Conquistador

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This article is about the Spanish explorers and warriors dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, for other uses see Conquistador (disambiguation)

Conquistador (Spanish: [koŋ.kis.t̪a'ð̞oɾ]) (meaning "Conqueror" in the Spanish language) is the term used to refer to the soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas and Asia Pacific under Spanish colonial rule between the 15th and 17th centuries, starting with the 1492 settlement established in the modern-day Bahamas by Christopher Columbus.

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[edit] Background

Hernán Cortés, Conquistador of the Aztec Empire
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Hernán Cortés, Conquistador of the Aztec Empire

The first Spanish conquest in the Americas was the island of Hispaniola (presently shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic). From there, Juan Ponce de León conquered Puerto Rico and Diego Velázquez took Cuba. The first settlement on the mainland was Darién in Panama, settled by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1512. As these Caribbean regions proved no great treasury or endless supply of priceless spices, the 'disappointment' motivated further exploration, rather than a serious effort to make the best of the 'virgin' colonies, a foretaste of monumental economic mismanagement.

The first immensely successful conquistador was Hernán Cortés. Between 1520 and 1521, Cortés, along with some Native American allies, conquered the mighty Aztec empire, thus bringing present day Mexico under the dominion of the Spanish empire, as New Spain. Of comparable importance was the conquest of the South American Inca Empire by Francisco Pizarro. Both were helped by smallpox and other European plagues that weakened the native populations, for these diseases were unknown in America at the time of the Spanish arrival and the native populations lacked the antibodies to fight them. The diseases also killed the current leader of the Inca at the time, facilitating the war that Pizarro walked into upon his arrival. Combined with far greater forces of native allies, Cortés' forces managed to besiege the Aztec capital city and destroy it.

Francisco Pizarro. Conquistador of the Inca Empire
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Francisco Pizarro. Conquistador of the Inca Empire

Rumours of golden Cities (Cíbola in North America and "El Dorado" in South America) caused several more expeditions to leave for the Americas, but many returned without finding any gold, finding less gold than expected, or finding Fool's Gold. The piece that Sapa Inca Atahualpa paid Pizarro for his freedom was taken back to Spain, leading to additional Conquistador expeditions in South America. Emboldened by the seemingly endless rising imports of silver and gold, the Spanish Habsburg imperial rule became uncompromising, leading to the unwise use of the crown's share of the colonial proceeds that would bankrupt a constantly overstretched Spain. The influx of precious metal also caused towering inflation in Europe (particularly in Spain), thereby undermining the domestic economy (which was the main source of revenue), greatly contributing to the ultimate loss of the war against Protestant rebels and Catholic France, and, finally, after a long, slow, decline, led to the loss of imperial prominence to its northern rivals.

[edit] The Spanish Conquest in Asia - Pacific

The discovery of the Strait of Magellan in 1520 by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the tip of South America led to Spanish interest in the Pacific. The first of the Conquistadors to sail the vast Pacific Ocean was Miguel López de Legazpi in 1564 and arrived in the Philippine archipelago on 1565. Legazpi and his men destroyed the native settlements and conquered the islands for Spain. This paved the way for Spanish settlements in the Pacific.

[edit] Debate on the human rights of native peoples

Most of the conquistadors cruelly mistreated the inhabitants of the regions they visited or conquered; killing, enslaving, raping and otherwise abusing them in a way that may not neccessarily have been radically different of those atrocities inflicted by other contemporary European powers (such as England, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, etc.) in their colonies but, due to the much larger native population which the Spaniards met, may have become much more obvious.

Despite accounts of mistreatment the Spanish did mix with local population to a much larger degree than other European powers. Additionally, Spanish Catholic missionaries showed a remarkable interest in evangelizing the native populations. While native culture was marred by Spanish proselytization, it was not intrinsically evil. In the context of the 16th century, this act was thought to prove that they "cared" about their souls. (Religion had a much more capital role at the time compared to the one it has today.)[citation needed]

Finally, in relative numbers, over the years the North American native populations came close to extermination (many tribes disappearing entirely) while in Spanish held areas, the native or slightly mixed populations maintained sizeable numbers (in many areas they are actually main population, such as in Bolivia, Perú, Guatemala, some areas in México, etc).

The accounts of the ill behavior of Spanish conquistadors from both inside and outside were part of the source material for the stereotype of Spanish cruelty that came to be known as the Black Legend spread mostly from England.

As a result of this political propaganda campaign against the Spanish, little is known outside the Hispanic world about some Spaniards, notably the priest Bartolomé de Las Casas, who defended Native Americans against the abuses of conquistadores. In 1542, Bartolomé de las Casas published A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias). His account is largely responsible for the passage of the new Spanish colonial laws known as the New Laws of 1542, which was used in an attempt to protect the rights of native inhabitants (the governor and men sent to enforce them were killed by rebellious conquistadores). These New Laws of 1542 established a very early -if compared to British or French colonies- abolishment of native slavery (see the Valladolid debate).

[edit] List of conquistadores and explorers

[edit] Conquistadores in popular culture

The Conquistadors have since been featured (or referred to) in a great many media representations, and their distinctive helmets have accquired nearly iconic status. They are sometimes seen as an emblem of the Spanish Empire.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • John Charles Chasteen, Born In Blood And Fire: Concise History of Latin America Summary of the history of Latin America.
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