cortegiano, Il See COURTIER, THE
Cortés, Hernán (1485–1547) Spanish soldier, conqueror
of Mexico
Born at Medellin, Estremadura, Cortés studied law at Sala-
manca before emigrating to Hispaniola (1504). He mar-
ried and farmed there until 1511, when he sailed with
Diego Velázquez to Cuba, where he became chief magis-
trate of Santiago.
His 11-ship expedition to Yucatan made landfall early
in 1519. He founded a settlement at Vera Cruz and made
contact with the native Indians, who were awestruck by
the white men with their guns, ships, and horses. After
burning his ships to discourage desertion, Cortés marched
to Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital (now Mexico City).
Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, greeted Cortés as a repre-
sentative of the gods, but an Aztec attack on the Spaniards
at Vera Cruz soon shattered the myth of the Spaniards’ di-
vine invulnerability. Cortés went on the offensive, threw
Montezuma into chains, and forced him to acknowledge
Spanish sovereignty. Having drawn off some of his troops
to defeat an expedition sent by Velázquez to supplant him,
Cortés returned to Tenochtitlán to find fighting between
the Spanish garrison in the city and the Aztecs. Mon-
tezuma was killed by his subjects while appealing for
peace. The Spaniards fought their way out with heavy
losses, but in July 1520 decisively defeated the Aztecs in
the plain of Otumba. In August 1521 Cortés recaptured
and destroyed Tenochtitlán.
Cortés’s account of the conquest, in five letters to
CHARLES V, was published, together with the first map of
Mexico, in 1524. A full account, the Historia de la con-
quista de México, was written up by Cortés’ secretary and
published in 1552. The fall of the Aztec empire allowed
Cortés to develop Mexico as a Spanish colony. He also
made expeditions into Honduras (1524–26) and lower
California (1536). However, Charles never entirely trusted
Cortés and, despite receiving the title of marquis of Oax-
aca (1529), Cortés found his authority was curtailed and
he was passed over for viceroy (1535). Disillusioned, he
returned to Spain around 1540 but still failed to win
Charles’s confidence. He eventually retired to die on his
estate near Seville.
Further reading: Francisco López de Gómara, Cortés:
The Life of the Conqueror by His Secretary, transl. and ed.
Lesley Byrd Simpson (Berkeley, Calif.: University of Cali-
fornia Press, 1964); Hugh Thomas, The Conquest of Mex-
ico (London: Hutchinson, 1993), as Conquest: Montezuma,
Cortés, and the Fall of Old Mexico (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1993).
Coryate, Thomas (c. 1577–1617) English traveler and
writer
Born at Odcombe, Somerset, Coryate studied at Winches-
ter and Oxford, but failed to graduate. As a young man he
lived in the court of James I, earning his keep as an unof-
ficial court jester and by exploiting his opportunistic tal-
ents to the full. In 1608 he traveled through France,
Switzerland, and Italy, covering 2000 miles in five months.
Styling himself the “Odcombian Legstretcher” (although
he used other means of transport besides walking), Cory-
ate on his return marketed himself with considerable suc-
cess as a celebrity traveler. His quirky, anecdote-packed
account of the journey was published as Coryate’s Crudi-
ties (1611). The following year he set out for the East,
sending home reports of his experiences. From Constan-
tinople he went to the Holy Land, then, attaching himself
to long-distance caravans, walked through Turkey, Persia,
and India, stopping at the Moghul emperor’s court at
Ajmer, Gujarat, in 1615, before continuing to explore
northern India. Still traveling, he died in Surat, but not be-
fore he had achieved his ambition of having a picture
drawn of himself riding an elephant. Coryate’s five letters
from India were published in pamphlet form (1616 and
1618), and PURCHASpublished an abbreviated text of the
notes and diary Coryate had sent back from Aleppo in
1614.
Further reading: Michael Strachan, The Life and Ad-
ventures of Thomas Coryate (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1962).Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519–1574) Duke of Florence
(1537–74), first grand duke of Tuscany (1569–74)
Cosimo assumed power as a youth of 18, after the assas-
sination of his distant cousin Alessandro. With initial
support from Emperor CHARLES V, Cosimo extended the
Medici domains throughout Tuscany and in 1557 acquired
Siena from the Spaniards, despite the efforts of FRANCIS I’s
soldiers.
Cosimo and his officials established an efficient mod-
ern despotism. Tuscan government was integrated and
public services were centered on the UFFIZI, designed by
Cosimo’s superintendent of buildings, Giorgio VASARI.
Other public works included road building, the comple-
tion of the Palazzo Pitti for Cosimo by Bartolommeo AM-
MANATI, the refurbishing of the Palazzo Vecchio, and the
Boboli Gardens. Cosimo supported the ACCADEMIA DELLA
CRUSCA, Etruscan archaeology and such artists as
MICHELANGELO, PONTORMO, and BRONZINO. In 1564 he re-
signed active government to his son Francesco.
Further reading: Konrad Eisenbichler (ed.), The Cul-
tural Politics of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici (Aldershot, U.K.:
Ashgate, 2001).cosmology The study of the nature of the universe. Tra-
ditional Renaissance cosmology derived ultimately from
the metaphysics of Aristotle and the astronomy of Ptolemy
(see PTOLEMAIC SYSTEM). The universe was divided into
two fundamentally distinct parts. In the heavens celestial
objects, composed from an incorruptible, quintessential112200 ccoorrtteeggiiaannoo,, IIll