Tenochtitlan falls

Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital founded about 1325 on islands in Lake Texcoco and home to an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 people in 1519 (the figure is disputed), was besieged and taken by Hernán Cortés on 13 August 1521. His force of some 900 to 1,300 Spaniards, with thirteen brigantines built for the lake, fought beside Indigenous allies estimated at anywhere from 50,000 to more than 200,000, drawn from peoples resentful of Aztec rule.

The mechanism

COLONISATION

How it was checked

• EvidenceT5 INDEPENDENT SECULAR; Status: ADDED 2026-09-19
• Letter eraTHE RELEASES, AND THE ENCLOSURE THAT FOLLOWS EACH 1382 to 1694
• SourcesRECORD — Britannica, 'Tenochtitlán'; Britannica, 'Hernán Cortés' · checked 19 September: Britannica (read in a browser; WebFetch is refused by the site), 'Tenochtitlan'; Britannica (read in a browser; WebFetch is refused by the site), 'Hernan Cortes'; Wikipedia, 'Fall of Tenochtitlan' (Spanish strength at the siege); Wikipedia, 'Tenochtitlan' (population estimates; M. E. Smith's 212,500)