The Wargamer

The New World of Martin Cortes

The Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes is well known to most students of history as the conqueror of the Aztecs. In 1519 he lead an expedition of 550 Spanish soldiers, four cannon, several brass guns, and sixteen horses to gain the riches of the New World for the Spanish crown and to reap whatever rewards he could for himself along the way. Through alliances with tribes who wanted to avoid fighting or those he had defeated he increased his forces to around 1500 men. He received many tributes along the way, and amongst these was a slave girl Malintzin/Malinche who was later christened Marina.  She had been born to a noble Aztec family but was betrayed by a family member and ended up as a slave to a tribe’s military chief.

Marina turned out to be a valuable addition to Cortes’ entourage and would become his translator, mistress, and valued advisor. Her ability as a diplomat assisted Cortes in forging many of his alliances and ultimately the subjugation of the Aztec nation. She is on one side reviled by some Mexicans as a traitor, but to others she saved many lives by her intervention. During this period a child was born to Marina and Cortes. He was the first recorded child of Spanish/Indian blood and hence is considered the first Mexican. His name was Martin Cortes.

The young Martin Cortes travelled to Spain with his father who was returning under a cloud as he had not received Royal approval for his expedition. Young Martin eventually became a young page at the Royal Court, which allowed him to receive the best education and training. As a young man he became a soldier in the Spanish Army under Charles V and served for six years, finally returning to Mexico with his brother. During that time their father passed away and his brother inherited the title of Marques of the Valley of Oaxaca. Initially they were feted as visiting royalty but as they conspired with others in a plot to overthrow the crown governors and take over Mexico for themselves. Eventually the group of conspirators were arrested and accused of being traitors. They were imprisoned, tortured, and tried with some of the accused executed and others exiled. Martin returned to Spain were he became a soldier and eventually died of old age.

The author Anna Lanyon is an Australian academic who specialises in Latin America history. In this book she takes us on her journey of discovery as she travels through Spain and Mexico uncovering the history of Cortes and his family. She brings the times of Cortes alive by combining the modern images as she visits them with what it would have been like in his time. She understands the times and she fleshes out the written history with her powers of observation and logic. One of the features of the book is the author’s intimate portrayal of the two brothers both called Martin but from different sides of the blanket and with different heritages.

For anyone interested in the history of Mexico or Spain or just interested in how a historian draws together threads of information and then knits them into a history, this book is a must buy. I enjoyed the book and I really do not have any great interest in Cortes or the history of Spanish America.

About the Author

Neil lives in the sub tropical capital of Australia, Brisbane. He is an omnivorous reader of anything that is in print but has a special fondness for military history. He played his first wargame decades ago, chess, and it is still his favorite. Neil has worked as a writer and designer for Wild Bill’s Raiders for many years. Games he has worked on includes the Steel Panthers series, HPS Squad Battles series and Wild Bill’s Design Group’s SPWAW Megacampaigns.