EXPLORER

Hernán Cortés

1485 - 1547

Photo of Hernán Cortés

Icon of person Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of what is now mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish explorers and conquistadors who began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Born in Medellín, Spain, to a family of lesser nobility, Cortés chose to pursue adventure and riches in the New World. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Hernán Cortés has received more than 9,670,737 page views. His biography is available in 141 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 135 in 2019). Hernán Cortés is the 9th most popular explorer (up from 10th in 2019), the 12th most popular biography from Spain and the most popular Spanish Explorer.

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico in the 16th century.

Memorability Metrics

  • 9.7M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 84.15

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 141

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 7.51

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.73

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, Hernán Cortés ranks 9 out of 498. Before him are Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama, Amerigo Vespucci, Ibn Battuta, Roald Amundsen, and Bartolomeu Dias. After him are James Cook, Zheng He, Francis Drake, Francisco Pizarro, Prince Henry the Navigator, and Abel Tasman.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1485, Hernán Cortés ranks 1. After him are Catherine of Aragon, Dragut, Thomas Cromwell, Giovanni da Verrazzano, Sebastiano del Piombo, Pedro de Alvarado, Clément Janequin, Joos van Cleve, Sayyida al Hurra, Johannes Bugenhagen, and Balthasar Hubmaier. Among people deceased in 1547, Hernán Cortés ranks 2. Before him is Henry VIII of England. After him are Francis I of France, Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, Sebastiano del Piombo, Pietro Bembo, Vittoria Colonna, Saint Cajetan, Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma, Hadım Suleiman Pasha, Philippa of Guelders, and Marie of Luxembourg, Countess of Vendôme.

Others Born in 1485

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Others Deceased in 1547

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In Spain

Among people born in Spain, Hernán Cortés ranks 12 out of 3,355. Before him are Seneca the Younger (-4), Averroes (1126), Francisco Franco (1892), Diego Velázquez (1599), Trajan (53), and Philip II of Spain (1527). After him are Hadrian (76), Theodosius I (340), Pope Alexander VI (1431), Isabella I of Castile (1451), Ignatius of Loyola (1491), and Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (1503).

Others born in Spain

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Among EXPLORERS In Spain

Among explorers born in Spain, Hernán Cortés ranks 1. After him are Francisco Pizarro (1478), Juan Sebastián Elcano (1476), Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475), Juan Ponce de León (1460), Francisco de Orellana (1511), Diego de Almagro (1475), Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (1460), Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar (1465), Alonso de Ojeda (1466), Hernando de Soto (1500), and Lope de Aguirre (1518).

Spanish born Explorers

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