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Primary sourceLetter30 October 1520 (printed 1522)

Second Letter of Hernán Cortés to Charles V

Hernán Cortés · 30 October 1520 (printed 1522)

Cortés's 1520 letter to the Spanish king describing Tenochtitlan and his admiring account of Moctezuma and his court.

Cortés's firsthand letter describes Moctezuma's power, court rituals, and his meetings with the Spanish before his capture.

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Woodcut-framed title page of an early printed Spanish letter. The engraving shows a crowned figure seated on a throne in an arched hall, holding a scepter, with a ship and pineapple-like plants in side niches. Below is black-letter text, and a handwritten signature is at the bottom.
Hernán Cortés, Second Letter to Charles V, 1520 (printed 1522). Library of Congress. Text reproduced from an AI-generated OCR copy of the original print.

About this source

What it is

This is the second of five letters Hernán Cortés wrote to King Charles V of Spain, dated October 30, 1520, describing his campaign in Mexico. Printed in Seville in 1522, it is held by the Library of Congress. The text describes the great city of Tenochtitlán and its ruler, Moctezuma, including his court's rituals and the dramatic events of the Spanish entry into the city.

Why it matters

Cortés wrote with admiration about Moctezuma's power, the service of his people, and Aztec customs, making this letter one of the earliest European descriptions of the Aztec ruler and his empire. It also recounts pivotal events such as the

This letter is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Montezuma II and Hernán Cortés on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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A painted page from a colonial Mexican manuscript with a blue-green border column of glyphs on the left. Rows of hilltop place-sign glyphs with Nahuatl labels and small pictorial symbols such as a seated figure, a bird, a shield with arrows, and plants, arranged on pale paper with a footer of writing at the bottom.Document

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Codex Mendoza, Folio 15v

Unknown author · 16th century

Black-and-white lithograph titled 'Prision de Motezuma' showing Spanish armored soldiers with helmets and halberds on the left facing a group of Aztec-style figures in feathered headdresses on the right, including a central man in a feathered crown and cloak. A large draped canopy and stone columns frame the scene; a shield lies in the lower right. Printed credits read 'J. Serra lit.', 'Lit. Vidal, Olmo 29' and 'Riera, Editor Barcelona'.Painting

Secondary source

Prisión del emperador Moctezuma

Rafael del Castillo de la Cuesta · 1880

Open bound manuscript on a green cloth, showing two pages of handwritten text in columns with small painted illustrations of fish, a shell, a crab, and shrimp. Page headed 'Libro undecimo'.Book

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Florentine Codex

Bernardino de Sahagún with Nahua collaborators · 1569

Painting showing Hernán Cortés seizing Moctezuma, a later imagined depiction of the event.Painting

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Hernán Cortés takes Moctezuma prisoner

Louis Auguste Turgis · 1895

Woodcut title page of a 1522 Spanish printed letter. A seated, crowned figure holds a scepter in an arched room with checkered floor, flanked by a city scene and a landscape. Below is black-letter Spanish text beginning 'Carta de relación enviada a su S. majestad del emperador nuestro señor por el capitán general de la nueva España, llamado Fernando Cortés', with a handwritten signature at the bottom.Letter

Primary source

Second Letter to Charles V

Hernán Cortés · 1520 (printed 1522)

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