On June 30, 1520, during a pivotal moment in the Spanish conquest of Mexico, known as “La Noche Triste” (The Sad Night), Hernán Cortés and his forces made a desperate and deadly retreat from Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. The retreat followed a series of intense conflicts between the Spanish and the Aztec people, under the rule of Montezuma II. This event significantly weakened Spanish forces but Cortés would return to conquer the city a year later. This moment is critical in understanding the complex and often brutal interactions that shaped the early colonial history of the Americas.
