Conquistador (pronounced /kɒŋˈkwɪstədɔr/ or /kɒnˈkiːstədɔr/ in English; Spanish pronunciation: [koŋkistaˈðor]) (meaning "Conqueror" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages) is the term widely used to refer to the Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th through the 17th centuries following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492. The leaders of...
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Conquistador (pronounced /kɒŋˈkwɪstədɔr/ or /kɒnˈkiːstədɔr/ in English; Spanish pronunciation: [koŋkistaˈðor]) (meaning "Conqueror" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages) is the term widely used to refer to the Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th through the 17th centuries following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492. The leaders of the conquest of the Aztec Empire were Hernán Cortés and Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras. Francisco Pizarro led the conquest of the Incan Empire.
The captains were gentlemen of varying nobility, who fought in earlier battles from within the peninsula and further away in Italy. The Conquistadores in the Americas were more volunteer militia than an actual organized military. They had to supply their own materials, weapons and horses. The first parties to explore the mainland of the new world in 1516 were on trading and mapping expeditions. After...
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