Was Hernando Cortes a Good Man?

Answer 1

Cortes, during his lifetime was considered a hero by his companions and by his country, but bad by those he conquered and their descendants. Historical figures are as human as people are today, each with their own good and bad qualities. Cortes had many highs and lows in his lifetime and his professional career. When he finally conquered Mexico for Spain, surely the Spanish thought him a good man. When the Aztec people were his allies and helped to relieved them of their oppressors, surely they thought him a good man, their savior. Many people were slaughtered in Cortes' rise to power, surely those people considered him a bad man. Cortes was a man of his time following the rules of the time with the European mentality of his time. People today have only his actions to judge him by and may be judging him by today's standards. Was Cortes a good man? Today there can only be an individuals opinion.