Background

Around the end of March 1519, Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...

 landed with a Spanish conquistador

Conquistador

Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

 force at Potonchán on the coast of modern-day Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. Cortés had been commissioned by Governor Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar

Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar

Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar was a Spanish conquistador. He conquered and governed Cuba on behalf of Spain.-Early life:...

 of Spanish-controlled Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 to lead an expedition in the area, which was dominated by the Aztec Empire. Through violence, Cortés was able to secure the allegiance of the Totonacs and the Tlaxcaltec

Tlaxcaltec

The Tlaxcalteca were an indigenous group of Nahua ethnicity that inhabited the Kingdom of Tlaxcala located in what is now the Mexican state of Tlaxcala.-Pre-hispanic history:...

 during his advance on the Empire's main settlement, Tenochtitlan. In November, a Spanish force entered the city, and was greeted by its ruler, Moctezuma II

Moctezuma II

Moctezuma , also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520...

. Initially, the conquistadors were treated well by the Aztecs whilst they stayed in the city, but increasing tension by the end of June 1520 led to the forced expulsion of the Spanish and Tlaxcaltec from Tenochtitlan in an event called La Noche Triste

La Noche Triste

La Noche Triste on June 30, 1520, was an important event during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, wherein Hernán Cortés and his army of Spanish conquistadors and native allies fought their way out of the Mexican capital at Tenochtitlan following the death of the Aztec king Montezuma, whom the...

(The Sad Night.) Cortés then started a retreat to Tlaxcala

Tlaxcala (Nahua state)

Tlaxcala was a pre-Columbian city state of central Mexico.Tlaxcala was a confederation of four altepetl — Ocotelolco, Quiahuiztlan, Tepeticpac and Tizatlan — which each took turns providing a ruler for Tlaxcala as a whole.-History:Tlaxcala was never conquered by the Aztec empire, but was...

, during which his force was harassed by Aztec skirmishers, and the Aztec leadership resolved to eliminate them as they withdrew.

Battle

After being beleaguered on the causeway leading out of the city, Spanish forces arrived at the plain of Otumba Valley (Otompan)

Otumba

Otumba may refer to:*Otumba, Mexico State, a municipality in the State of Mexico, Mexico*Otumba de Gómez Farías, a town and the municipal seat of Otumba municipality, State of Mexico*Otompan, a pre-Columbian altepetl...

, where they were met by an Aztec army intent on their destruction. However, despite the fact that they had already seen horses, seeing Spanish knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

s in full regalia proved to have shock value, as they had never seen such in open battlefield. Another decisive element was Cortes' decision to directly attack an Aztec general as soon as he recognized the commander and killed him. Despite the poor condition and heavy losses of the Spanish army and the overwhelming number of Aztec warriors, the Spanish prevailed and were able to reach Tlaxcalan to regroup. 20 000 Aztecs were killed. While the town lends its name to this battle, it really occurred in a place called Temalacatitlán.