Conquistador

Categories: Conquistadores | Spanish colonization of the Americas | Spanish colonial period in the Philippines

Conquistador (meaning "Conqueror" in the Spanish language) is the term used to refer to the soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who achieved the Conquista (this Spanish term is generally accepted by historians), i.e. brought much of the Americas and Asia Pacific under Spanish colonial rule between the 17th and 19th centuries. The Genoese Columbus's discovery of the New World in 1492 afforded Spain a headstart in Colonization of the Americas, i.e. North, South America, continental Central and the Caribbean regions; the whole area was designated the West Indies, as the explorers originally presumed they had reached the (inexistent) Atlantic coast of the Asia-Pacific Far East, which was being reached and soon colonized as 'East Indies', notably the archipelago of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Guam.

1 Background
2 History
- 2.1 New World
- 2.2 The Spanish Conquest in Asia - Pacific
3 Debate on the Human Rights of Natives
4 References in Media
5 List of Famous Conquistadors and Explorers
6 Additional Info

[edit]

Background

The leaders of Spanish expeditions to the New World called themselves conquistadores, a name expressing the similarity to the recently accomplished reconquista, the Christian crusades to (re)conquer the Iberian peninsula from the Muslim Moors (711-1492). They also evoked the name of Santiago Matamoros ("St James the Moor-killer") before going into battle against the pagan Native population of the Americas, who were considered rightless as long as not converted to catholicism, so their lands were annexed as terra nullius with papal blessing, the only rival claim to be taken seriously was that of the Portuguese, settled after papal arbitration in the treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. Many conquistadores were poor, including some nobles (hidalgos) seeking a fortune in the West Indies, since there were limited prospects in Europe, as previously in crusades in the Old World. The honor rules for nobility banned them from manual work. Many were also fleeing the religious repression caused by the Spanish Inquisition.

[edit]

History

[edit]

New World

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 (then called New Spain) under the dominion of the Spanish empire. 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 wiped out most of the native population and the military and political leaders. Extraordinarily convenient native myths predicted a messianic god would come from the very direction they approached from (Cortes the east, Pizarro the west). Their exotic appearance and apparently magical posession of horses and fire arms seemingly confirming their divine nature. In each case the emperor was quickly captured, and major revolts would not break out until reinforcements from Europe had arrived.

Rumours of golden cities (Cibola 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 ransom that Sapa Inca Atahualpa paid for his freedom, was taken back to Spain, leading to additional Conquistador expeditions in South America and the Pacific.

Imperial rule and the unwise use of the crown's share of the colonial proceeds would bankrupt the state repeatedly while the influx of precious metal caused towering inflation in Europe and Spain to largely lose the war against Protestantism, weakening of the Spanish domestic economy and, ultimately, imperial prominence shifting to rivals; the British and their US offshoot coming out on top and helping the Creoles to achieve early independence from Spain in the 19th century.

[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 Natives

Most of the conquistadors cruelly mistreated the inhabitants of the regions they visited or conquered; killing, enslaving, raping and otherwise abusing them. Some Spaniards, notably the priest Bartolomé de Las Casas, defended Native Americans against the abuses of conquistadors. 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 protected the rights of Native inhabitants. In 1615, Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala sent the 1200 page New Chronicle and Good Government (El primer nueva corónica i buen gobierno) to the King of Spain. This was a history of the Incas, their conquest, and their mistreatment written by a former Inca noble who had a guilty conscience in his old age about helping the Conquistadors and wanted to inform the King of the problems. It was lost to history until 1908, when it was discovered in the personal library of the Royal house of Denmark.

Accounts of the behaviour of Spanish Conquistadors from both inside and out were part of the source material for the stereotype of Spanish cruelty that came to be known as the Black Legend.

Image:Conquistadorptw.jpg

Conquistador in Civilization III Play the World.

[edit]

References in Media

Conquistador were a featured unique unit for the Spanish civilization in the expansion to the computer game Age of Empires II; featured a scenario in which the player commands Spanish fleet against the Turkish armada, a reenactment of the Battle of Lepanto, they also appear in Civilization III Play the World in which the player commands Spanish crown in the times of Spanish colonization of the Americas.

The Rock group Procol Harum also had a hit single with a song called Conquistador

[edit]