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- "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
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[]
- In Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, three Conquistador armors can be seen in Castillo del Morro.[citation needed] Spanish conquistadors would first be mentioned through Hernando Cortés in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide, which was later republished in The Complete Visual Guide.[1][2] Conquistadors were first identified by name in Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow books The Pirate Chase[7] and The Sword of Cortés.[5]
- In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, a member of Sao Feng's pirate crew wears a conquistador helmet on his head.[6]
- In Pirates of the Caribbean Online there is a voodoo doll called the Conquistador Doll, and a matching outfit with the same name.[4]
- Conquistadors were meant to appear in Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned, a video game which was scheduled to be released in 2011.[citation needed] But since that game was cancelled, it is unknown if their appearance in the game is canon or not.
- In The King's Ransom quest in A Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas, the treasure is kept inside the fort that is haunted by the ghosts of Spanish Conquistadors.[8]
Appearances[]
- Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean (First appearance)
- Jack Sparrow: The Pirate Chase (First identified as conquistador)
- Jack Sparrow: The Sword of Cortés
- Jack Sparrow: The Age of Bronze (Mentioned only)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
- Mother of Water
- Pirates of the Caribbean Online (as undead skeletons)
- LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
Sources[]
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide (First identified as Spanish conquistador)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide
See also[]
External links[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Pirates of the Caribbean Online
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jack Sparrow: The Sword of Cortés
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- ↑ Jack Sparrow: The Pirate Chase
- ↑ A Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas