A Conquistador is one of the Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who took part in the gradual conquest of large parts of the Americas and Pacific Asia, bringing them under Spanish colonial rule between the 15th and 19th centuries. The conquistador is also de quintesencial "citizen-soldier", following the tradition of "Western" cultural and "civilized" legacy (Greece, Rome, etc.)
The term used for the Portuguese explorers and conquerors of Brazil is the Bandeirantes.
View BBC - Conquistadores. Videos hosted on Google. During the early 1500s, Spaniards used the major Caribbean islands as a base for expeditions to the mainland of Venezuela and Central America. Men called conquistadors recruited, equipped, and led these expeditions, often with the financial backing of merchants. Most hoped to find great riches or legendary places, such as the Seven Cities of CÃbola, which were supposed to have streets and houses adorned with gold and jewels, and the fountain of youth, a spring whose waters were said to have the power to restore youth.
The conquistadors came from areas of Spain where fighting was a way of life. The wars against Muslims in Spain had lasted for centuries, and clashes between rival clans were common. These men were accustomed to achieving their goals of fame and fortune through military endeavor. By taking treasure, territory, and subjects for their country, they won recognition from the king. Many explorers also felt it was their moral responsibility to convert people to Christianity.
A Spanish explorer and military officer, Francisco Pizarro was known for both his courage and his cruelty. As a member of Vasco Núñez de Balboaâs 1513 expedition to the Isthmus of Panama, Pizarro became one of the first Europeans to sight the Pacific Ocean. Pizarro later gained fame for conquering the Inca Empire in Peru during the mid-1530s, opening the way for Spanish colonization of South America.
With the blessingâbut not the financial support-of the Spanish government, these conquistadors made their way through Central and South America claiming territory for Spain. The conquistadors' expeditions increased Spainâs territory, wealth, and power. In 1513 Vasco Núñez de Balboa and his men crossed Central America and became the first Europeans to see the Pacific Ocean. Six years later Hernán Cortés led an expedition into Mexico and in 1521 captured Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire. In the early 1530s Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire in Peru. Even so, native resistance to Spanish rule continued for years.
From Peru, expeditions pushed north into Ecuador and Colombia and south into Chile. Conquistadors founded Buenos Aires, in what is now Argentina, in 1536 and Asunción, in what is now Paraguay, in 1537. Francisco de Orellana first explored the Amazon Basin in 1541 and 1542, searching for legendary chief El Dorado and his kingdom, which was rumored to abound in gold and precious stones. Other explorers ventured to the borderlands of northern Mexico and the Guiana Highlands, where they generally established only isolated and often temporary outposts. In the 16th century the major permanent settlements were in central Mexico and the Andes Mountains. By the 1550s Spain controlled the areas that are now Mexico, most of the South American continent, Central America, Florida, and Cuba.
A Spanish explorer of the 16th century, Hernan Cortes conquered the great Aztec Empire in 1521. His white skin and beard convinced Montezuma II, the ruler of the Aztec Empire, and the Aztec people that Cortés was actually the god Quetzalcoatl returning as prophesied. After he captured and razed the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, Cortés built Mexico City. Today, ruins of the Templo Mayor, or main temple, of the Aztec capital are all that remains of Tenochtitlan.
The European explorers of Central and South America encountered native civilizations far richer and more sophisticated than the Caribbean culturesâfor example, the Maya and Aztec peoples in Mexico and the Incas in Peru. They came upon technology allowing relatively abundant crops and encountered forms of empire where city-states dominated smaller satellite communities. Their conquests brought dramatic changes to both the Americas and Spain. The conquistadors and colonizers introduced European culture and religion to the Americas, while Spain gained enormous wealth from the spoils of its conquests and from silver and gold mines in the newly conquered lands.
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