Cortés, faced with imprisonment or death for…
April 1519 CE
Cortés, faced with imprisonment or death for defying the governor, has no alternative but to continue on with his enterprise in the hope of redeeming himself with the Spanish Crown.
Cortés and his men land at the shore opposite the island where Grijalva had moored, which has the pre-Hispanic name of Chalchihuecan.
Cortés, Francisco de Montejo and Alonso Hernández Puertocarrero establish a settlement, naming it Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz.
The name Villa Rica (rich village) refers to the gold that is found here and Vera cruz (True Cross) is added because the Cortés expedition had landed on Good Friday, a Christian holy day.
When Cortés and his soldiers elect a “Justicia Mayor” and a “Capitán General,” they create the first city council on the American continent.
This strategy is not unique.
Velásquez had used this same legal mechanism to free himself from Diego Columbus' authority in Cuba.
In being named adelantado by a duly constituted cabildo, Cortés is able to free himself from Velásquez's authority and continue his expedition.
To ensure the legality of this action several members of his expedition, including Francisco Montejo and Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero, return to Spain to seek King Charles’ acceptance of the cabildo's declaration.
Cortés learns of an indigenous settlement called Cempoala and marches his forces there.