However not only war captives were sacrifices, common adults and children were also sacrificed at times. Cortes himself was disgusted at the thought of human sacrifice, this allowed him to gain Indian allies as well as gain respect among tribes that feared and opposed the Aztecs. In one of Cortes" letters to Charles V Cortes express" his disgust for this practice. "Some of us have actually seen this done and they say that it is the most terrible and frightful thing that they have ever seen." The majority of the population feared the process therefore making Cortes, whom despised the process, an appealing alternative. Many followed Cortes as they shared the same views on the "human sacrifice" topic. Hernan Cortes posed to eliminate the Aztecs it allowed him to appear as a rescuer from the tyranny of Aztec rule. .
A minor cause for Hernan Cortes" success was the issue of disease among the Aztecs. Although this is a feeble reason it actually greatly benefited the Spanish in reducing the Aztec population. The Spanish brought smallpox to Mexico, which caused great suffering to the Aztecs. As told from Fray Bernardino De Sahagun about the illness, "at the time the Spaniards left Mexico, there came an illness of pustules of which many local people died; it was called the great rash." The Spanish were immune to the disease so it posed no threat to Cortes" own men. The Aztecs were demoralized by the mysterious illness that killed Indians and spared Spaniards, as if advertising the Spaniards" invincibility. One negative aspect for Cortes however was that his Indian allies suffered from the disease to the same extent as the Aztecs, resulting in considerable losses. As we can see disease played a small yet unintentionally effective role in contributing to Cortes" success. .
Another reason that enabled Cortes to conquer the empire was the gift of his translators, namely Dona Marina. After a short warring period with the Tabascans they exchanged gifts with one and other.