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Signature of Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés

The personal autograph signature of Hernán Cortés, found on his surviving letters and documents.

This is Cortés's own handwritten signature, his personal mark on surviving letters and official documents.

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Black ink handwritten signature on white background: a large looping initial letter H-like flourish followed by cursive script, with long underline strokes extending left and right beneath it.
Signature of Hernán Cortés.

About this source

What it is

This is the handwritten signature of Hernán Cortés, reading either 'El Marqués del Valle' or 'Hernando Cortés', as it appears on documents and letters that survive from his lifetime.

Why it matters

A signature is a direct, physical trace of a historical figure's own hand. Because it appears on his surviving correspondence and official papers, it helps historians identify and authenticate documents connected to Cortés and his role as conqueror and marquess.

Look closer

  • What can a person's handwriting tell us, and what can't it tell us, about them?
  • Why is a signature useful for historians trying to confirm who wrote or approved a document?
  • Why might Cortés have used his title 'Marqués del Valle' rather than just his name?

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

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Title page of a 1524 printed book in black-letter type, framed by woodcut decorative borders, with a red handwritten signature and a note reading 'Cum Gratia, & Priuilegio' near the bottom. The title text describes Cortés's narrative to Emperor Charles V.Letter

Primary source

Letters from Hernán Cortés to Charles V

Hernán Cortés · 1520 (printed 1524)

Woodcut-style map from 1524 showing the Gulf of Mexico coastline on the left and the island city of Tenochtitlan on the right, with canals, causeways, temple precinct, and a Latin inscription at top, colored by hand.Document

Primary source

1524 Nuremberg Map of Tenochtitlan

Unknown engraver, published by Friedrich Peypus · 1524

Lithograph portrait of Hernán Cortés, a bearded man with shoulder-length hair wearing ornate armor, shown from the chest up in three-quarter view, with the caption HERNAN CORTÉS below on a cream paper sheet.Painting

Secondary source

Engraving of Hernán Cortés

José Cebrián García · 1870

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

Secondary source

Florentine Codex

Bernardino de Sahagún with Nahua collaborators · 1569

Engraved portrait print of Hernán Cortés, a man in a broad brimmed hat and fur-trimmed cloak over armor, with a caption cartouche below reading Hernan Cortes, Marques del Valle, Capitan Gral. de N. España. Handwritten numbers appear at the top corner.Painting

Secondary source

Engraving of Hernán Cortés after Juan Antonio Salvador Carmona

Antonio Carnicero Mancio, after Juan Antonio Salvador Carmona · 1805

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