Five Ws
La Malinche
Who? She was an Aztec Princess born to Nahuatl nobility and who was a central role in the conquering of the Aztec Empire.
What? She was a very smart and beautiful young girl that was able to learn languages very quickly. She was the translator for the Spaniards, thought of as a traitor to Mexico for bringing Cortez to Moctezuma to kill him and assume power over Tenochtitlan.
When? Around the 1520’s she was given to Cortez when she was 14.
Where? Tenochtitlan
Why? She helped them because she was a young girl who was being raped and possibly beaten, she would have been killed most likely if she didn’t help.
Cortez
Who? Hernan Cortez is a Spanish conquistador.
What? He invaded Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City) to overthrow the powers there and mark [present-day] Mexico as a Spanish colony. He also was integral in the killing of Moctezuma.
When? In 1519.
Where? He entered at the Yucatan peninsula and made his way from the peninsula to Tenochtitlan.
Why? They knew that there was gold in Mexico and they wanted to bring it back to Spain.
Quetzalcoatl
Who? The friendly and loving god of the Aztecs.
What? The feathered serpent god.
When? He was meant to come back to Yucatan and Tenochtitlan in the year Ce-Actl, which is about 500~ years after he left.
Where? Into the Eastern horizon.
Why? This is important because he was said to return to Yucatan/Tenochtitlan in the same year that Cortez arrived, so when Cortez and his men arrived instead, people mistook him for their friendly, fun, and loving God, Quetzalcoatl.
Diego Velazquez
Who? The governor of Cuba.
What? Cortez met with him to pitch his idea of leading his own expedition.
When? Around the mid-1510s
Where? To conquer Mexico.
Why? Because he already knew Velazquez and it would be easiest to get him to sign off on his expedition idea?
Moctezuma
Who? The emperor/king of the Aztec empire.
What? He was killed (either at the hands of his own people or by the conquistadors, truth unknown and lost to time.)
When? In 1521
Where? Tenochtitlan
Why? So that Hernan Cortez could assume power in the Aztec empire and lead the conquering of the Aztec people.