“This is an original handwritten page that was really signed by Hernán Cortés,” he added in a statement. “Pieces such as this are considered protected cultural goods and represent valuable moments in the history of Mexico.”
Cortés landed in Mexico with a small army in 1519, and formed alliances with local groups that opposed the Aztec empire, which allowed him to capture the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan – the current Mexico City – only two years later.
Today, the @Fbi He returned to the Government of Mexico a stolen manuscript signed by the Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés.
The repatriation of this valuable cultural artifact – which the authorities believe was stolen in the 1980s or 1990s – was the result of a close collaboration … https://t.co/hd66gf76xh
– EU EU in Mex (@usembassymex)
August 13, 2025
The document is dated February 20, 1527, a few days before one of Cortés’ main lieutenants was appointed co -government of the conquered territory.
It was an important year for the formation of real and religious institutions that would govern Mexico until the War of Independence of 1810.
The manuscript was originally preserved in the national archives of Mexico, but in 1993, the archivists who digitized the microfilm documents discovered that 15 pages were missing.
According to the wax numbering system, the FBI determined that the document was probably stolen between 1985 and 1993.
This is the second repatriation of a manuscript from Cortés to Mexico, after a letter from April 1527 was returned in 2023 in which the purchase of pink sugar was authorized.
No one will be prosecuted in relation to theft, Dittmer said, since the researchers concluded that the manuscript had changed hands several times since their disappearance.
The US antiquities market is valued in tens of billions of dollars, largely concentrated in New York auction houses.
Mexico has been trying to recover cultural objects, such as the Penacho de Moctezuma II: a delicate headdress of iridiscent feathers of Quetzal that is believed belonged to the former Aztec emperor and is currently in a museum in Austria.
