Q 01/05

Legend says Cortés burned his ships in 1519, but what did he really do to stop his men sailing home?

A) Sold them to rivals

B) Scuttled them

C) Hid them upriver

D) Sent them away

Answer · why

B) Scuttled them

Scuttled them after men loyal to the governor plotted to seize a ship and flee; the burning story traces to a remark by a chronicler in 1546.

Q 02/05

Which enslaved woman became the interpreter and adviser of Hernán Cortés on the march to Tenochtitlan?

A) La Malinche

B) La Llorona

C) La Adelita

D) La Corregidora

Answer · why

A) La Malinche

La Malinche was one of 20 enslaved women given to the Spaniards in 1519, and she later bore Cortés a son, Martín.

Q 03/05

Which disease, brought to Mexico in 1520 by a rival Spanish expedition, ravaged Tenochtitlan before the final siege?

A) Measles

B) Yellow fever

C) Malaria

D) Smallpox

Answer · why

D) Smallpox

Smallpox had been endemic in Europe for centuries, so the Spaniards were barely touched while the city's defenders and many of its leaders died.

Q 04/05

A legend spread after the conquest claims Moctezuma II mistook Hernán Cortés for which returning Aztec god?

A) Tlaloc

B) Tezcatlipoca

C) Quetzalcoatl

D) Xipe Totec

Answer · why

C) Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl's supposed return appears in no document free of Spanish influence, and historians trace the tale to friars writing years after the war.

Q 05/05

Which drink, then unknown in Europe, did Hernán Cortés see served at the court of Moctezuma II?

A) Chocolate

B) Coffee

C) Tequila

D) Yerba mate

Answer · why

A) Chocolate

Chocolate was one of the two most important drinks to the Aztecs, yet there is no evidence that Cortés himself carried it home across the Atlantic.