Conquistador

This article is about the Spanish and Portuguese explorer-soldiers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. For other uses, see Conquistador (disambiguation).

Francisco Pizarro

Main articles: Colonialism, Imperialism, History of colonialism, Chronology of colonialism, and Manifest Destiny

Conquistadors ( /kɒn.ˈkwɪstədɔr/; Spanish: [koŋkistaˈðor]; "conqueror") were people at the service of Spanish Empire, or at the service of Portuguese Empire. Soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who explored extensive Earth areas and trade routes and brought much of the world under the control of Portugal and Spain in the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries.

Overview

The term conquistador mostly refers to a Spanish or Portuguese adventurers who were going to conquer lands in America.

The leaders of these expeditions were called conquistadores. This name referred to the Reconquista (711-1492), the reconquest of the territories of the Iberian peninsula occupied by Muslims. Often outnumbered by the empires they attacked, they managed to subdue and eliminate the most powerful rulers, aided certainly by technological superiority, strong determination, political circumstances exceptionally favorable and - it must say of some of them - a total lack of scruples, and by the spread of many diseases brought by Europeans and Africans, which decimated the inhabitants of the new World to which they were completely new , like to smallpox, flu, typhus ...

In the Age of Exploration, there were circulating rumors of mythical wonderful places as Fountain of Youth in Everglades, and Quivira or Cibola, cities of Gold in North America and in South America, Eldorado and wonderful kingdoms of women named amazonas, in 1542, Francisco de Orellana reached the Amazon River, naming it after a tribe of warlike women he claimed having encountered and fought there, and The Travels of Marco Polo incited their minds. Several expeditions went in search of these fabulous places, but returned empty-handed, or brought less gold than they had hoped for. They found other precious metals as the silver which, however, was particularly abundant in Potosi and new routes, Ocean currents, trade winds, crops, spices and other products. In the sail-ship era some of those knowledge were essential. A good example of this is the Agulhas current, which long prevented Portuguese sailors from reaching India. Its activities were financed and initiated by the kingdom of Portugal, to the point that Christopher Columbus first offered his services to this kingdom. The Conquistadores were more prominent in North America, South America and the region of Caribbean, but they also reached from Americas to Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Asia and they controlled areas in Africa, Asia, India, China, and Atlantic and Pacific Ocean islands, including the islands of Philippines and Guam. They brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Before this year, Spain was got limited to the conquest of the Canary Islands by the Kingdom of Castille that took place between 1402 and 1496. Later 1492 Castilla started on a larger scale the same activities, using even Portuguese navigators. Long before Portugal had already colonized the rest of the Atlantic islands and had established a marine route to Japan circling Africa, with numerous coastal enclaves on the route. Because of a later union for a time of Spain with Portugal, some colonies of this empires changed of side and some Portuguese expeditions were in the service of the Emperor. Due to subjects relationship with Holy Roman Empire, Crown of Aragon, Naples, Sicily, the Seventeen Provinces, and other european and african states, some Germanic expeditions and other people were too in the service of the Emperor.

Conquistadors in the Americas resembled a volunteer militia more than a regular organized military in that they had to supply their own materials, weapons and horses. Some were supported by governments, the king, but also viceroys, and too local governors backed by richmen. The Conquistadors came from a Europe marked by a strict society of classes, where people who did not own property and wealth had little chance to change their social situation.

The Laws of Burgos, created in 1512–1513, were the first codified set of laws governing the behavior of settlers in Spanish colonial america, particularly with regards to Native Americans. They forbade the maltreatment of indigenous people, and endorsed their conversion to Catholicism. In the 16th century perhaps 240,000 Europeans entered American ports. By the late 16th century American silver accounted for one-fifth of Spain's total budget.

Ferdinand II of Aragon, the son of John II of Aragon of castilian origin, whose family was a cadet branch of the House of Trastámara, was King also of Castilla by to get married his cousin Isabella I of Castile, so this king introduced many laws, regulations and institutions such as the Inquisition, typicals of the Crown of Aragon, in Castile, government laws which were later used in the new lands added to Castilla possessions. They created the Kingdom of Spain and tried to incorporate by marriage the kingdom of Portugal.

History

Northern Spain men and houses from 1898 with characteristic horse, donkey and dog alike to this introduced in America

Detail of Velázquez's Portrait of Juan de Pareja a contemporary morisco spaniard, slave and afterwards freedman, assistant and trust man of Diego Velazquez.

Hernan Cortes and his counselor, the indian woman La Malinche meet Moctezuma II in Tenochtitlan, November 8, 1519. Facsimile (c. 1890) of Lienzo de Tlaxcala.

The conquistadors were professional warriors, using modern tactics, firearms, combat dogs, and cavalry tactics against unprepared groups. The Companies would often specialize in forms of combat that required longer periods of training that was not available in the form of a mobilized militia.

Professional and mercenary conquering armies were mostly mounted conquistadors of veteran mercenary soldiers of Iberian or European origin. The native allied troops were largely composed of infantry equipped with armament and armor depending in their tribal origin.

Conquistadors were not all of Castilian origin or Christian. Because Castilla law when King Ferdinand II of Aragon, vetoed America to foreigners and no Catholic, many soldiers hispanicized their name, having European, North African and even Turkish origin people. In March 1492, was issued the Edict of Expulsion of the Jews, a document which ordered all Jews to either be baptized and convert to Christianity or leave the country. in 1502, violating the 1492 peace treaty Ferdinand forced all Muslims in Castile and Aragon to convert to Catholicism, or be expelled too. The Inquisition was responsible for judge all Christians, new forced converteds and the suspected of to be Protestant Christians. The nominally converted Christian Moriscos expulsion was the (1609). According to a widely publicized recent study (December 2008) published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, 19.8 percent of modern Iberians (Spain + Portugal) have DNA reflecting Near Eastern and 10.6 percent having DNA reflecting North African ancestors. Nikolaus Federmann, hispanicized as Nicolás de Federmán, was born c. 1505 in Ulm and died February 1542 in Valladolid, another one was Georg von Speyer hispanized as Jorge de la Espira. The two most famous conquistadors were Hernán Cortés who conquered the Aztec Empire and Francisco Pizarro who led the conquest of the Incan Empire. They were second cousins and both of them were born in Extremadura, as were many of the conquerors who were from Spain. The Treaty of Tordesillas and the Treaty of Zaragoza, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spanish Empire and Portuguese Empire.

This conquest period endurance several centuries. There were a wide variation in the way armed groups were looking for supplies and monetarian funds. Mostly economic interest but sometimes political strategy, motivated a campaing. Then financing was requested, which could be due to King, delegates of the Crown, the nobility, rich merchants or own troops. According to what degree the Crown and its resources was involved, the campaign was more professional. It was the case sometimes, of campaings initiated by governors who had not military experience yet, because in Spanish colonial America, the offices were bought with money or due to influences more than merit. Sometimes, an expedition of conquistadors were a group of influential men who had recruited men, they had fed them and they had financed their dependents by promising a share of the booty that could be generated with the expedition. This group used to consist of young men without military experience, a small group of Catholic clergy trained in various disciplines and a group of soldiers or mercenaries with military training. These expeditions often involved black slaves and native american men or women who were likewise men or trust men with more training than the young troops of adventurers and with greater positions of responsibility: interpreters, informants, servants, teachers, etc..

In general the conquest was done by private enterprise, that is, through a contract called by Castilla "capitulaciones" established between the king or his representative, and one particular which allowed him to conquer a particular territory within a specified time. Then an army was organized, under a leader or chief, who received from the king one of several possible titles. In Castilla those titles were "Capitán", "gobernador", or "adelantado" depending on the size of the army. In return, the expedition leader agreed to bear the expenses of the campaign and accomplish it within the time limit. The duties of the king, meanwhile, was the exemption from tax, the donation of land and plots in future populations, and the enactment of rights and freedoms in the manner of those in Castilla. The king was only obliged to grant these favors if the expedition of conquest ended successfully, so if the campaign failed the dissent a posteriori caused consequences.

Although it may seem that the Crown was relegated and few involved in the conquest, in practice the Crown reserves for itself important tools of intervention. The "capitulacion" clearly states that the conquered territories belong to the Crown, not to the individual. On the other hand, concessions, always flexible, allowing the Crown to guide and direct the actions of conquest to certain territories, depending on their interests. In addition, the leader of the expedition received clear instructions about their duties towards the army, the native population, the type of military action and inclusive mandatorily they must be perform a written report about the results. The army had a royal official, the "veedor". The "veedor" or notary, ensured they complianced and obeyed orders and instructions and the preservation of the part of the booty assigned to the king.

However, thousands of miles away, in practice the Capitán of the army had almost unlimited power, while his own personality and charisma were important in the development of the expedition. Besides the Crown and the conquistador, they were very important the backers and capitalist partners, they were charged with anticipating the money and guarantee payment of obligations.

The conquistador if he could do it, always borrow as little as possible. The conquistador prefered to invest all their belongings. Sometimes, every soldier brought his own equipment and supplies, other times the soldiers received it as an advance from the conquistador.

The contribution of each individual conditioned the subsequent division of the booty, receiving a portion the pawn and twice a man on horseback. Sometimes part of the booty consisted of women, slaves or not. The dogs, weapons of extraordinary importance, in some cases were rewarded. The division of the booty produced conflicts, such as this one arose between Pizarro and Almagro.

European young men enlisted in the army because it was the only way out of poverty. Mostly the iberian population of that time, could not read or write. They were Catholic priests who instructed in mathematics and letters to soldiers. King's army officers instructed in the war arts these young military recruits. These uneducated young of low-life recruits turned past few years, in military leaders elected by merit by their fellow professional soldiers. As an example, Hernan Cortes during his childhood was a swinherd boy and fed himself on acorns collected.

During the 1650s, most of troops were mercenaries. However, after the 17th century, most of states invested in better disciplined and more politically reliable permanent troops. For a time mercenaries became important as trainers. This allowed the earliest professional military to serve during wartime. Such mercenaries were typically formed at the ends of periods of conflict. Jared Diamond summarizes the causes of the Pizarro's victory in the Andean region as "military technology based on guns, steel weapons, and horses; infectious diseases endemic of old world; European maritime technology; the centralized political organization of European states, and writing". The significance of writing is the cause of the errors of judgment of Atahualpa and Moctezuma, which led them to be deceived by the Spaniards, who belonged to a literate society. This allowed the conquerors to have at their disposal a huge body of knowledge about human behavior and its history, something that no native nations possessed.

Military

spanish helmet from s.XVI in the Museo de América, Madrid

Alonso de Ovalle's 1646 engraving of the conquistadors García Hurtado de Mendoza, Pedro de Villagra and Rodrigo de Quiroga

Shrunken head of a white or mestizo man by Jivaro indigenous people. In 1599, the Jivaro destroyed Spanish settlements in eastern Ecuador and killed all the men.

Spaniard arquebusier about 1540

Militarily, conquistadors had serious advantages over the native peoples, most notably belong to a more advanced civilization with better tools, firearms, artillery, steel and a good number of domesticated animals for transport. While the indigenous peoples had the advantage of established settlements, determination to remain independent and large numerical superiority. European diseases combined with advanced military technology and divide and conquer tactics ultimately overcame the native populations.

A factor leading to the domination of the Americas was the ability of the conquistadors to manipulate the political situation between local indigenous peoples. For instance, by supporting one side of a civil war, as in the case of the Inca civilization, or allying with natives who had been subjugated by more powerful neighboring tribes and kingdoms, as in the case of the Aztec civilization. These tactics were used since antiquity to recently in Spain for example, in Granada War, conquest of the Canary Islands or conquest of Navarre.

Throughout the conquest, the numbers of people within the indigenous nations greatly exceeded the conquistadors; on average the conquistador troops never exceeded 2% of the native population. The conquistadors commonly allied with natives to bolster their numerically inferior ranks with thousands of indigenous auxiliaries. The army with which Hernán Cortés besieged Tenochtitlan was composed of 200,000 soldiers, of which fewer than 1% were Spaniards.

The war was not very dissimilar to those of other European powers directed within the terms and laws of a just war, different to the indigena regard of warfare. While Spanish soldiers went to the battlefield to kill their enemies, indigenous peoples like the Aztecs and Mayas preferred to capture enemies for use as sacrificial victims to their own gods—a process called "flower war" by later Spanish historians.

In Spain and other european countries, a way to get rich and prosper for centuries was the war. For all the times, mercenary bands of iberian peninsula origin participated in iberian, european or african wars looking for booty. They were enrolled in Roman and Carthaginian armies, later in Reconquista and they were also Almogavars or any other paid flag. After discovery of America, this mercenary groups were too looking for a future, in American territories and campaigns.

The cultural context of the Kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula was different than that of the rest of Continental Europe from the Middle Ages, due to contact with the Moorish culture and the isolation provided by the Pyrenees. These cultural differences implied the use of doctrines, equipment, and tactics markedly different from those found in the rest of Europe during this period.

In the iberian peninsula, in a situation of constant conflict, warfare and daily life were strongly interlinked. Small, lightly equipped armies reflected how the society had to be on the alert at all times. These forces were capable of moving long distances in short times, allowing a quick return home after sacking a target. Battles which took place were mainly between clans, expelling intruder armies or sacking expeditions.

These methods of war were organized, combining some european methods with others sitting the original source in muslim lands of bandits in Al-Andalus. These tactics consisting of small groups engaged in the assault of the people by surprise. Through an ambush of coaliated force. Very high discipline and ferocity in combat, and many explorers. They were cavalry and foot-soldiers with little armor and light weapons, to march quickly.

A state of civil war for over centuries, it had the result of turning the iberian society into a very warlike society. When traders from Portugal introduced Arquebuses and Muskets, the iberian warlords were quick to adapt to this innovative weapons, giving them a large advantage over the enemy armies. In response to the threats, besides the Iberian kingdoms developed powerful navies in both cannon manufacturing and shipbuilding. They constructed warships equipped with firearms and advanced gunpowder cannons.

The introduction of gunpowder in Europe in the late 14th century led to the increased preference for mostly infantry professional armies and give birth to heavy infantry that would usually be armored like a knight, with mail armor and maybe an iron helmet and gunpowder artillery. Other heavy infantry would probably be armed with little armor and maybe a gunpowder weapon, which were capable of penetrating armor. Many of the troops were mercenaries from Germany (Landsknecht), Italian and Walloon territories of the Spanish Netherlands.

In their first contacts with native peoples, firearms and arquebuses were formidable weapons. The cannons and artillery were highly effective, as a few effective hits would stop the charging infantry and caused too great impression on morale because of the noise. The small weapons carried by native warriors had not advantage. Tactically, the reload procedure in arquebus was lengthy, with its availability usually in the digits for most Spanish parties.

Although many American civilizations had developed methods for working soft metals, including gold, silver, bronze, tin and copper, this knowledge was applied mainly to the development of religious and artistic objects, as well as some household utensils for everyday use. Few metals were used by native populations for military applications. One exception was that the Quechuas and P'urhépecha developed weapons of copper and bronze, but these could not match the hardness or durability of iron and steel. Most cultures used weapons of wood, flint and obsidian.

The weapons and armor of steel and iron proved to be effective militarily too. A Spanish sword made of steel was considered the pinnacle of craftsmanship and a well trained man could be a dominant foe. To the Spanish, a sword represented their honor, and devotion as Christian Knight. When they took control, the conquistadors usually banned possession of steel swords by the subjugated Indian people. Mostly the mounted conquistadors, the cavalry, used steel breastplates and armor during Cortés' campaign against the Aztecs. The high heat and humidity of Central and South America would be wearing heavy iron armor and steel items mostly impractical.The Spanish, people arrived from a country with very hot summers, usually had an armor more scarce. Commonly mail and leather were worn by the Spaniards. However, many indigenous cultures had used woven grasses and leathers as similar protection for centuries.

In those traditional societies of small human groups with cultures of the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and hunter-gatherer societies the warfare has been mostly 'endemic', long duration, low intensity, usually evolving into almost an ritualized form. For most of human history. All of a sudden when a society engages in 'sporadic' war, high intensity low duration, where large numbers of people are killed, and a lot of property destroyed... there are cultural issues where it is considered 'unfair' by one party.

Europe had developed an 'endemic' system of warfare in the middle age and later due largely to their use of mercenary armies, employed by two warring cities or states. It is interesting that when Italy was being ransacked by French and Spanish Armies in the early 1500s, most Italian states were easily defeated by armies practicing sporadic-warfare. Aztec and neighbouring people before the Spanish invasion had developed an endemic system of warfare too. And the exact same thing was occurred by a Spanish Army in Mexico.

The animals introduced were another important factor for Spanish triumph. On the one hand, the introduction of the horse to the American continents by the Spaniards allowed them greater mobility and the use of horses and other domesticated pack animals unknown to the Indian cultures. However, in the mountains and jungles, the Spaniards were less able to traverse Amerindian roads and bridges made for pedestrian traffic, which were sometimes no wider than a few feet. In places such as Argentina, New Mexico and California, the indigenous people learned horsemanship, cattle raising, and sheep herding. The use of the new techniques by indigenous groups later became a disputed factor in native resistance to the colonial and American governments.

The Spaniards were also skilled at breeding dogs for war, hunting and protection. The introduction of the Mastiff, wolf hound and sheep dog was unexpectedly effective as a psychological weapon against the natives, who, in many cases, had never seen domesticated dogs, though many indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere did, indeed, have domestic dogs; these include, but are not limited to: the current Southwestern US, Aztec and other Central American nations and peoples, the inhabitants of the Arctic/Tundra regions (Inuit, Aleut, Cree), and possibly some South American groups. During the conquest of the Americas, Spanish conquistadors used Spanish Mastiffs and other Molossers in battle against Native Americans, like the Taínos, Aztecs, or Mayans. These specially trained dogs were feared by the Indians because of their strength and ferocity.

The strongest war dogs, broad-mouthed breeds of mastiff specifically trained for battle, were used against almost nude troops. The Spanish conquistadors used armoured dogs that had been trained to kill and disembowel when they invaded the land controlled by South American natives.

From 1580–1670 the Bandeirantes focused on slave hunting, then from 1670–1750 they focused on mineral wealth. Through these expeditions, the Bandeirantes also expanded Portuguese America from the small limits of the Tordesilhas Line to roughly the same territory as current Brazil.

Expedition of Hernan Cortes had to supply their own materials, weapons and horses. Some were supported by government, and too local governors backed by richmen. After receiving notice from Juan de Grijalva of much gold in the area of what is now Tabasco, the governor of Cuba, Diego de Velasquez, made a decision to send a larger force than had previously sailed, and appointed Cortes as Captain-General of the Armada. Cortes then applied all of his funds, mortgaged his estates and borrowed from merchants and friends to outfit the ships that would sail under his command. Velasquez may have contributed some to the effort, but the government of Spain had no financial input into this undertaking.

Disease

Aztecs dying of smallpox, (“The Florentine Codex” 1540–85)

While technological and cultural factors played an important role in the victories of the conquistadors, this was facilitated by diseases brought from the old world, especially smallpox. The defeat of the American Indian civilizations seems were produced too in several cases, by their population crisis. Some identify genocidal acts by the Europeans as the main cause. Some attribute it to the introduction of new diseases and still others to both factors.

The first foreing diseases contracted by indigenous people were carried to distant tribes and villages. This typical path of disease transmission moved much faster than the advancing Spaniards.

Epidemic disease devastating the native population is commonly cited as the primary reason for the decline in population of the Native Americans because of their lack of immunity to new diseases brought from old world. Often overlooked is that there were few relationships among the vast dispersed indigenous peoples of the Americas. Most peoples lived in isolated communities, with only limited trade contact and no regular communication. Limited trading was the only constant contact between most New World cultures.

Exposure of these previously remote populations to foreign diseases caused more fatalities than the wars themselves, and weakened the natives' social structures. The Europeans brought small pox, chicken pox, and measles to America. Recent genetic studies on the skeletal remains of native peoples found that while many were killed by violence, an even higher number died from disease. Oral stories maintain that the Indians saw this as a sign of a lack of faith in their old customs. The people in the Americas were not previously exposed to the variety of old world diseases that caused their eventual demise.

When Francisco Coronado and the Spaniards first explored the Rio Grande Valley in 1540, in modern New Mexico, some of the chieftains complained of new diseases that affected their tribes. The Spaniards curanderos, folk healers, recognized the symptoms and attempted to relieve some of the ailments.

This happened too with the Inca Empire, defeated by Francisco Pizarro in 1533. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Incan empire, a large portion of the population, had already died in a smallpox epidemic. The first epidemic of smallpox was recorded in 1529 and killed the emperor Huayna Capac, the father of Atahualpa. New epidemics of smallpox broke out in 1533, 1535, 1558 and 1565, as well as typhus in 1546, influenza in 1558, diphtheria in 1614 and measles in 1618.

Recently developed tree-ring evidence shows that the illness which lead to decline of the population in Aztec Mexico was not only a result of foreign diseases, but also a result of a great drought which occurred in the 16th century, and which led up to and continued through to the arrival of the Spanish conquest. This has added to the body of epidemiologic evidence indicating that epidemics of cocoliztli (Nahuatl name for viral hemorrhagic fever) were indigenous fevers transmitted by rodents and aggravated by the extreme drought. The epidemic of cocoliztli from 1545 to 1548 killed an estimated 5 to 15 million people, or up to 80% of the native population. The cocoliztli epidemic from 1576 to 1578 killed an estimated, additional 2 to 2.5 million people, or about 50% of the remaining native population.

In 1492, the combined populations of Spain and Portugal did not exceed 10 million people. The American researcher HF Dobyns believed that 95% of the total population of the Americas died in the first 130 years, and he believed that 90% of the population of the Inca Empire died in epidemics. Cook and Borak of the University of California at Berkeley believe that the population in Mexico declined from 25.2 million in 1518 to 700 thousand people in 1623, less than 3% of the original population.

People at service of Spain

• Hernán Cortés (Mexico, 1518–1522, Baja California, 1532–1536)
• Pedro de Alvarado (Mexico, 1519–1521, Guatemala, El Salvador 1523–1527, Perú, 1533–1535, Mexico, 1540–1541)
• Francisco Pizarro (Perú, 1509–1535)
• Pedro de Candia (Panama, 1527, Colombia and Ecuador, 1528, Peru, 1530)
• Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (United States, 1540–1542)
• Juan de Oñate (New Mexico, United States, 1598–1608)
• Juan Vásquez de Coronado y Anaya (Costa Rica)
• Diego de Almagro (Perú, 1524–1535, Chile, 1535–1537)
• Rodrigo de Bastidas (Colombia and Panamá, 1500–1527)
• Vasco Núñez de Balboa (Panamá, 1510–1519)
• Juan Ponce de León (Puerto Rico, 1508, Florida, 1513–1521)
• Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (United States, 1527–1536, 1540–1542)
• Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón (United States, 1524–1527)
• Sebastián de Belalcázar (Ecuador and Colombia, 1533–1536)
• Gonzalo Pizarro (Perú, 1532–1542)
• Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar (Cuba, 1511–1519)
• Diego de Ordaz (Venezuela, 1532)
• Juan Pizarro (Perú, 1532–1536)
• Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (Yucatán, 1517)
• Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (Nicaragua, 1524)
• Hernando Pizarro (Perù, 1532–1560)
• Diego Hernández de Serpa (Venezuela, 1510–1570)
• Juan de Grijalva (Yucatán, 1518)
• Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (Colombia, 1536–1537, Venezuela, 1569–1572)
• Francisco de Montejo (Yucatán, 1527–1546)
• Nicolás Federmann (Venezuela and Colombia, 1537–1539).
• Pánfilo de Narváez (Spanish Florida, 1527–1528)
• Diego de Nicuesa (Panama, 1506–1511)
• Cristóbal de Olid (Honduras, 1523–1524)
• Francisco de Orellana (Amazon River, 1541–1543)
• Hernando de Soto (United States, 1539–1542)
• Inés Suárez, (Chile, 1541)
• Martín de Ursúa, (Petén, Guatemala, 1696–1697)
• Pedro de Valdivia (Chile, 1540–1552)
• Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (Florida, 1565–1567)
• Alonso de Ribera (Chile 1599–1617)
• Alonso de Sotomayor (Chile 1583–1592, Panamá 1592–1604)
• Martín Ruiz de Gamboa (Chile 1552–1590)
• Juan Garrido (Multiple campaigns 1502–1530, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Florida, Mexico)
• Miguel López de Legazpi (Philippines, 1565–1572)
• Juan de Salcedo (Philippines, 1565–1576)

People at service of Portugal

• Alfonso de Abreu
• Alfonso d'Albuquerque
• Alvaro Martins (Homem)
• Antonio Da Noli
• Antão Gonçalves
• Bartholomeu Dias (de Novaes)
• Cadamosto
• Cristovão de Mendonça
• D.Lourenço d’Almeida
• Diogo Cão
• Diogo de Azambuja
• Diogo Gomes de Sintra
• Dinas Dias
• Duarte Fernandes
• Duarte Galvão
• Fernão da Poo
• Fernão Magalhães Also known as Ferdinand Magellan and Magallanes served to Spain too.
• Fernão Pires de Andrade
• Francisco de Almeida
• Francisco Alvares
• Francisco Rodrigues
• Henry the Navigator
• Gaspar Corte-Real
• Gil Eanes
• Goncalo Velho
• João Alfonso de Aveiro
• João da Nova
• João Grego
• João Alvares Fagundes
• João Fernandes Lavrador
• João Gonçalves Zarco
• João Infante
• João Vaz Corte-Real
• Jorge Alvares
• Lopo Soares de Albergaria
• Luis Pires
• Luis Vaz de Torres
• Manol Pereira
• Martin Behaim
• Martim Afonso de Sousa
• Miguel Corte-Real
• Nicolau Coelho
• Nuno Alvares Pereira
• Nuno da Cunha
• Paula da Gama
• Nuno Tristão
• Paulo Dias de Novais
• Pedro Alvares Cabral
• Pedro Teixeira
• Pero de Alenquer
• Pero de Barçelos
• Pero de Covilha
• Pero Dias
• Pero Vaz de Caminha
• Tristão da Cunha
• Tristão Vaz Teixeira
• Vasco da Gama served to Spain too.

See also

• Tercio
• Bandeirantes
• Libertadores
• Colonial Brazil

Further reading

• Chasteen, John Charles (2001). Born In Blood And Fire: A Concise History of Latin America. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.. ISBN 9780393976137. 
• Innes, Hammond (2002). The Conquistadors. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780141391229. 
• Kirkpatrick, F. A. (1934). The Spanish Conquistadores. London: A. & C. Black. 
• Wood, Michael (2000). Conquistadors. London: BBC Books. ISBN 9780563487067.