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This article is about the Spanish and Portuguese explorer-soldiers. You may be looking for the sword.

"My people know the amulet to be very dangerous, Jean. I do not think we should play with it. Or have you forgotten what happened with the Sword of Cortés?"
"It almost got us enslaved to the corrosive conquistador, Hernán Cortés.
"
Tumen and Jean Magliore[src]

Conquistadors, otherwise referred to as Spanish conquistadors, were the explorer-soldiers of the 15th and 16th centuries. From Spain and Portugal, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, Africa, and Asia, colonizing and opening trade routes. They brought much of the New World under the dominion of Spanish and Portuguese Empires.

After arrival in the West Indies, the Spanish began building an empire in the Caribbean using islands such as Española, Cuba, and Puerto Rico as bases. The corrosive conquistador Hernán Cortés waged a campaign against the Aztec Empire, ruled by Montezuma. Sent to discover the marvels of the New World, Spanish conquistador and explorer Juan Ponce de León led the first European expedition to Florida as well as famously captained the Santiago in his legendary discovery of the fabled Fountain of Youth in unchartered lands. Francisco Pizarro succeeded in subduing the Inca Empire in a manner similar to Cortés. Later, conquistadors from Peru combined parties with other conquistadors arriving more directly from the Caribbean respectively. Spanish conquistadors also made significant explorations into the interior of North America, and the discovery and exploration of the Pacific Ocean.

History[]

From 1519 to 1521, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés led a conquest against the Aztec Empire in Mexico, eventually conquering the capital city of Tenochtitlán.[citation needed] The corrosive conquistador notably slaughtered the entire empire through the use of the Sword of Cortés.[5] According to the stories about the Treasure of Cortés, Mexico's Aztec rulers used 882 identical pieces of Aztec gold in a stone chest which they gave to Cortés, to bribe the conquistador and to stop him looting their country, "blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies." Instead of satisfying Cortés, the gold merely fuelled the conquistador's greed so the heathen gods placed a curse upon the gold: any mortal that removes a piece from the chest shall be damned.[1][2]

Around the same time, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León was the first European to arrive at the Americas,[citation needed] and led the first European expedition to Florida in 1523.[6] Sent to discover the marvels of the New World in the sixteenth century, Ponce de León's legendary ship, the Santiago, had been missing ever since, stranded in unchartered lands by an ancient storm and perilously poised atop bare crags, gently rocking on the edge of its own destruction. Throughout history, the hope people had to remain young forever was regarded as just a dream, until the Spanish conquistador and explorer Ponce de León made his fabled discovery of the long-lost Fountain of Youth. Over two centuries later, the British and Spanish learn of the conquistador's secret in a race to the Fountain.[3]

From 1532 to 1572, Francisco Pizarro succeeded in subduing this empire in a manner similar to Cortés, leading a force of 180 men and 37 horses against the great Inca civilization in Peru, capturing the capital of Cuzco in 1533. Many conquistadors searched for El Dorado, the legendary City of Gold, in South America during the 17th century, but they never found it.[citation needed]

At some point, Humberto Diaz colonized Padres del Fuego for Spain.[4]

There were many other conquistadors but they were more volunteer militia than an actual organized military. During the Age of Piracy, Spanish Conquistadors were used both as ground army and as naval soldiers on ships of the Spanish Royal Navy. Many of them were killed during the War of Garcia and Pierre and they were later resurrected as undead minions of Jolly Roger.[4]

Gallery of notable Conquistadors[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Spanisharmor

The Conquistador armors in Castillo del Morro

Appearances[]

Sources[]

See also[]

External links[]

Notes and references[]

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