Hernán Cortés Map of the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico City
Hernán Cortés
Untitled map of the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico City from Cortes’s “Letter to the Emperor Charles V”
Hernán Cortés, following his conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1522, wrote a lengthy letter to Spain’s King Charles V explaining his actions. The letter, along with a map, were published in Germany two years later. The map represents two great achievements in New World cartography. It is the first map to show any city in North America – the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán. The second, less detailed, feature on the map is of equal importance as it is the earliest printed map with the name Florida as well as the first accurate printed map of the Gulf of Mexico.
A special thank you to Tom Touchton, Nancy and Bob Bolt, and Nell Ward for their generosity in acquiring the Hernán Cortés letter and map.