During the 1500s, the Portuguese and Spanish were busy making empires greater than any that had ever existed.
Portugal took the area that is now Brazil, while Spain took everything else south of what is now Florida.
The king of Spain, Charles the fifth, sent out his soldiers looking for gold, spices and silver – and a way westwards to China. One band of soldiers was led by Hernan Cortes (pronounced: Cort-ez). He would find the Aztec and destroy them.
However, by this time, the Maya cities had long been abandoned, and the Spanish arrival only affected the Aztec.
