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Cortés, Hernán

(Encyclopedia)Cortés, Hernán, or Hernando Cortez kôrtĕzˈ, Span. ārnänˈ, ārnänˈdō kōrtāsˈ [key], 1485–1547, Spanish conquistador, conqueror of Mexico. In Cortés's absence his enemies at home grad...

Cortes

(Encyclopedia)Cortes kôrˈtĕz, Span. kōrˈtās [key], representative assembly in Spain. The institution originated (12th–13th cent.) in various Spanish regions with the Christian reconquest; until the 19th cen...

Tlaxcala , city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Tlaxcala, city (1990 pop. 50,486), capital of Tlaxcala state, E central Mexico. It is the site of the oldest Christian church in the Americas, founded (1521) by the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés. N...

conquistador

(Encyclopedia)conquistador kŏnkwĭsˈtədôr, Span. kōng-kēˌstäᵺôrˈ [key], military leader in the Spanish conquest of the New World in the 16th cent. Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru, and Hernán C...

Siles Zuazo, Hernán

(Encyclopedia)Siles Zuazo, Hernán ārnänˈ sēˈlās swäˈsō [key], 1914–96, president of Bolivia (1956–60, 1982–85). The illegitimate son of Hernando Siles Reyes (president of Bolivia, 1926–30) and an ...

Fonseca, Juan Rodríguez de

(Encyclopedia)Fonseca, Juan Rodríguez de hwän rōdrēˈgāth dā fōnsāˈkä [key], 1451–1524, Spanish prelate. Chaplain to Isabella and Ferdinand, he was bishop successively of Badajoz, Córdoba, Palencia, an...

Cuauhtémoc

(Encyclopedia)Cuauhtémoc ko͞o–outāˈmôk [key], d. 1525, Aztec emperor. Succeeding the brother of Montezuma II in 1520, Cuauhtémoc failed to unite the native city-states of the Valley of Mexico against the Sp...

Cozumel

(Encyclopedia)Cozumel kōzəˈmel [key], resort island, c.190 sq mi (490 sq km), Quintana Roo state, Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea off the E coast of the Yucatán peninsula. It is famed for its beaches and coral ree...

Tlaxcala , state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Tlaxcala tläskäˈlä [key], state (1990 pop. 761,277), 1,555 sq mi (4,027 sq km), E central Mexico. Tlaxcala is the capital. It is the smallest and one of the most densely populated Mexican states. ...

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