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Moctezuma II and the conquest of the Aztecs. 18th-century illustration showing the court (top) of Aztec emperor Moctezuma II (c.1466-1520), a battle scene (middle), and Aztecs in a boat (bottom). Moctezuma was the ruler (tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City), then the centre of the Aztec Empire (Triple Alliance). It was during his reign that Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernan Cortes (1485-1547) arrived with an army in August 1519. Moctezuma welcomed Cortes as a guest, but some months later was taken hostage in his own city and died in unclear circumstances. Cortes and his army fought their way out of the city, regrouped and completed their conquest. 1704 engraving from an edition of 'Istoria della conquista del Messico' (first published in 1684). (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/THE GETTY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)