<P> Cortés made alliances with tributaries city - states ( altepetl ) of the Aztec Empire as well as their political rivals , particularly the Tlaxcalteca and Texcocans , a former partner in the Aztec Triple Alliance . Other city - states also joined , including Huexotzinco and polities bordering Lake Texcoco , the inland lake system of the Valley of Mexico . Particularly important to the Spanish success was a multilingual ( Nahuatl , a Maya dialect , and Spanish ) indigenous slave woman , known to the Spanish conquistadors as Doña Marina , and generally as La Malinche . After eight months of battles and negotiations , which overcame the diplomatic resistance of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II to his visit , Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlan on November 8 , 1519 , where he took up residence with fellow Spaniards and their indigenous allies . When news reached Cortés of the death of several of his men during the Aztec attack on the Totonacs in Veracruz , he took Moctezuma captive , along with Cuitláhuac , his kinsman . Capturing the cacique or indigenous ruler was standard operating procedure for Spaniards in their expansion in the Caribbean , so capturing Moctezuma had considerable precedent , which might well have included those in Spain during the Christian reconquest of territory held by Muslims . </P>
<P> Cortés made alliances with tributaries city - states ( altepetl ) of the Aztec Empire as well as their political rivals , particularly the Tlaxcalteca and Texcocans , a former partner in the Aztec Triple Alliance . Other city - states also joined , including Huexotzinco and polities bordering Lake Texcoco , the inland lake system of the Valley of Mexico . Particularly important to the Spanish success was a multilingual ( Nahuatl , a Maya dialect , and Spanish ) indigenous slave woman , known to the Spanish conquistadors as Doña Marina , and generally as La Malinche . After eight months of battles and negotiations , which overcame the diplomatic resistance of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II to his visit , Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlan on November 8 , 1519 , where he took up residence with fellow Spaniards and their indigenous allies . When news reached Cortés of the death of several of his men during the Aztec attack on the Totonacs in Veracruz , he took Moctezuma captive , along with Cuitláhuac , his kinsman . Capturing the cacique or indigenous ruler was standard operating procedure for Spaniards in their expansion in the Caribbean , so capturing Moctezuma had considerable precedent , which might well have included those in Spain during the Christian reconquest of territory held by Muslims . </P>
who was the leader of the aztecs when the spanish soldiers invaded their land
who was the leader of the aztecs when the spanish soldiers invaded their land
Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II
Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II