(1485-1547) Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico.
Twenty years later, however, Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez is said to have brought back three chests full of cacao beans.
"I was a conquistador, but rather than searching the land for El Dorado, I scoured aisles for free samples," it continued.
"It was introduced to Europe by Hernn Cortes following his visit in 1519 to the court of Montezuma II, who served the conquistador a Bitter cacao-Bean drink, xocoatl."
A fold-out from a book published in 1524 ( below center) shows a map of the Aztec Empire's capital of Tenochtitlan, right, now Mexico City, and an interpretation of the Gulf of Mexico, left, based on the eyewitness account of Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes.
