Hernán Cortés

About Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) was a pivotal Spanish explorer and conquistador whose military expedition led to the collapse of the Aztec Empire and the beginning of Spanish colonization in the Americas. Ranked by MIT's Pantheon project as the #369 most historically important figure globally, his actions fundamentally reshaped the political and cultural landscape of the Western Hemisphere. His conquest of Tenochtitlan in 1521 is a defining event of the early modern era, cementing his place as a central figure in the history of global empires and conflict.

Cortés generates 1.2 million annualized Wikipedia pageviews in 2025, resulting in an "overattention" gap of +3x relative to his historical ranking. This indicates that modern internet attention disproportionately favors him compared to many figures of greater historical consensus. For comparison, William the Conqueror, who is ranked significantly higher historically at #934, attracts only 3.0M views, suggesting Cortés captures a disproportionately large share of attention within this historical cohort.

Despite this high level of contemporary interest, Cortés's visibility shows strong momentum, with a 16.8% year-over-year view increase and a +6% rise in interest between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, suggesting his profile remains active in modern discourse.