Q 01/05

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

A) France

B) Portugal

C) Castile

D) England

Answer · why

C) Castile

He brought most of what is now mainland Mexico under the King of Castile.

Q 02/05

In which Spanish town was Cortés born, around 1485?

A) Trujillo

B) Salamanca

C) Medellín

D) Seville

Answer · why

C) Medellín

It lies in Extremadura, then a poor and desolate province of Castile.

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

That relative went on to conquer the Inca Empire.

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

Later historians wrongly assumed he enrolled at the university there.

Q 05/05

What profession did the young Cortés train in, giving him legal knowledge to justify his conquest?

A) Soldier

B) Notary

C) Physician

D) Priest

Answer · why

B) Notary

He practised in Valladolid and later in the Caribbean.