13 August 1521: The fall of the Aztec Empire

Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire, fell to the Spanish conquistadors on this day in 1521, bringing an end to Aztec rule.

Hernando Cortés meets Montezuma © Hulton Archive/Getty Images
A bad day for the Aztecs: Cortés meets Montezuma
(Image credit: © Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Aztec Empire, begun around 1345, was formed from three great city states – the Triple Alliance - with the city of Tenochtitlán the capital. The Alliance was very keen on war, and conquered many of the other city states in the Valley of Mexico. At its largest extent, the empire covered some 11,000,000 people. And it amassed huge wealth.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.