The European Conquistadors

The Conquistadors

Research shows that the conquistadors were the wide diverse in their social origins and shows conclusively that they were not the illiterate freebooters of legend, nor footloose mercenaries. We cannot generalize from the illiterate Pizarro brothers (Hernando, right, excepted). A sample concentrating on the 168 Spaniards present at the capture of Atahualpa at Cajamarca in 1532, shows that they came from every region in Spain (excepting the Aragonese kingdom) and that they were drawn from all social classes, reflecting a wide variety of professions and crafts. "Their main strength", one researcher concludes, "numerically and qualitatively was in capable, literate commoners, lower-rank professionals, and marginal hidalgos [nobles]". As only some were men of military backgrounds, there is no demarcation between soldier and civilian. All men were fighters: they had to be. The word "soldier" does not appear often in sixteenth century usage, either in the way conquistadors refer to each other, or in the early chroniclers.

Very few of the conquistadors had had any direct European military experience. The only professional soldier with Pizarro in Peru was the Greek artillery-man Pedro de Candia (left). However, half the sample were veterans of previous Spanish campaigns in the West Indies. The proportion of soldiers was probably higher among the earlier conquistadors—for example, Pedrarias de Avila, noted for his ferocity, had been a veteran of the Granada and African Wars, and Francisco de Carvajal, the "terror of the Andes", and a ruthless, pitiless fighter, had served in Italy, being present at the battle of Pavia and at the Sack of Rome. Of 93 conquistadors in the list of Encomenderos in Panama one half were soldiers or sailors: the rest were peasants, artisans or from professional classes.

Cortés himself had intended to fight under the Gran Capitan Gonzålo de Córdoba in Italy, the prestigious career for all aspiring hidalgos, but finally chose not to do so. In making this choice, he was to choose, like other conquistadors, a path which involved far more than merely fighting in the highly disciplined tercios. Conquistadors had to adapt to strange environments, to face new challenges and to draw on internal reserves of strength.

Of all the social groups represented, hidalgos, the younger sons of the nobility, were the ones whose social ambition was to reflect most closely those of the group as a whole. It is difficult to find parallels to the Spanish nobility elsewhere in Europe, as the demands of constant mobile frontier warfare during the Reconquista meant that free men, not necessarily sons of nobles, could attain noble status by performing a military role. Nobility did not always derive from lineage and birth. Noble privileges could be granted to non-noble freemen, who, as commoner knights, became caballeros. The importance of this warrior nobility over other social groups during the Reconquista cannot be exaggerated. The career of the hero of the Cantar de Mio Cid (a 11th century Spanish national hero) represented the upward social mobility consequent on military success and the spoils of war.

The Catholic religion also played a major part in the lives of the conquistadors, and many Dominican and Franciscan friars joined the conquistador expeditions, offering religious services to their compatriots and acting as missionaries, converting the people of the Americas.

The Inventory

Cannons came in various sizes from handheld versions to the larger wheeled variety suitable for attacking defensive fortifications. There were culverins, falconets, and lombards, to name but a few of the myriad cannon types in use in the Early Modern Period. Due to their cost and weight and the paucity of gunpowder available, very few cannons were used in warfare in the Americas and colonies compared to battles back in Europe. The force of conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) which conquered the Aztec civilization in Mexico from 1519, for example, carried only around 18 cannons of all types. The lack of precious horses and local beasts of burden meant human porters often had to be roped in to drag the cannons from one battle to another. Still, a handful of cannons loaded with grapeshot (right) and random metal pieces could cause tremendous physical and psychological damage to an enemy entirely unused to such terrors. Smoke, noise, and, of course, the terrible and never-before-seen wounds they inflicted meant cannons were worth the trouble it took to get them into the action.

Arquebuses were unwieldy weapons that required a constant lit match and a stand for their long barrels (39 to 60 inches or 1 to 1.5 m). The slow loading time - one shot every 90 seconds - was another negative factor for the effective use of firearms of this kind. Used much less than on the more ordered European battlefields of the period, the arquebus was most useful as a shock weapon to instil fear into the enemy rather than actually create injuries. They could be used effectively, though, in sieges for both defence and attack where protective screens or battlements allowed the firer to reload in safety.

Swords came in various styles and lengths, but blades in this period were generally long (around I m or 40 in), thin, and double-edged. The blade, made, for example, from Toledo steel, ended in a point, and so the weapon could be used to both stab and slash in two directions. Very often while an enemy warrior was engaged in slashing down on a conquistador, the latter could make a stabbing movement and dispatch his foe with a fatal chest wound.

Cavalry riders often wore three-quarter armour with, for ease of movement and speed, leather boots. They typically wore a cuirass, upper leg guards, and gauntlets of metal. As the conquest of the Americas went on, armour tended to become lighter since it need not protect against bullets or bolts. Humid climate conditions, in any case, played havoc with metal armour, even if the Spanish attempted to counter this by painting pieces black. Many conquistadors were not averse to adopting local types of armour like quilted jackets of cotton or maguey fibres which had been soaked in a saltwater solution to toughen them sufficiently to withstand arrows.

Cavalry riders wore helmets but usually without a face guard. The horse might be protected with steel plates down the neck and across the front of the head. Leather saddles had steel plate additions to offer extra protection for the upper thighs and groin. Thus protected, a rider could charge the enemy using the horse itself as a battering ram and then take full advantage of their greater height by slashing down upon their foe with a sword or jabbing with a lance. They might carry a buckler shield, a small circle of steel used to parry blows from an attacker. Hardened leather shields were also used, as these were lighter and sufficient to withstand the blows made by the weapons of their non-European enemies.

Excerpt derived from "The Nature of the Conquest and the Conquistadors" by Alistair Hennessy and New World Encyclopedia