This map represents the route Hernán(do) Cortés and his men followed during the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. Cortes and his men battled their way through Mexico from 1519 to 1521.

The Spanish Conquest of Mexico refers to the conquest of the Mexica/Aztec empire in particular. While the Yucatán Peninsula is part of modern-day Mexico, it was not part of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico.

Cortés was a member of the Spanish generation of conquistadors, a name referring to soldiers, explorers, and adventrures who were instrumental in the Spanish conolization of the Americas. Cortés, in particular, was a famous and particularly successful conquistador for Spain.

Public Domain

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin

Shepherd, William R. "The Conquest of Mexico, 1519-1521" [map]. 1:3000000. In The Historical Atlas, by William R. Shepherd. New York, Henry Holt and Company, 1923. Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin. Accessed February 20, 2026.