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Conquistador: agents of Iberian expansion in the Americas and Pacific

Conquistadors were Iberian soldiers, explorers and private leaders who, under royal license or private initiative, conquered and colonized large parts of the Americas and the Philippines between the 15th and 17th centuries.

Author: Leandro Alegsa Creation date: November 13, 2022 Last updated: June 9, 2026

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Overview

The term conquistador (literally "conqueror") refers chiefly to Spanish—and sometimes Portuguese—soldiers, captains and adventurers who led military expeditions of exploration, conquest and colonization from the late 15th century into the 17th century. Their activities transformed vast regions of the Americas and parts of the Asia Pacific, notably the Philippines, and laid the foundations for colonial polities and economies governed from Europe.

Many conquistadors came from the lesser nobility (hidalgos), younger sons without inheritance, or from the ranks of professional soldiers and sailors seeking wealth, land, status or royal favor. Expeditions were often private undertakings authorized and financed by investors and ratified by the crown with a license that promised shares of profits and titles. Conquistadors frequently operated under legal instruments such as capitulations, later incorporated into colonial institutions including the encomienda system and viceroyalties under the Spanish Crown.

Timeline and notable figures

European expansion began after voyages across the Atlantic and across the oceanic trade routes. Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage—commissioned at the end of the 15th century—opened sustained contact between Europe and the Americas; see Christopher Columbus and the late 15th century context. Conquest activity intensified through the 17th century and produced the broad region often called Latin America.

Hernán Cortés — led the campaign (1519–1521) that toppled the Aztec Empire and brought central Mexico under Spanish rule.
Francisco Pizarro — led the conquest of the Inca Empire in the 1530s, opening much of western South America to colonial administration.
Other figures—such as Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Pedro de Valdivia and Miguel López de Legazpi—extended Spanish influence across Central America, Chile and the Philippine archipelago while being folded into the broader Spanish Empire.

Methods, technology and alliances

Conquistadors combined military technology—steel weapons, horses and gunpowder—with tactical mobility and the ability to form alliances with indigenous groups hostile to dominant states. European diseases, to which Indigenous peoples had no immunity, caused high mortality and weakened resistance in many regions; however, local politics, strategic alliances and logistics also shaped outcomes. Conquest was not uniformly violent or immediate: it ranged from pitched battles and sieges to negotiated subjugation, intermarriage and missionary activity.

Impact, law and legacy

The campaigns of the conquistadors reconfigured demographics, economies and environments, created new colonial societies, and spread Christianity. They prompted legal and administrative responses from the crown, such as laws regulating indigenous treatment and systems for land and labor allocation. The long legacy of the conquistadors includes contested memories: celebrated in some historical narratives as explorers and founders, and criticized in others for the violence, exploitation and cultural disruption their actions caused.

Motivation and basics

In the century following the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, adventurers and soldiers of fortune entered the New World, later referred to by Spanish chroniclers as los conquistadores. Their goal was to gain quick wealth through conquest. The conquistadores undertook their expeditions into the vastness of South and Central America mostly on their own account and risked their lives without the support of the Spanish crown. They were subject to the Consejo de Indias.

In principle, anyone who managed to find financial support could become a conquistador. First, the conquistador concluded a contract (capitulación, asiento) with the Casa de Contratación, the authority set up specifically for this purpose. The contract had the character of a license or monopoly and established the framework for the enterprise. Few conquistadors could afford to hire true mercenaries. Often the teams of the conquistadors were penniless Spaniards or veterans of the Reconquista. They were not official soldiers, but free citizens and directly involved in the profits. They had to pay for their own armour, weapons and horses. The possibility of social advancement made service very attractive. While first-born sons in Spain took on the inheritance of their fathers, the only way for sons born after them was often to conquer their own property and thus gain social recognition as conquistadors by force of arms.

The licensee undertook to develop a Provincia, a limited area, the extent of which was often underestimated due to the unclear geographical conditions. This included in particular the construction of settlements and towns as well as the conversion of the Indian population to the Christian faith. In addition, the treaty specified customs regulations for the import and export of goods. The fifth part of all revenues from the colony had to be paid to the crown as a tax (Quinto Real, "royal fifth"). In return, the licensee was allowed to appoint the governor (Adelantado) and the captain general (Capitán General), the highest civilian and military representatives respectively, and had a largely free hand in the execution of the enterprise.

The primary goal of the conquistadors was not the establishment of settlements, but the subjugation of Indian gold and silver empires, in which the myth of El Dorado played a significant role. To achieve this goal, they usually proceeded with great brutality against the indigenous population. The Requerimiento, introduced in 1513, gave the conquistadors and the missionaries accompanying them a pseudo-official authorization and justification for their actions. After gaining the spoils, many conquistadors sought to disadvantage both the state and their own retainers and financiers. Conversely, many royal bureaucrats who arrived after the fact succeeded in disempowering conquistadors, so that many conquista enterprises ended in litigation. Thus Hernán Cortés spent his twilight years in litigation.

From 1560, Spain's influence diminished, and for the first time English and French conquistadors also fought over lucrative provinces. With the increasing settlement and the foundation of viceroyalties from 1600, the time of the conquistadors ended.

The demise of the great indigenous empires

The military advantages of the conquerors

During the conquests of the great empires of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayas, the conquistadors were often confronted with an overwhelming superiority of Indians (e.g. 170 Spaniards against about 4000 to 7000 Incas in the battle of Cajamarca). Like the Incas, the Aztecs underestimated the superiority of the conquistadors in terms of weaponry and, above all, their superiority in the tactical-strategic struggle for conquest. In the Reconquista, the Spaniards had developed successful battle tactics against the Moors for centuries, often outnumbered.

Their own multiple superiority in available warriors simply made it impossible for the Indians to properly assess the dangerousness of the tiny foreign forces. The lack of knowledge of the cultural background of the Spanish opponents, their true intentions, and their own shackles of religion made it difficult for the Indian rulers to react properly. In every natural event, the priests saw terrible portents of the gods, which often caused paralysis in political leadership.

The empires of the Incas and the Aztecs had themselves been built up through wars of conquest. The conquered peoples paid tribute to the Indian conquerors and were often not integrated into the empire. There were many different peoples, languages and religions in the great empires. There was no unified administration (except in the Inca Empire), no unified jurisprudence, and no standing army constantly occupying the subjugated regions. The empires were accordingly unstable. The conquistadors exploited the discontent of the subjugated peoples and won them as allies against the rulers of the great empires.

domestic collapse

It is estimated that the number of Indians who lost their lives in New Spain between the years 1500 and 1600, directly by the conquistadors or indirectly by famine or diseases introduced from Europe, such as smallpox, was about 15 million. Exact figures on this are not possible. The population of the Inca Empire in 1492 is estimated at 4 to 15 million people. Due to the paucity of data from this period, more precise figures are not possible. At the end of the 16th century probably only one million people lived in this area.

The impact of the epidemics on Indian society should not be underestimated. The diseases of the Europeans did not only ravage the common people. They also did not stop at the chiefs, medicine men and storytellers. So whole peoples were often robbed of their cultural identity and cohesion in a matter of weeks. This made them vulnerable to the missionary zeal of the conquistadors.

Questions and Answers

Q: Who were the Conquistadors?

A: The Conquistadors were Spanish and Portugese soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who invaded and conquered much of the Americas and the Philippines Islands and other islands in Asia Pacific.

Q: What is the meaning of Conquistador?

A: Conquistador translates to "Conqueror" in English.

Q: What was the result of the Conquistadors' conquests?

A: The conquests brought these lands under Spanish colonial rule between the 15th and 17th centuries, starting with the 1492 settlement by Christopher Columbus in what is now the Bahamas. They created what is now called Latin America.

Q: Who was the first successful conquistador?

A: Hernán Cortés was the first successful conquistador.

Q: What did Hernán Cortés and his native enemies do between 1520 and 1521?

A: Hernán Cortés and the native enemies of the Aztecs conquered the mighty Aztec Empire.

Q: What was the result of the conquest of the Aztecs by Hernán Cortés?

A: Present day Mexico came under the dominion of the Spanish Empire, as New Spain.

Q: Which empire did Francisco Pizarro find and conquer?

A: Francisco Pizarro found and conquered the similarly large Inca Empire.