Conquistador

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 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.