory voyage himself.

His patronage of Portuguese exploration led to expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean and along the western coast of Africa, and the colonising of the Azores and Madeira islands.

Although he did not earn the title ‘”the Navigator” until three centuries after his death, Henry was considered the main initiator of the Age of Discovery and the Atlantic slave trade.

4. Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)

Often called the “discoverer” of the New World, Christopher Columbus embarked on 4 voyages across the Atlantic Ocean between 1492 and 1504.

Under the sponsorship of Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Spain, he had originally set sail hoping to find a westward route to the Far East.

Posthumous portrait of Columbus by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519. There are no known authentic portraits of Columbus

Image Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Instead, the Italian navigator found himself on an island that later became known as the Bahamas. Believing he had reached the Indies, he dubbed the natives there “Indians”.

Columbus’ voyages were the first European expeditions to the Caribbean, Central America and South America, and opened the way for the European exploration and permanent colonisation of the Americas.

5. Vasco da Gama (c. 1460-1524)

In 1497, the Portuguese explorer set sail from Lisbon towards India. His voyage made him the first European to reach India by sea, and opened up the first sea route connecting Europe to Asia.

Da Gama’s discovery of the Cape Route opened the way for an age of Portuguese exploration and colonialism in Asia.

It would take another century for other European powers to challenge Portugal’s naval supremacy and commercial monopoly of commodities such as pepper and cinnamon.

The Portuguese national epic poem, Os Lusiadas (“The Lusiads”), was written in his honour by Luís Vaz de Camões (c. 1524-1580), Portugal’s greatest ever poet.

6. John Cabot (c. 1450-1498)

Born Giovanni Caboto, the Venetian explorer became known for his 1497 voyage to North America under the commission of Henry VII of England.

Upon landing in what he called “New-found-land” in present-day Canada – which he mistook for being Asia – Cabot claimed land for England.

Cabot’s expedition was the first European exploration of coastal North America since the 11th century, making him the first early modern European to “discover” North America.

It is not known if he died in a storm during his final voyage in 1498, or if he returned safely to London and died shortly after.

7. Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467-1520)

Regarded as the “discoverer” of Brazil, the Portuguese navigator was the first European to reach the Brazilian coast, in 1500.

While on a voyage to India Cabral accidentally sailed too far south west, and found himself at present-day Porto Seguro on the coast of Bahia.

After staying mere days, Cabral sailed back across the Atlantic, leaving two degredados, exiled criminals, who would father the first of Brazil’s mestizo population. Several years after, the Portuguese began colonising the area.

The name “Brazil” originated from the brazilwood tree, which the settlers made great profit from. Today, with over 200 million people, Brazil is the world’s largest Portuguese-speaking nation.

8. Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512)

Around 1501-1502, the Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci embarked on a follow-up expedition to Cabral’s, exploring the Brazilian coast.

‘Allegory of the New World’ by Stradanus, depicting Vespucci that awakens the sleeping America (cropped)

Image Credit: Stradanus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

As a result of this voyage, Vespucci demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies were not the eastern outskirts of Asia – as Columbus had thought – but a separate continent, which became described as the “New World”.

The German geographer Martin Waldseemüller was so impressed that he coined the name “America”, after the Latin version of Vespucci’s first name, in a 1507 map.

Waldseemüller later changed his mind and removed the name in 1513, believing that it was Columbus who discovered the New World. However it was too late, and the name stuck.

9. Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)

The Portuguese explorer was the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean, and organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522.

Despite rough weather, and a mutinous and starving crew riddled with scurvy, Magellan and his ships managed to reach an island – probably Guam – in the western Pacific.

In 1521, Magellan was killed after reaching the Philippines, when he was caught in a battle between two rival chieftains.

The expedition, begun by Magellan but completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano, resulted in the first circumnavigation of the earth.

10. Juan Sebastián Elcano (c. 1476-1526)

Following Magellan’s death, the Basque explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of the expedition.

His ship ‘the Victoria’ reached Spanish shores in September 1522, completing the navigation. Of the 270 men who left with the Mangellan-Elcano expedition, only 18 Europeans returned alive.

Magellan has historically received more credit than Elcano for commanding the world’s first circumnavigation.

This was in part because Portugal wanted to recognise a Portuguese explorer, and because of Spanish fears of Basque nationalism.

11. Hernán Cortés (1485-1547)

A Spanish conquistador (soldier and explorer), Hernán Cortés was best known for leading an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521 and for winning Mexico for the Spanish crown.

Upon landing in the southeastern Mexican coast in 1519, Cortés did what no explorer had done – he disciplined his army and trained them to act as a cohesive force.

He then set out for the Mexican interior, heading for the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan where he took hostage its ruler: Montezuma II.

Having captured the capital and subdued neighbouring territories, Cortés became the absolute ruler of a territory extending from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

In 1521, a new settlement – Mexico City – was built on Tenochtitlan and became the centre of Spanish America. During his rule, Cortés inflicted great cruelty on the indigenous population.

12. Sir Francis Drake (c.1540-1596)

Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe in a single expedition from 1577 to 1580.

In his youth, he commanded a ship as part of a fleet bringing African slaves to the “New World”, making one of the first English slaving voyages.

Portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, 1591

Image Credit: Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Later, he was secretly commissioned by Elizabeth I to set off an expedition against the colonies of the Spanish empire – the most powerful in the world at the time.

Aboard his flagship ‘the Pelican’ – later renamed ‘the Golden Hind’ – Drake made his way into the Pacific, up the coast of South America, across the Indian Ocean and back into the Atlantic.

After two years of plundering, pirating and adventuring, he sailed his ship into Plymouth Harbour on 26 September 1580. He was knighted by the Queen personally aboard his ship 7 months later.

13. Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618)

A key figure of the Elizabethan era, Sir Walter Raleigh carried out several expeditions to the Americas between 1578 and 1618.

He was instrumental in the English colonisation of North America, having been granted a royal charter that allowed him to organise the first English colonies in Virginia.

Although these colonial experiments were a disaster, resulting in the so-called “Lost Colony” of Roanoke Island, it paved the way for future English settlements.

A former favourite of Elizabeth I, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London after she discovered his secret marriage to Elizabeth Throckmorton, her maid of honour.

Upon his release, Raleigh set off on two unsuccessful expeditions in search of the legendary “El Dorado“, or “City of Gold”. He was executed on his return to England for treason by James I.

14. James Cook (1728-1779)

A British Royal Navy captain, James Cook embarked on ground-breaking expeditions that helped map the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia.

In 1770, he made the first European contact with the eastern coast of Australia, and chartered several islands in the Pacific.

Using a combination of seamanship, navigation and cartographic skills, Cook radically expanded and changed European perceptions of world geography.

15. Roald Amundsen (1872-1928)

The Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole, during an Antarctic expedition of 1910-1912.

He was also the first to sail through the Arctic’s treacherous Northwest Passage, from 1903 to 1906.

Amundsen c. 1923

Image Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Amundsen had planned to be the first man to the North Pole. On hearing that the American Robert Peary had achieved the feat, Amundsen decided to change course and instead set sail for Antarctica.

On 14 December 1911 and with the help of sleigh dogs, Amundsen reached the South Pole, beating his British rival Robert Falcon Scott.

In 1926, he led the first flight over the North Pole in a dirigible. He died two years later trying to rescue a fellow explorer who had crashed at sea near Spitsbergen, Norway.

Since it was easier to grow crops than hunt, the Aztec diet was primarily plant-based and focused on a few major foods. Maize, beans, salt and chilli peppers were the constants of Aztec cuisine, providing the average Aztec with a well-rounded diet without major deficiencies in vitamins and minerals.

Daily meals

Most Aztecs ate twice a day: the first after a few hours of morning work, and the second during the hottest hour of the day: at around 3 o’clock.

Aztec men sharing a meal

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Breakfast would usually be a maize porridge with chillies or honey, or tortillas, beans and sauce. In the afternoon, the main meal would consist of tamales, beans, tortillas, and a casserole of squash and tomatoes.

Feasts

Banquets and feasts, as well as the ceremony surrounding them, played a key role in Aztec culture. Feasts were determined by the religious calendar, and were used as a display of material wealth. They featured singing, dancing, storytelling, incense burning, offerings, tobacco, flowers, and gift-giving.

Festivities would begin at midnight. Some attendees would drink chocolate and consume hallucinogenic mushrooms so that they could describe their experiences and visions to the other guests.

Before eating, each guest would drop some food on the ground as an offering to the god Tlaltecuhtli.

Fasting

In all aspects of life, the Aztecs stressed frugality, simplicity and moderation. All members of Aztec society engaged in fasting to some extent. The main purpose of an Aztec fast was to abstain from salt and chillis. There were no regular exceptions from the fast.

Once every 52 years during the New Fire ceremony, some priests would fast for an entire year. Commoners also engaged in fasting, but less rigorously.

Food preparation

Aztec women were responsible for cooking, as for almost all domestic duties. Not using oils or fats, the main method of food preparation was boiling, grilling or steaming in two-handled clay pots or jars called xoctli.

Staple foods

The most common Aztec foods were tortillas, tamales, casseroles and the sauces that went with them – the Aztecs loved their sauces.

Maize, beans and squash were the three staple foods, to which nopales and tomatoes were usually added. Chilli and salt were ubiquitous.

The Aztec diet was dominated by fruit and vegetables, but at times also included domesticated animals such as dogs, turkeys, ducks and honey bees.

Maize

Aztec woman blowing on maize before putting it into the cooking pot

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The most important Aztec staple was maize, a crop held in such high regard that it played a central part in Aztec mythology. To some of the first Europeans, the Aztecs described it as “precious, our flesh, our bones”.

Maize came in varieties of colour, texture, size and quality, and was eaten as corn tortillas, tamales or ātōlli, maize gruel. Maize was broken down by nixtamalization: dry maize grain would be soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater.

This process would release the outer hull of the grain, and make a maize easier to grind. It transformed the maize from simple carbohydrates to a nutritional package of calcium, iron, copper and zinc.

Beans

Another important staple in the Aztec diet, beans served as a good source of protein. They were served at every meal. The beans would be soaked in water for several hours and then boiled until they were soft. They would sometimes be mixed with other vegetables to make a soup or stew.

Fruit and vegetables

The most important fruit and vegetables were chilli peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and avocados. Squash was also extremely popular, including courgettes and pumpkins. The seeds were eaten fresh, dried or roasted.

Red and green tomatoes were often mixed with chilli in sauces or as filling for tamales. The Aztecs also ate various mushrooms and funghi, including the parasitic corn smut which grows on ears of corn. The main fruits consumed were guavas, papayas, custard apples, zapotes, mamey and chirimoyas.

Meat and fish

Illustration of an Aztec feast

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Aztec diet was mostly dominated by fruit and vegetables, however they did eat a variety of fish and wild game. Rabbits, birds, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, green iguanas, pocket gophers and insects (and their eggs and larvae) all served as valuable food sources.

The Aztecs also ate domesticated turkeys, duck and dogs, and at times larger wild animals such as deer. These, however, were eaten only on rare occasions.

Spices

A wide range of herbs and spices were available to the Aztecs, who loved seasonings and sauces.

Chilli peppers, which came in a variety of species, were often dried and ground up for storage and use in cooking.

The Aztec cuisine featured a significant number of flavours, including sweet, fruity, earthy, smoky and fiery hot.

Drink

An illustration depicting elderly Aztecs smoking and drinking pulque

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The most common Aztec drinks were ātōle, and pulque – a fermented juice of maguey (the century plant) which was the main drink of commoners. The rich made a point to not drink pulque.

Ātōle accounted for a considerable amount of the daily calorie intake. Made up of 8 parts water and 6 parts maize with lime, the mixture would be cooked until softened and thickened.

Alcohol

Alcoholic drinks were made from fermented maize, honey, cacti, pineapple and other plants and fruits. Drinking was tolerated, even for children, however becoming drunk was absolutely not acceptable. The penalties could be severe, even more so for the elite.

A commoner would be punished by having their house destroyed and sent off to live in a field like an animal. A noble could be executed for drinking too much alcohol for their first transgression.

Cacao

The cocoa bean was highly treasured and of high symbolic value in the Aztec Empire. In some cases, it was used as a currency. Cacao was a rare luxury, favoured by rulers, warriors and nobles. It was most commonly drunk as cacahuatl (“cacao water”), flavoured with chilli peppers, honey, vanilla and spices and herbs.

Although cocoa was introduced to Europe in the early 16th century by Christopher Columbus, it was not until Hernan Cortes substituted sugar for spices that it became a commercial success. The word “chocolate” comes from the Aztec word, chocolatl.

Cannibalism

A scene depicting ritualistic cannibalism

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Cannibalism was deeply connected to Aztec mythology. Aztec gods and goddesses needed to consume the sacrificed flesh and blood of humans in order to sustain themselves – and the world.

Since human flesh was seen as the food of the gods, ritual cannibalism had a sacred meaning, bringing the consumer closer to the deities.

Victims, often prisoners of war, would be sacrificed in public on top of pyramids and temples by having their hearts cut out. Their bodies would then be thrown to the ground where they were dismembered.

The pieces were then distributed to the elite, and consumed in the forms of stews flavoured with salt and eaten with corn tortillas – but without chilli.

While many aspects of Mexican culture are Hispanic, there are also many ties to the Aztec civilization as well as other Mesoamerican cultures, making the modern country a true blend of New and Old World.

1. They called themselves the Mexica

The word ‘Aztec’ would not have been used by the Aztec people themselves. ‘Aztec’ refers to the ‘people of Aztlán’ – the ancestral home of the Aztecs, thought to be in northern Mexico or the southwestern United States.

The Aztec people actually called themselves the ‘Mexica’ and spoke the Nahuatl language. Some three million people continue to speak the indigenous language in central Mexico today.

2. The Mexica originated from northern Mexico

Nahua speaking people began to migrate to the Basin of Mexico around 1250 AD. The Mexica were one of the last groups to arrive, and most of the fertile farming land had already been taken.

A page from the Codex Boturini depicting the departure from Aztlán

Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

3. They founded Tenochtitlan in 1325 AD

They moved to an island in Lake Texcoco, where an eagle nested upon a cactus eating a snake (the symbol in the middle of the modern Mexican flag). They saw this as a prophesy and founded Tenochtitlan on this island on 13 March 1325.

4. They defeated the Tepanecs to become the most powerful state in Mexico

From 1367, the Aztecs had been militarily supporting the nearby state of Tepanec and benefited from the expansion of that empire. In 1426, the Tepanec ruler died and his son Maxlatzin inherited the throne. He sought to reduce Aztec power, but was crushed by the former ally.

5. The empire wasn’t strictly an empire as we might think

The Aztecs didn’t directly rule their subjects in the same way a European empire like the Romans did. Rather than direct control, the Aztecs subjugated nearby city states but left the local rulers in charge, then demanded regular tribute – leading to great wealth for Tenochtitlan.

6. Their combat became focused on capture over killing on the battlefield

While the Aztec did fight pitched battles, from the mid-1450s fighting became something rather more like a blood sport, with ornately dressed nobles attempting to make their enemies submit so they could be captured and then sacrificed.

Folio from the Codex Mendoza showing a commoner advancing through the ranks by taking captives in war. Each attire can be achieved by taking a certain number of captives

Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

7. The ‘flowery wars’ prioritised military training and religion over conquest

The ritualised ‘flowery war’ was practiced against enemies like Tlaxcala and Cholula – whereby the Aztecs could have conquered the cities, but decided not to as the constant war helped train Aztec soldiers and served as a source for gathering sacrifices.

8. Their religion was based on existing Mesoamerican belief systems

The polytheistic pantheon that the Aztec religion was based upon had existed for thousands of years prior to their own civilisation. For instance, a feathered serpent – which the Aztecs called Quetzalcoatl – were present in Omec culture which dated to 1400 BC.

The pantheon of the Teotihuacan city state, which was one of the world’s largest cities between 200-600 AD, had many similarities with the Aztec pantheon. Indeed, the word ‘Teotihuacan’ is Nahuatl language for ‘birthplace of the gods’.

9. There were over 200 deities within their Pantheon

Aztec gods were divided into groups, such as for the weather, agriculture and warfare. The patron god was called Huitzilopochtli, who was associated with war and sacrifice. Tlaloc, the god of rain, and Quetzalcoatl, the god of knowledge and wisdom are other prominent gods common in art and stonework.

10. Their religion practiced human sacrifice

Captives would be sacrificed to please the gods, which was common throughout Mesoamerican religion. While the Aztecs certainly increased the amount of sacrifice that occurred in the region, the true extent of how much it occurred is unclear. Spanish sources are almost certainly exaggerated.

Aztec ritual human sacrifice portrayed in the Codex Magliabechiano

Image Credit: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

11. They lacked metallurgy for warfare

In terms of military technology, the peoples of the Mexico region were a long way from the Europeans at the time – they had not developed either bronze or iron for widespread battle use and most metalwork was for jewellery or small ornaments.

Most Aztec weaponry was based on a volcanic glass called obsidian, which was sharp and strong enough to fashion primitive weapons. Militarily they were only as advanced as European peoples in the Neolithic (Stone Age) period.

12. …and pack animals for building

There were no horses, cows or sheep native to the region. This meant armies could not be easily supported and all of the structures in the region were built purely by man power. Communications in central Mexico could only run as fast as a man.

13. They were advanced in architecture, art and astronomy

Despite primitive technologies and the lack of load bearing animals, the Aztecs constructed many great religious buildings – notably the large Templo de Mayor complex at the heart of Tenochtitlan. Aztec society placed great emphasis on skilled masonry, and intricate stonework is a regular feature on many of their buildings. The remarkable 24 ton Aztec Sun Stone consists of detailed motifs and the heart of Aztec cosmogony.

14. They were agricultural innovators

For centuries prior to the Aztec arrival the Valley of Mexico had complex irrigation systems called chinampas. The Aztecs developed these for large scale cultivation. Soil from the bottom of the shallow Lake Texcoco was piled up to create ridges between ditches, and small rectangular fields were formed.

The rich soil combined with a constant water supply and a favourable climate meant there were three harvests every year, leading to a very high population density.

15. Maize was the principle Aztec crop

Maize (corn) was the staple of the Aztec diet – similar to rice in Asia or Wheat in Europe. This could be eaten on the cob, in corn tortillas or in a gruel. Maize was so important to the Aztecs that they had a god for it – Centeotl – which translates to “Maize cob Lord.”

Aztec woman blowing on maize before putting it into the cooking pot

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

16. Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities in the world by 1500

The city’s population was over 200,000 by the early 16th century – only Paris and Constantinople were bigger cities at the time.

17. Moctezuma was emperor of the Aztecs when they met the Spanish conquistadors under Hernan Cortes

He was the ninth ruler of the Aztecs, reigning from 1502 until his death in 1520. Under his rule, the Aztec Empire reached its greatest size, but was also conquered. He first met the Spanish expedition led by Cortez in 1519.

18. Moctezuma was already facing internal problems when the Spanish arrived

Many subdued tribes under Aztec rule were very discontent. Having to pay regular tribute and provide sacrificial victims built up resentment. Cortes was able to exploit the poor communications and turn city states against the Aztecs.

His first meeting with indigenous people, with the Totonacs at Cempoala near modern day Veracruz, quickly informed him of the resentment towards the Aztec overlords.

19. The empire was crushed by the Spanish conquistadors and their allies in 1521

Cortes was initially cordial towards the uncertain Moctezuma, but then took him hostage. After an incident when Moctezuma was killed, the Conquistadors were forced out of Tenochtitlan. They rallied with indigenous allies like Tlaxcala and Texcoco, to build a vast force which besieged and sacked Tenochtitlan in August 1521 – crushing the Aztec empire.

20. Spanish brought smallpox that devastated the Aztec population

The defense of Tenochtitlan was severely hindered by smallpox, a disease from which Europeans were immune. Very shortly after the Spanish arrival in 1519, between 5-8 million people in Mexico (about a quarter of the population) died from the disease.

It subsequently ravaged the indigenous population of the Americas at a greater scale than even the Black Death in Europe during the late 14th century.

21. There were no revolts in favour of the Aztec empire once it had fallen

Unlike the Incas in Peru, people in the region did not rebel against the Spanish conquerors in favour of the Aztecs. This is possibly indicative of the empire’s fragile and fractured power base. Spanish rule of Mexico ended exactly 300 years later – in August 1821.

Starting afresh in the New World

Like many men who set off to explore distant lands, Cortés was not a success back at home. Born in 1485 in Medellín, the young Spaniard was a disappointment to his family after quitting school early and allegedly badly injuring himself whilst escaping out of the window of a married woman.

Bored of his small-town life and distant family, he left for the New World in 1504 aged just just 18, and settled in the newly created colony of Santo Domingo (now in the Dominican Republic.) Over the next few years, he caught the eye of his colonial masters as he took part in expeditions to conquer Hispaniola (Haiti) and Cuba.

With Cuba newly conquered by 1511, the young adventurer was rewarded with a high political position on the island. In typical fashion, relations between him and the Cuban governor Velazquez began to sour over Cortes’ arrogance, as well as his rakish pursuit of the governor’s sister-in-law.

Eventually, Cortés decided to marry her, thus securing the good will of his master, and creating a newly wealthy platform for some adventures of his own.

An illustration of Emperor Moctezuma welcoming Cortés to Tenochtitlan.

Into the unknown

By 1518, many of the Caribbean islands had been discovered and colonised by Spanish settlers, but the great uncharted mainland of the Americas remained a mystery. That year Velazquez gave Cortés permission to explore the interior, and though he quickly revoked this decision after another squabble, the younger man decided to go anyway.

In February 1519 he left, taking 500 men, 13 horses and a handful of cannon with him. Upon reaching the Yucatan peninsula, he scuttled his ships. With his name now blackened by the vengeful governor of Cuba, there would be no going back.

From then on Cortés marched inland, winning skirmishes with natives, from whom he captured a number of young women. One of them would one day father his child, and they told him of a great inland Empire stuffed with staggering riches. In what is now Veracruz, he met with an emissary of this nation, and demanded a meeting with the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma.

A 19th century portrait of Hernan Cortés by Jose Salome Pina. Image credit: Museo del Prado / CC.

Tenochtitlan – the island city

After the emissaries haughtily refused him many times, he began to march onto the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan – refusing to take no for an answer. On the way there he met with other tribes under the yoke of Moctezuma’s rule, and these warriors quickly swelled the Spanish ranks as the summer of 1519 went slowly by.

Finally, on 8 November, this ragtag army arrived at the gates of Tenochtitlan, an island city said to have been astonishingly rich and beautiful. Seeing this host at the gates of his capital, Moctezuma decided to receive the strange newcomers peacefully, and he met with the foreign adventurer – who was basking in the local belief that this strange armoured man was actually the serpent God Quetzalcoatl.

The meeting with the Emperor was cordial, and Cortés was given large amounts of gold – which was not seen to be as valuable to the Aztecs. Unfortunately for Moctezuma, after coming all this way the Spaniard was fired up rather than placated by this show of generosity.

Cortés’ bloody road to power

While in the city he learned that some of his men left by the coast had been killed by locals, and used this as a pretext to suddenly seize the Emperor in his own palace and declare him to be a hostage. With this powerful pawn in his hands, Cortés then effectively ruled the city and its Empire for the next few months with little opposition.

This relative calm did not last long. Velazquez had not given up on finding his old enemy and dispatched a force which arrived in Mexico in April 1520. Despite being outnumbered, Cortés rode out of Tenochtitlan to meet them and incorporated the survivors into his own men after winning the ensuing battle.

In a vengeful mood, he then marched back to Tenochtitlan – in his absence, his second-in-command, Alvarado, had ordered the killing of hundreds of Aztec people after they attempted to perform a ritual human sacrifice as part of their celebrations for the festival of Toxcatl. Shortly after Cortés returned to Tenochtitlan, Moctezuma was killed. Despite claiming that it had happened in an uncontrollable riot, historians have suspected foul play ever since.

As the situation in the city escalated terribly, Cortés had to flee for his life with a few of his men on what is now known as La Noche Triste: in his confidence, he had underestimated the Aztecs, failed to understand their tactics and overestimated the ability of his own troops. He lost 870 men, a significant percentage of the Spanish forces in Mexico, as a result.

A depiction of the founding of Tenochtitlan taken from the Codex Mendoza, a 16th century Aztec codex.

After forming alliances with local rivals, Cortés returned to Tenochtitlan and besieged the city, almost razing it to the ground, and claiming it for Spain under the name of Mexico City. With no one to tell him otherwise, he then ruled as the self-styled governor of all Mexico from 1521-1524.

Cortés’ legacy

In the end, Cortés got what he probably deserved. His demanding of recognition and wilful arrogance gradually alienated the King of Spain, and when the ageing explorer returned to the Royal court he met with a chilly reception.

Cortés retired back to Mexico, where he spent time on his extensive states, as well as engaging in some Pacific exploration: he is credited with the Western ‘discovery’ of the Baja California peninsula.

He eventually died, embittered, in 1547, having left behind a legacy of European empire-building in the Americas, and wiped a powerful civilisation off the face of the earth.

A deadly virus

Originating in farming livestock, the disease crossed over to humans. However, after centuries of exposure, European populations had begun to develop some resistance to the smallpox virus.

However, populations which had not spent the same time in close proximity with farming livestock had no such exposure or resistance. When they were first exposed to such microbes, there was an exceptionally high mortality rate.

Smallpox virus grown in a laboratory. PhD Dre / CC

Why was the Spanish conquest so easy?

Many have wondered precisely why, and how, the Europeans conquered the Americas so swiftly and successfully – Aztec and Inca societies were extremely sophisticated, and although they were not used to horses, or fighting on horseback, they had far greater numbers than the Spanish conquistadors.

In initial skirmishes between Hernan Cortes and Emperor Moctezuma of Tenochtitlan, there is no doubt the Aztecs were naïve about the skill of the invaders they were facing – overconfident, perhaps, because Cortes arrived with only 600 Spaniards. However, after this initial battle they fought with much more strength and tenacity.

Guns and load-bearing animals (I.e. horses) were a considerable advantage for the Spanish, as were the alliances Cortes had made with neighbouring rival city states, but even with these, there is no feasible way they would have been a match for the armies of militaristic Aztec city states.

When smallpox arrived on the shores of Mexico in 1520, it ravaged the population of the Aztec Empire, even killing the emperor.

The psychological effects on the unafflicted cannot be underestimated either – before their very eyes, their families and friends were dying painfully, whilst the Spanish invaders remained seemingly untouched and unaffected.

With no natural resistance, the disease spread rapidly through native populations, devastating the city of Tenochtitlan. It is estimated 40% of the city perished.

Smallpox was not the only new disease to arrive on the shores of America with the conquistadors. Scientists and virologists are still unsure exactly what was behind later epidemics – known as cocoliztli epidemics, but it is thought that the virus was probably of European origin. By the early 17th century, it estimated the native population in Mexico had plummeted from 25 million to around 1.6 million.

Smallpox reached the Inca settlements in Peru long before Francisco Pizarro arrived there in 1526, making his conquest infinitely easier as the disease had killed the emperor, weakening the Inca state as his two sons fought for power.

The Spanish did not have the medical understanding or skill to try and help those afflicted even if they had wanted to, but this does not detract from the fact they were hardly sad to see this happen – some even viewed it as a sign of divine providence.

The worst epidemics in history?

Whilst there have been epidemics with higher overall death tolls in more recent history, the combined death toll of these epidemics in the Americas is thought to have killed roughly 90% of the native population in less than 100 years, making it one of the most deadly outbreaks in history.

Furthermore, it had a huge impact on both Europe and the native populations. Not only was the Spanish conquest made considerably easier by scores of natives being struck down with smallpox, the social and cultural impact of such a large percentage of a population dying had profound effects.

Combined with Spanish attempts to wipe out native religious practices, customs and beliefs, aspects of Aztec, Incan and native culture disappeared in a remarkably short space of time, replaced by a new hybrid culture – Catholicism tinted with vestiages of indigenous cultures.

Page from Historia de la Marina Real Española. Image credit: Biblioteca Rector Machado y Nuñez / CC

Biological warfare

Smallpox, cholera, measles, and other European microbes continued to decimate native populations for several hundred years after the initial conquest. One particularly gruesome rumour suggests that in the mid-18th century, the British infected Native Americans through smallpox-infested blankets in an attempt to wipe out local indigenous populations.

Whether or not this story is completely true remains unclear, but it does illustrate a degree of intentional biological warfare that had not previously been present. Even today, biological warfare remains a highly contentious topic – the 1975 Biological Weapons Convention has outlawed the use of weapons of biological warfare in international law.

Whilst the arrival of new European diseases in the Americas might not have been an intentional or deliberate act, it proved a decisive factor in the conquest and colonisation that followed, and in creating the world as we know it.

The Pyramid of the Sun & the Avenue of the Dead at Teotihuacan. Image credit: Gzzz / CC

In the Aztec Empire, which flourished in the 14th century until its collapse in 1519, it is generally accepted that human sacrifice was a part of Aztec culture – even an integral part of the Aztec religion.

Here are 10 facts about ritual human sacrifice in the Aztec Empire.

1. It was first recorded by the Spanish colonists

Documentation of Aztec human sacrifice and cannibalism mainly dates from the period after the Spanish conquest. When the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521, he described seeing a sacrificial ceremony where priests sliced open the chests of sacrificial victims.

The Mesoamerican ethnographer Bernardino de Sahagun included an illustration of an Aztec being cooked in his 16th century study, Historia general.

Many scholars have cautioned against such claims, dismissing the 16th century reports as propaganda used to justify the destruction of Tenochtitlan and the enslavement of the Aztec people.

2. It is supported by archaeological evidence

In 2015 and 2018, archaeologists at the Templo Mayor excavation site in Mexico City discovered proof of widespread human sacrifice among the Aztecs. Researchers studying human bones found in Tenochtitlan found that the individuals had been decapitated and dismembered.

The analysis suggested that the victims that been butchered and consumed, and that their flesh was removed immediately after immolation. Illustrations in temple murals and stone carvings have also been found to depict scenes of ritual human sacrifice.

3. It had spiritual and religious significance

According to Aztec mythology, the sun god Huitzilopochtli required constant nourishment in the form of human blood to prevent the rise of darkness and the end of the world. The serpentine fertility god Quetzalcoatl and the jaguar god Tezcatlipoca both also required human sacrifice.

Aztec ideology dictated that how an individual fared in the afterlife depended on them being either sacrificed to the gods or killed in battle. In contrast, a person who died of disease went to the lowest level of the underworld, Mictlan.

The historian Ortiz de Montellano argued that because sacrificial victims were sacred, “eating their flesh was the act of eating the god itself”. The ritual was therefore a “gesture of thanks and reciprocity to the gods.”

4. Many victims were willingly sacrificed

Difficult as it might be to imagine, the Aztecs would volunteer to be sacrificed, believing it to be the pinnacle of nobility and honour. Prisoners of war were also favoured as victims – the expanding Aztec Empire of the 15th and 16th centuries saw human sacrifice as an act of intimidation.

Illustration of Aztec human sacrifice from a 16th century codex. Image credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1520, a group of Spanish conquistadors, women, children and horses were captured by local people, known as the Acolhauas, near the major Aztec city of Tetzcoco.

The prisoners were kept in ad hoc cells and, over the course of the following weeks, killed and cannibalised in ritual ceremonies. DNA tests of victims from the Templo Mayor site indicated that the majority were outsiders, most likely captured enemy soldiers or slaves.

5. It was reserved for special occasions

Historians generally believe that cannibalism was not practised by commoners and was not part of the regular Aztec diet. Instead, ritual cannibalism and human sacrifice took place as part of specific ceremonies.

During festivals of the Aztec calendar, sacrificial victims would be adorned to appear as a god. After they were decapitated, the bodies of the victims would be gifted to noblemen and important members of the community.

16th century illustrations show body parts being cooked in large pots. The blood would be kept by the priests, used to mix with maize to create a dough that would be shaped as an effigy of the god, baked and then given as food to celebrants at the festival.

A victim of sacrificial gladiatorial combat, as portrayed in the Codex Magliabechiano. Image credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

6. It was an act of thanksgiving

Large and small scales of human sacrifice were made throughout the year to coincide with important calendar dates to use for dedicating temples, reversing drought and combating famine.

The greatest amount of cannibalism coincided with times of harvest. In Aztec mythology, the fertility goddess Tonacacihuatl – meaning “Lady of Our Food” or “Lady of Our Flesh” – was worshipped for peopling the earth and making it fruitful.

The husking of the corn was perceived by the Aztec as the same act as the tearing out of a sacrificial victim’s heart – both using the obsidian blade that was Tonacacihuatl’s symbol.

7. The heart would be sliced out first

The choice method of human sacrifice was the removal of the heart by an Aztec priest using a sharp obsidian blade, at the top of a pyramid or temple. The victim would then be kicked or thrown downwards, so that their blood would be spilled across the steps of the pyramid.

Once the body reached the bottom of the steps, it would be decapitated, dismembered and distributed. Victims were also sometimes shot full of arrows, stoned, crushed, clawed, sliced, skinned or buried alive.

8. The victims included women and children

Different sacrificial victims were needed for different gods. While warriors were sacrificed to the gods of war, women and children would also be used for other forms of worship. Children were particularly selected for rain deities, and it was believed that they were especially pleasing to the gods of water and rain, such as Tlaloc.

During celebrations relating to the first month of the Mexica calendar, atlacahualo, several children would be sacrificed to honour the gods. They would then be cannibalised by priests.

At Tenochtitlan, the remains of more than 40 children were found at a site surrounding the pyramid of Tlaloc. It is also believed that child victims would be tortured before being sacrificed, as the tears of innocent children were particularly favoured by the rain god.

9. The remains would be prominently displayed

A tzompantli, or skull rack, as shown in the post-Conquest Ramirez Codex. Image credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Spanish conquistador Andrés de Tapia described seeing two rounded towers flanking the Temple Mayor consisting entirely of human skulls. And between them, a towering wooden rack displaying thousands of skulls with bored holes on each side to allow the skulls to slide onto wooden poles.

The 2015 archaeological study of the site included the trophy rack of sacrificed human skulls, known as tzompantli. According to the archaeologist Eduardo Matos, these displays were a “show of might” and that friends and enemies would be invited into the Aztec city to see the skull racks

10. It may have been used to combat protein deficiency

Some historians believe that the Aztecs consumed human meat because their dietary environment lacked sufficient protein. The historian Michael Harner argued that the increasing Aztec population, decreasing amount of wild game, and absence of domesticated animals, drove the Aztec people to crave meat.

All available fish and water fowl would have been luxuries reserved for the wealthy, and the poor would have only had access to insects and rodents.