Hernan Cortes Lands in Mexico and Gains an Interpreter
A Spanish expedition meant to explore the coast turns into a campaign of conquest, aided by an enslaved Nahuatl-speaking woman
Quick facts
- Expedition size
- 11 ships, c. 500 men
- Landed
- March 1519
- Key interpreter
- Malintzin (La Malinche)
- Key ally gained
- Tlaxcala
What happened
In 1518 the governor of Cuba, Diego Velazquez de Cuellar, dispatched Hernan Cortes with 11 ships and around 500 men to explore the Mexican coast, and the expedition landed in March 1519. Among the early captures was a Nahuatl and Chontal Maya-speaking woman the Spanish called Marina, later known as La Malinche or Malintzin, who had been enslaved and traded among Maya communities before being given to the Spanish along with 19 other women following a battle. World History Encyclopedia's account of the campaign notes that with Malintzin working alongside another Spaniard fluent in Mayan, Cortes could finally communicate reliably with the peoples of central Mexico, a capability that proved decisive as he marched inland in August 1519, first fighting and then allying with the Tlaxcalans, longtime enemies of the Triple Alliance, before continuing on toward Tenochtitlan.
Why it matters
The capture of an interpreter who could bridge Spanish, Mayan, and Nahuatl gave Cortes something no earlier European expedition to the Americas had: reliable two-way communication with the region's dominant power. Combined with the alliance he built with Tlaxcala, an enemy the Triple Alliance had spent generations fighting through Flower Wars, this gave a few hundred Spaniards leverage against an empire of millions.
How we know
The landing and early campaign are described by eyewitness participants, chief among them the conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo in his memoir The Conquest of New Spain, alongside modern historical synthesis such as World History Encyclopedia's dedicated Cortes and Malinche articles.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. The Fall of Tenochtitlan · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. La Malinche: A Complicated Woman in Context · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Related timelines
- The Age of Exploration → · Cortes's expedition was part of the broader wave of Spanish exploration and conquest across the Americas.