Who Was Alive

Were Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortés alive at the same time?

Yes. Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortés were alive at the same time for 20 or 21 years, from 1485 to 1506.

Christopher Columbus was 33 or 34 when Hernán Cortés was born.

Hernán Cortés was 20 or 21 when Christopher Columbus died, aged 54 or 55.

Christopher Columbus

Italian navigator, explorer, and colonist

Born 1451 · died 20 May 1506, aged 54 or 55

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador

Born 1485 · died 2 December 1547, aged 61 or 62

  1. Christopher Columbus
  2. Leonardo da Vinci
  3. Niccolò Machiavelli
  4. Nicolaus Copernicus
  5. Michelangelo
  6. Martin Luther
  7. Hernán Cortés
Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortés in bold, with some of their best-known contemporaries. Drag across to see the age each reached in any year. Faded ends mark uncertain dates.