Hernán Cortés one of the most renowned of the conquistadors is credited with conquering Mexico for Spain 8
9 INTRODUCTION to 1 secure new lands for Spain 2 conquer and convert Native American tribes to Christianity and 3 obtain as much wealth as possible for the monarchy which needed it to expand their empire Many historians agree that the goals of the conquistadors can be summed up as a quest for gold God and glory Many European nations spent a vast amount of time and resources chart ing paths to reach the New World Europe’s great powers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Spain Portugal England and France rivaled one another in sending expeditions of discovery across the Atlantic
CONQUISTADORS One of the most successful of the conquistadors was Hernán Cortés He and his men conquered the Aztec empire in Mexico capturing it and renaming it New Spain Other conquistadors such as Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro who conquered Peru also became well-known for their successes across the Atlan tic Ocean But the victories of Cortés and others usually spelled devastation for the Native American tribes they encountered such as the Aztecs and the Incas These people were usually enslaved and their way of life destroyed they looked upon the arrival of the Spanish as a terrible development in their own history Unfortunately the stories of these early conquistadors compelled more Spaniards like them to make the dangerous journey to the New World seeking glory for Spain and for themselves 10
CHAPTER 1 THE QUEST FOR GOLD History usually celebrates the achievements of the Muslims in southern Europe In Spain the Moors built beautiful mosques baths centers of learning and other institu tions They were renowned for producing literature music and scientific knowledge However despite these achievements the Spanish aristocracy was eager to defeat the Muslims and erase their influence on their nation They believed the Moors were pagans and they wanted to build a Catholic empire to replace their Muslim one AN EMPIRE FOR SPAIN The Reconquista literally the re-conquest of Spain took hun dreds of years Finally in 1492 the last Muslim stronghold in Granada fell to the Spaniards Spain expelled its Muslim popula tion though some Moors adopted Christianity and remained The Spaniards next step was to build a new empire which would take massive amounts of wealth So the Spanish monarchs commissioned conquistadors to explore the Americas to find new sources of capital for the new monarchy But why would a man want to leave his home in Spain and travel to a new world One reason was adventure who knew what this New World had to offer Another reason was personal prosperity many young men who did not inherit an income from their families had 11
