---
title: "Spanish Conquest of Aztec Empire"
year: 1521
country: "Mexico"
canonical: "https://recap.at/1521/conquest-aztec-empire"
slug: "conquest-aztec-empire"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "1521-01-01"
---

# Spanish Conquest of Aztec Empire

> Cortés's conquest of Tenochtitlan ended the Aztec Empire and triggered colonial reorganization of the Americas.

In 1521, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his allied Indigenous forces besieged Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, and destroyed it. The conquest reshaped the Americas, ending Aztec rule and establishing Spanish colonial dominion over Mexico.

## Summary

The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was a pivotal event in the history of the Americas, marked by the collision of the Aztec Triple Alliance and the Spanish Empire with its Indigenous allies. Between 1519 and 1521, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his small army of European soldiers and numerous Indigenous allies, overthrew the most powerful empire in Mesoamerica.

## Sources

- [Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_the_Aztec_Empire) - Wikipedia

---
Canonical: https://recap.at/1521/conquest-aztec-empire