Back to Modern History SourceBook Modern History Sourcebook: A Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico In 1519 Hernan Cortes sailed from Cuba, landed in Mexico and made his way to the Aztec capital. Miguel LeonPortilla, a Mexican anthropologist, gathered accounts by the Aztecs, some of which were written shortly after the conquest. Speeches of Motecuhzoma and Cortes When Motecuhzoma had given ...