Cortes Recruits Tlaxcalan Allies

1521

During the siege of Tenochtitlan, Hernan Cortes relied on tens of thousands of Tlaxcalan warriors who had their own scores to settle with the Mexica. Without them the Spanish conquest would have been impossible. Tlaxcala would be granted special privileges under Spanish rule as reward for their pivotal collaboration. Tlaxcala's decision was driven by generations of bitter warfare with the Aztecs, making their alliance a strategic calculation rather than betrayal.