Q 01/05

Cortés was a conquistador in the service of which European crown?

A) Aragon

B) Portugal

C) Castile

D) England

Answer · why

C) Castile

Castile, not Aragon, owned Spain's claims in the Americas, because it was Queen Isabella of Castile who had sponsored Columbus, and Mexico was added t...

Q 02/05

Cortés's birthplace in Extremadura later gave its name to which Colombian city?

A) Cartagena

B) Medellín

C) Cali

D) Barranquilla

Answer · why

B) Medellín

Medellín: Colombia's second city took the Extremaduran village's name in 1675, a tribute to the Count of Medellín, who then presided over Spain's Coun...

Q 03/05

Cortés was a distant relative of which other conquistador, through his mother's family?

A) Vasco Núñez de Balboa

B) Juan Ponce de León

C) Pedro de Alvarado

D) Francisco Pizarro

Answer · why

D) Francisco Pizarro

Francisco Pizarro shared more than blood with his kinsman: news of the riches won in Mexico spurred his own expeditions south, which brought down the ...

Q 04/05

At 14, Cortés was sent to study what under an uncle in Salamanca?

A) Latin

B) Navigation

C) Medicine

D) Theology

Answer · why

A) Latin

Latin was meant to be his gateway to the law, but he is said to have given up after two years and gone home, to his parents' dismay.

Q 05/05

Which profession did the young Cortés practise in the Caribbean before he turned conquistador?

A) Ship's pilot

B) Notary

C) Physician

D) Priest

Answer · why

B) Notary

Notary: he knew how to make a mutiny look legal, so at Veracruz he had his men form a town council that promptly elected him captain general.