It was on this date, December 2, 1547, that the Spanish conquistador of Mexico, during the time of Aztec King Montezuma II (1466-1520), Hernando Cortes (Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro), died peacefully on a lavish estate near Seville. About a generation after Columbus discovered the Americas as a good source of Christian converts, Cortes found the Christianizing of the highly civilized Mexican tribes an excellent excuse to advance his appetite for conquest, control and capital.

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Originally published December 2003 by Ronald Bruce Meyer.