Importance Yes, Admiration NO. Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador, was important because he was given eleven ships and about six hundred men to take to the coast of Mexico and to set up a trading post. He was one of the biggest cases of exceeding expectations in history. He and his small force conquered the mighty Aztecs withs military ability, diplomatic talent, relentless determination, and ruthlessness. Genocide is abhorrent in all its forms.