US returns to Mexico stolen manuscript signed by conquistador Hernan Cortes, World News
Special Agent Jessica Dittmer, a member of the FBI's Art Crime Team in New York, said the document contains a detailed accounting of the logistics related to Cortes' journey to what eventually became New Spain — a territory that stretched from Central America to modern-day Washington state.
"This is an original manuscript page that was actually signed by Hernan Cortes," she said in a statement. "Pieces like this are considered protected cultural property and represent valuable moments in Mexico's history."
Cortes landed in Mexico with a small army in 1519, when he formed alliances with local groups that opposed the Aztec empire, which helped him capture the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan — modern-day Mexico City — just two years later.
The document is dated Feb 20, 1527, just days before one of Cortes' top lieutenants was appointed co-governor of the conquered territory. It was a key year for the formation of royal and religious institutions that would rule over the indigenous peoples of Mexico until its 1810 war of independence.
The manuscript was initially stored in Mexico's national archives, but archivists preserving the documents on film in 1993 found that 15 pages had gone missing. Based on its wax numbering system, the FBI said the document was likely stolen between 1985 and 1993.
This marks the second repatriation of a Cortes manuscript to Mexico, after a letter from April 1527 authorising the purchase of rose sugar was returned in 2023.
No one will face prosecution in connection with the theft, Dittmer said, because investigators assessed the manuscript had changed hands several times since it disappeared.
The US antiques market is valued in the tens of billions of dollars, largely concentrated in New York auction houses.
Mexico has for decades sought the repatriation of cultural artifacts, including a delicate headdress made of iridescent quetzal feathers thought to have belonged to Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II, currently housed in an Austrian museum.
[[nid:720513]]
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
International Business Times
a day ago
- International Business Times
How Did Hayley McNeff Die? Champion Bodybuilder Dies Suddenly Aged 37 Leaving Fraternity in Shock
Champion bodybuilder Hayley McNeff has died at the age of 37, becoming the seventh bodybuilding death in the last six months. McNeff, originally from Concord, Massachusetts, died on August 8, though tributes only began appearing on Wednesday. Her cause of death has not yet bene revealed, but her obituary describes it as "unexpected yet peaceful." McNeff's funeral is scheduled for this Sunday. According to an obituary on she was active in several sports growing up — including skiing and diving — and was a skilled equestrian. A UMass Amherst graduate, McNeff found her passion for bodybuilding as an adult. After retiring, she planned to earn a graduate degree in psychology. Unexpected Death Hayley McNeff X McNeff shot to fame in the bodybuilding scene during the 2000s, winning multiple titles, including the 2009 East Coast Classic. She continued to compete into the 2010s and appeared in the 2016 bodybuilding documentary Raising The Bar, where she reflected on her career, saying, "The quest for getting huge will never end. There's no limit. I hope there's a day that I'll be able to look in the mirror 100 percent of the time and be like 'yeah man, I'm huge.'| Her death adds to a troubling wave of recent deaths in the bodybuilding world — now totaling seven in the last six months. In late July, Spanish bodybuilding champion Lorena Blanco died at 37 from a suspected heart attack while preparing to travel to Las Vegas for the Ms. Olympia competition. A month earlier, Colombian bodybuilder Zunilda Hoyos Mendez, 43, was brutally killed in Spain in a hammer attack after telling her husband she wanted a divorce. Her husband, Jarrod Gelling, was later found dead with knife wounds in what police suspect was a suicide. Too Many Unexpected Deaths Hayley McNeff X In May, two Brazilian weightlifters died within a week of each other. On May 6, 30-year-old champion Gui Bull died from asphyxiation, and just days later, fellow 30-year-old Wanderson da Silva Moreira collapsed and died while competing in the Pantanal bodybuilding championship. Back in April, 44-year-old bodybuilder and actor Vito Pirbazari suffered a fatal heart attack after collapsing on a treadmill. In March, 20-year-old bodybuilder Jodi Vance died after her heart stopped due to "severe dehydration," her family said in a statement. A study released earlier this year by the European Society of Cardiology found that "sudden cardiac death accounts for an unusually high percentage of deaths among male bodybuilders globally, with the greatest risk seen in professionals." The research determined that professional bodybuilders face a fivefold higher risk of sudden cardiac death compared to amateur competitors.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Straits Times
Police in Spain arrest four people over new forest fires, taking summer total to 30
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Firefighters trying to control a forest fire in Spain's Galicia region on Aug 13. MADRID - Spanish investigators said on Aug 14 they had arrested four people suspected of starting forest fires, taking the total number of accused this summer to 30. Three of the latest arrests were in the north-west Castile and Leon region where about 40,000 hectares of land has been devastated by fire, the civil guard said. Two volunteers have died battling the flames there this week. One man was detained Aug 14 over a fire in which 3,000 hectares of land burned around Puercas de Aliste in Castile and Leon, the civil guard said. Another suspect was arrested on Aug 13 over six forest fires between July 19 and Aug 3 around the southern resort of Malaga. 'Some of these fires were started very close to homes,' said a civil guard statement. Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told RAC1 radio on Aug 13 that 25 other people had been detained for starting fires this summer and that many had been intentional. AFP
AsiaOne
2 days ago
- AsiaOne
US returns to Mexico stolen manuscript signed by conquistador Hernan Cortes, World News
MEXICO CITY — The US FBI said it had on Wednesday (Aug 13) returned to Mexico a stolen manuscript dating back five centuries to the Spanish conquest and signed by its leading military commander, Hernan Cortes. Special Agent Jessica Dittmer, a member of the FBI's Art Crime Team in New York, said the document contains a detailed accounting of the logistics related to Cortes' journey to what eventually became New Spain — a territory that stretched from Central America to modern-day Washington state. "This is an original manuscript page that was actually signed by Hernan Cortes," she said in a statement. "Pieces like this are considered protected cultural property and represent valuable moments in Mexico's history." Cortes landed in Mexico with a small army in 1519, when he formed alliances with local groups that opposed the Aztec empire, which helped him capture the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan — modern-day Mexico City — just two years later. The document is dated Feb 20, 1527, just days before one of Cortes' top lieutenants was appointed co-governor of the conquered territory. It was a key year for the formation of royal and religious institutions that would rule over the indigenous peoples of Mexico until its 1810 war of independence. The manuscript was initially stored in Mexico's national archives, but archivists preserving the documents on film in 1993 found that 15 pages had gone missing. Based on its wax numbering system, the FBI said the document was likely stolen between 1985 and 1993. This marks the second repatriation of a Cortes manuscript to Mexico, after a letter from April 1527 authorising the purchase of rose sugar was returned in 2023. No one will face prosecution in connection with the theft, Dittmer said, because investigators assessed the manuscript had changed hands several times since it disappeared. The US antiques market is valued in the tens of billions of dollars, largely concentrated in New York auction houses. Mexico has for decades sought the repatriation of cultural artifacts, including a delicate headdress made of iridescent quetzal feathers thought to have belonged to Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II, currently housed in an Austrian museum. [[nid:720513]]
