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Conquistador (Spanish: []) (meaning "Conqueror" in the Spanish language) is the term used to refer to the soldiers, explorers and adventurers who brought much of the Americas and Asia Pacific under Spanish colonial rule between the 15th and 17th centuries, starting with the 1492 settlement established in the modern-day Bahamas by Christopher Columbus.
The first Spanish conquest in the Americas was the island of Hispaniola (presently shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic). From there, Juan Ponce de León conquered Puerto Rico and Diego Velázquez invaded Cuba. The first settlement on the mainland was Darién in Panama, settled by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1512. As these Caribbean regions proved no great treasury or endless supply of priceless spices, the 'disappointment' motivated further exploration, rather than a serious effort to make the best of the 'virgin' colonies, a foretaste of monumental economic mismanagement. Gold levels at this point were low and hence the invaders decided against a redesign or withdraw.
The first immensely successful conquistador was Hernán Cortés. Between 1520 and 1521, Cortés, along with some Native American allies, conquered the mighty Aztec empire, thus bringing present day Mexico under the dominion of the Spanish empire, as New Spain. The conquest of the South American Inca Empire by Francisco Pizarro and Hernando de Soto was of comparable importance. Its participants participated in the attempted conquest of the southeastern quarter of North America. Hernando de Soto's reward for service to the Crown in Central America earned him the governorship of Cuba and the rights to colonize and exploit "La Florida" (de Soto was given the rights to La Florida after unrewarding attempts by Ponce de Léon, (supposedly searching for the fountain of youth) and disastrous missions by Narvaez and Ayllon.
Conquistadors were helped by smallpox and other European and African diseases which weakened the native population. Unknown in the Americas at the time, Native Americans lacked the antibodies to fight them. Diseases are estimated to have killed unknown thousands of natives during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Rumours of golden Cities (Cíbola in North America and "El Dorado" in South America) caused several more expeditions to leave for the Americas, but many returned without finding any gold, finding less gold than expected, or finding Fool's Gold. The piece that Sapa Inca Atahualpa paid Pizarro for his freedom was taken back to Spain, leading to additional Conquistador expeditions in South America. Emboldened by the seemingly endless rising imports of silver and gold, the Spanish Habsburg imperial rule became uncompromising, leading to the unwise use of the Quinto Real of the colonial proceeds that would bankrupt a constantly overstretched Spain. The influx of precious metal also caused towering inflation in Europe (particularly in Spain), thereby undermining the domestic economy (which was the main source of revenue), greatly contributing to the ultimate loss of the war against Protestant rebels and Catholic France, and, finally, after a long, slow, decline, led to the loss of imperial prominence to its northern rivals.
The discovery of the Strait of Magellan in 1520 by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the tip of South America led to Spanish interest in the Pacific. The first of the Conquistadores to sail the vast Pacific Ocean was Miguel López de Legazpi in 1564; he arrived in the Philippine archipelago on 1565. Legazpi and his men destroyed the native settlements and conquered the islands for Spain. This paved the way for Spanish settlements in the Pacific.
The Conquistadors have since been featured (or referred to) in a great many media representations, and their distinctive helmets have accquired nearly iconic status. They are sometimes seen as an emblem of the Spanish Empire.