Conquistadors
- Spanish term for the word conqueror
- Were soldiers, explorers and adventurers at the service of the Spanish Empire
- Very holy people who would generally pray before battle
- Most famous were Cortes and Pizarro, but we will also look at Coronado
- Obsessed with matters of honor and reputation
- Spanish soldiers had a rep for rowdiness, and duels were not uncommon.
Cortes
- Born to a family of lower nobility
- Father as an infantry Captain for Spanish army
- He is 2nd cousin once removed with Pizarro
- Conquered the Aztec Empire
- Aztec thought he was Quetzalcoatl
Pizarro
- Spanish Conquistador
- Conquered the Incan Civilization
- Only had 168 men 27 horses and 1 cannon
- Got the defeated soldiers from the Incan civil war to fight for him
- 2nd cousins once removed from Cortes
Reason for Conquering the Mesoamerican people
- Gold and silver
- Polytheistic
- Human sacrifice was not a well-received practice worldwide at this time
- Exploring and wanted the land for new colonies
- Slaves
- Thought the Mesoamerican peoples rituals were devil like
Issues to split the gold and silver
- Produced bloody conflicts. Such as between Pizarro and Almagro.
- After Peru fell to Spain, Francisco Pizarro told Almagro, before they became enemies, to go to the Inca Empires Northern city of Quito to claim it
- Their fellow conquistador, Sebastian de Belalcazar, had already gone forth to claim it without Pizarro’s approval.
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