He threw off the yoke of Vel√°zquez's command by establishing a town on the Yucatan coast which then elected him its ruler, so that he could undertake the conquest in his own name.
Cortes marched his army inland to Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire. The Aztec emperor, Moctezuma, was unsure whether the Spaniards were supernatural and received them in the capital with great honor. Cortes then kidnapped the emperor and, with him, the empire. Moctezuma remained a puppet emperor, but the Spaniards took over much of the kingdom and plundered its treasure stores.
When the coup was almost complete, a force sent by Vel√°zquez to capture the disloyal Cortes landed on the coast. Cortes was forced to divide his forces and march to the coast to repel his pursuers.
During his absence from the capital, a massacre of Aztec nobles led by his lieutenant Pedro de Alvarado incited the Aztecs to revolt. When Cortes returned to Tenochtitlan, his troops were forced out of the city.
