During the fifteenth century a complex set of circumstances in Europe made possible what is now called the Age of Discovery. The relative stability of European nation-states advances in shipbuilding, cartography, and navigation. The Spanish in particular launched well-funded expeditions, their main objective being the discovery of valuable natural resources. In 1519 about five hundred Spaniards left Vrba and arrived on the coast of Mexico, lead by Hernan Cortes. They made their way to the Aztec empire, on the way burning down and recruiting several other tribes. When the Spaniards got their Montezuma greeted them only to be betrayed by the Spaniards and held hostage. Cortes recognized that his men were vastly outnumbered and took Montezuma
