Five hundred years ago, the end of the Aztec emperors

On or around 30th June 1520, Montezuma II, the last emperor of the Aztecs, became the victim of the Spanish. Britannica states:

Montezuma tried to buy off Cortés, but the Spaniard made alliances with those subject tribes who hated Aztec rule. Welcomed into the capital city of Tenochtitlán by Montezuma, Cortés realized it was a trap and, instead, made the emperor his prisoner, believing that the Aztecs would not attack as long as he held Montezuma captive. Montezuma’s submission to the Spaniards, however, had eroded the respect of his people. According to Spanish accounts, he attempted to speak to his subjects and was assailed with stones and arrows, suffering wounds from which he died three days later. The Aztecs, however, believed the Spaniards had murdered their emperor, and Cortés’s force was nearly destroyed as it tried to sneak out of Tenochtitlán at night.