Talk:Hernán Cortés

Last paragraph before Table of Contents

This paragraph: "Because of the controversial undertakings of Cortés and the scarcity of reliable sources of information about him, it is difficult to describe his personality or motivations. Early lionizing of the conquistadors did not encourage deep examination of Cortés. Later reconsideration of the conquistadors in the context of modern anti-colonial sentiment has done little to enlarge understanding of Cortés. As a result of these historical trends, descriptions of Cortés tend to be simplistic, and either damning or idealizing."

It sounds very neutral, but it comes off to me as an editorial or the conclusion someone would be making at the end of their academic paper. Which would be fine if it came after comparing a variety of different sources, but it comes right after a fairly descriptive introduction of his life, and then stands out as someone's opinion of the various interpretations of Cortés without any of those interpretations or any sources really. —198.91.10.180 (talk • contribs) 10:13, 12 June 2018‎ (UTC)

horses

it was 16 not 13!

Disease

Nothing on the smallpox they brought and greatly helped them win the Aztec capital ~2025-33988-76 (talk) 19:11, 1 February 2026 (UTC)

Use of the term "Indians"

Within the "Conquest of the Aztec Empire" section, this passage: "Cortés's military experience was almost nonexistent, but he proved to be an effective leader of his small army and won early victories over the coastal Indians.[17]"

I was under the impression that the term "Indians" in this context is considered outdated. Am I wrong? ~2026-33504-56 (talk) 02:27, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Hernando

Why is the official position of English Wikipedia that Hernando Cortés did not know his own name? When did he EVER refer to himself as Hernán? It's Hernando, and that's what any English speaker older than 20 grew up hearing, anyway. So it's wrong, arrogant, AND not even customary. ~2026-29545-75 (talk) 02:09, 12 July 2026 (UTC)

See the paragraph titled "Name". Articles are named by the name readers will know. If there is a difference, there will be a section describing why the name used doesn't agree with what contemporary and/or official usage was. As I understand it, he used "Fernando" as often as he used "Hernando". But we know him as "Hernan", so that gives us the article name. Tarl N. (discuss) 22:30, 12 July 2026 (UTC)