Between 1519 and 1521, the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés led a war of conquest against the Aztecs. His eventual victory was greatly aided by advanced military technology, native allies, and the unintended introduction of European diseases into the Aztec population. Spanish contact spread smallpox to the region, killing thousands and weakening a once-powerful Aztec military. The image below, from a treatise written by a Franciscan missionary, shows the different stages suffered by a smallpox victim.

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