March 4, 1519

Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire

Cortés's expedition lands at Cozumel

The first Spaniards ashore found an empty town. Cozumel's residents had fled inland — and when Cortés caught up, he put his own men in the wrong.

Late February, not 4 March

The best-supported modern chronology, from INAH, places Hernán Cortés's arrival at the Maya island of Cozumel around 27 February 1519. The listed 4 March comes from older reference traditions; some chronologies attach 4 or 5 March to an attempted departure from Cozumel followed by a return.

Cortés had sailed from Cuba that February despite Governor Diego Velázquez's attempt to revoke his command, with eleven ships and, in the INAH reconstruction, 508 soldiers and 100 sailors.

Captives freed, property returned

Pedro de Alvarado's ship arrived first. According to Bernal Díaz, the island's inhabitants fled and Alvarado's party seized food, religious objects and three people — two men and one woman — along with about forty chickens.

When Cortés arrived he imprisoned the pilot Camacho for separating from the fleet, rebuked Alvarado, freed the captives and returned the seized property.

Two castaways, two answers

During the stay the expedition learned of two Spanish shipwreck survivors living among Maya communities. Jerónimo de Aguilar joined Cortés and became a Maya–Spanish interpreter before the fleet continued to Tabasco.

Gonzalo Guerrero stayed with his Maya family. Neither the Mexica nor La Malinche was present at Cozumel: the islanders were Maya, and she joined the expedition later, in Tabasco.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes, 1 issue open Date disputed

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

Date disputed. Sources disagree; the research places it at ~1519-02-27.

What the sources leave uncertain

The listed 4 March date derives from older reference traditions and is not supported by the strongest modern chronology consulted.
INAH places Cortés's arrival around 27 February; other accounts say only late February or early March.
Some chronologies associate 4 or 5 March with an attempted departure from Cozumel, followed by a return, rather than with the landing.
Calling Cozumel simply 'Mexico' uses a modern national label. In 1519 it was a Maya island and not part of the Mexica-led political order centered on Tenochtitlan.