As early as 1528, reports have said that Montezuma II thought Hernán Cortés was the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. Aztec legends said that Quetzalcoatl would return as a man, and Cortés had arrived on Quetzalcoatl's birthday. Aztec writings from the time say that when Montezuma II greeted Cortés, he gave an abdication speech, giving up the Aztec throne to "Quetzalcoatl-Cortés":