You're listening to an airwave media podcast. Hello and

welcome to the Explorers podcast.

Today is part four in our series on Spanish conquistador Arnan Cortez and the conquest of Mexico.

A couple of notes before we start.

First, I have put a map of the Valley of Mexico where much of our action takes place today on our website

explorers podcast.com. I recommend taking a look at it so you can better enjoy this episode.

And second, I want to make a comment about some pronunciations in this series.

There are a lot of Aztec names in these episodes, people, places, and gods, and so forth.

I want to point out that some of these names don't sound very much like they are spelled.

I want to mention that because you may look at a map and see a place spelled T-L-A-T-L-A and think it will be pronounced

something like T-A-L-A-A-T-L-A and think it will be pronounced something like Tlax Kala.

But in reality I'm saying Kla Kala.

In the end, the Aztec language, Nawak, just doesn't always look how it is pronounced

in English.

Also, many of these places have both an Aztec name as well as a Spanish name, so that can be confusing. And I know that I mix them up, which probably doesn't help.

These things are not a huge deal, but I wanted to point them out in case

anyone gets confused by some of the odd spellings you may come across. Anyhow, that is

it on with the show.

It was November 1519 and Aernan Cortez in his army, roughly 3 to 400 Spanish soldiers,

6,000 Klais-Kolen Indian allies, and several hundred porters had crossed over the mountains and descended into the valley of Mexico.

Their destination was Tenach Teitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire.

Cortez had been invited to the legendary city by Emperor Montezuma following the massacre at Chilula, where the Spanish and their allies had slaughtered 5,000 Chiluans, who Cortez claimed were planning to ambush him and his men.

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