Famous Conquistadors

Francisco Pizarro González (Spanish: [fɾanˈθisko piˈθaro]; c. 1471 – 26 June 1541) led the Spanish conquest of Peru. He captured and killed Incan emperor Atahualpa, claiming the lands for Spain.

Don Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano (Spanish: [eɾˈnaŋ koɾˈtes ðe monˈroj i piˈθaro]; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish Conquistador. His expedition caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought parts of modern Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. Cortés pursued adventure and riches, born into lesser nobility in Medellín, Spain.

Francisco de Orellana Bejarano Pizarro y Torres de Altamirano (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko ðe oɾeˈʝana]; 1511 – November 1546) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He completed the first known navigation of the entire Amazon River, which he named "Rio de Orellana." Orellana also founded the city of Guayaquil in modern-day Ecuador. He died during a second expedition on the Amazon.

Leif Erikson or Leif Ericson (c. 970 – c. 1020) was a Norse explorer from Iceland. He was the first known European to reach continental North America, excluding Greenland, before Christopher Columbus. The Sagas of Icelanders claim he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with L'Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland. Archaeological evidence suggests Vinland may have been the area around the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Gonzalo Pizarro y Alonso (Spanish: [gonˈθalo piˈθaro]; 1510 – April 10, 1548) was a Spanish conquistador. He was the younger paternal half-brother of Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror of the Inca Empire. He was the bastard son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodríguez de Aguilar (senior, 1446–1522), who served in Italian campaigns under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and in Navarre with distinction.

Diego de Almagro (Spanish: [ˈdjeɣo ðe alˈmaɣɾo]; c. 1475 – July 8, 1538), also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador active in western South America. He participated with Francisco Pizarro during the conquest of Peru. Almagro led an expedition that made him the second European to reach central Chile. A civil war erupted between the two bands of conquistadores over control of Cuzco.

Juan de la Cosa (c. 1450 – 28 February 1510) was a Castilian navigator and cartographer. He designed the earliest European world map incorporating the territories discovered in the 15th century. De la Cosa played an important role in Christopher Columbus's first and second voyages, serving as owner and captain of the Santa María. In 1499, he piloted Alonso de Ojeda’s expedition to the South American coasts.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado y Luján (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko ˈβaθkeθ ðe koɾoˈnaðo]; 1510 – 22 September 1554) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He led an expedition from Mexico to present-day Kansas between 1540 and 1542, crossing parts of the southwestern United States. Coronado sought the Cities of Cíbola, sometimes called the mythical Seven Cities of Gold.

Francisco de Carvajal (1464 – 10 April 1548) was a Spanish military officer and explorer. He earned the nickname "the demon of the Andes" for his brutality and skill in the Peruvian civil wars of the 16th century. Carvajal served in Spain's Imperial armies, including the tercios. He worked under Charles V's commanders during the Italian Wars, such as Pedro Navarro and Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba.

Rodrigo de Bastidas (Spanish pronunciation: [roˈðɾiɣo ðe βasˈtiðas]; Triana, Seville, Andalusia, c. 1465 – Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 28 July 1527) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He mapped the northern coast of South America and discovered Panama. He founded the city of Santa Marta.

Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa (c. 1512 – February 20, 1580) was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He served as the Royal Governor of Chile twice.

Sebastián de Belalcázar (Spanish pronunciation: [seβasˈtjan ðe βelalˈkaθaɾ]; 1479/1480 – 1551) was a Spanish conquistador. De Belalcázar founded important early colonial cities in northwestern South America, including Quito in 1534 and Cali, Pasto, and Popayán in 1537. He led expeditions into present-day Ecuador and Colombia before dying of natural causes after being executed in Cartagena in 1551.

Alonso de Alvarado Montaya González de Cevallos y Miranda (1508–1555) was a Spanish conquistador and knight of the Order of Santiago. He was born at Secadura de Trasmiera. After a period in Mexico under the orders of Hernán Cortés, he joined the campaign of Francisco Pizarro. He went to Peru with his uncle Pedro de Alvarado in search of gold in 1534. There he fought against the armies of Manco Inca Yupanqui that were besieging Lima in 1536, against Diego de Almagro in 1537 and at the Battle of Las Salinas in 1538. He later fought at Chupas and Jaquijahuana. While charged by some contemporaries

Diego de Nicuesa (Spanish: [ˈdjeɣo ðe niˈkwesa]; died 1511) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer.Diego arrived Santo Domingo in April 1502, with Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres' flotilla.In 1506, Nicuesa was given the job of governing Costa Rica, but ran aground off the coast of Panama. He made his way north overland, against resistance from the native population. The combination of guerrilla warfare and tropical disease killed half his expedition before he gave up. In 1508, Diego de Nicuesa received a land grant at Veragua from Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Spanish monarch. He became founder and

Melchor Bravo de Saravia y Sotomayor (1512 – 1577) was a Spanish conquistador, interim viceroy of Peru, and Royal Governor of Chile.

Pedro de Mendoza y Luján (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo ðe menˈdoθa]; c. 1487 – June 23, 1537) was a Spanish conquistador, soldier and explorer, and the first adelantado of New Andalusia.

Juan Jufré de Loayza y Montesa (1516–1578) was a Spanish conquistador who participated in the 1541 expedition of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile. He was the first alcalde of Santiago, Chile (in 1541) and held the position of governor of the Argentine province of Cuyo. He founded the city of San Juan de la Frontera and re-founded the city of Mendoza.

Jorge Robledo (1500, Úbeda, Jaén, Spain – 5 October, 1546, La Merced, Caldas, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish conquistador. He traveled in Colombia, Guatemala, and Peru and was executed by decapitation by order of Sebastián de Belalcázar.

Pedro de Heredia (Madrid, circa 1505 – Zahara de los Atunes, Cádiz, January 27, 1554) was a Spanish conquistador, founder of the city of Cartagena de Indias and explorer of the northern coast and the interior of present-day Colombia.

Pedro de Candia (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo ðe kanˈði.a]; 1485 - 1542) was a Greek explorer and cartographer at the service of the Kingdom of Spain, an officer of the Royal Spanish Navy that under the Spanish Crown became a Conquistador, Grandee of Spain, Commander of the Royal Spanish Fleet of the Southern Sea, Colonial Ordinance of Cusco, and then Mayor of Lima between 1534 and 1535. Specialized in the use of firearms and artillery, he was one of the earliers explorers of Panama and the Pacific coastline of Colombia, and finally participated in the conquest of Peru. He was killed in the

Pedro Pizarro (c. 1515 – c. 1602) was a Spanish chronicler and conquistador. He took part in most events of the Spanish conquest of Peru and wrote an extensive chronicle of them under the title Relación del descubrimiento y conquista de los reinos del Perú ("Relation of the discovery and conquest of the kingdoms of Peru"), which he finished in 1571.

Diego Centeno, Spanish conquistador, born in Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain 1514, died at Chuquisaca, Peru in 1549. He arrived to South America and the recently conquered Inca Empire in 1534 at the age of 20, followed by, among others, Pedro de Alvarado, conqueror of Guatemala. In the ensuring battles between the Pizarro brothers and the Almagristas led by Diego de Almagro and, after his defeat and execution in 1538, by his son, Centeno took the party of Pizarro and New Castile. After the downfall of both parties, Diego fought with the Spanish royal forces of Pedro de la Gasca after the defeat and de

Francisco de Montejo y Álvarez (Spanish: [fɾanˈθisko ðe mõnˈtexo]; c. 1479 in Salamanca – c. 1553 in Spain) was a Spanish conquistador in Mexico and Central America. Francisco de Montejo was born in 1479 in Salamanca, Spain, to Juan de Montejo and Catalina Álvarez de Tejeda. He left Spain in 1514, and arrived in Cuba in time to join Juan de Grijalva's expedition along the coast of Yucatán and the Gulf of Mexico. There he had the rank of Captain, and command of 4 ships. On his return to Cuba, he joined the Hernán Cortés expedition, and helped found the city of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz with Al

Hernando de Soto (; Spanish: [eɾˈnando ðe ˈsoto]; c. 1500 – May 21, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula, and played an important role in Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, but is best known for leading the first Spanish and European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (through Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and most likely Arkansas). He is the first European documented as having crossed the Mississippi River.De Soto's North American expedition was a vast undertak

Juan de Grijalva (Spanish: [xwan de ɣɾiˈxalβa]; born c. 1490 in Cuéllar, Crown of Castille – 21 January 1527 in Honduras) was a Spanish conquistador, and relation of Diego Velázquez. He went to Hispaniola in 1508 and to Cuba in 1511. He was one of the early explorers of the Mexican coastline.

Alonso de Reinoso (or Reynoso) (1518–1567) was a Spanish Conquistador in Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Chile. He was born in Torrijos Toledo, Spain in 1518. He was married to Catalina Flores de Riofrío before he came to the Americas in 1535. He first disembarked in Cartagena de Indias in Colombia but soon moved on and fought for twelve years in Honduras and the Yucatán Peninsula with Pedro de Alvarado and Francisco de Montejo and was one of the first Alcaldes of the new city of Mérida. Leaving Mérida he went to fight in Peru for two years until he met Francisco de Villagra who was recruiting more

Andrés de la Tovilla (1513–1554) was a Spanish conquistador and soldier in the Americas. He was born about 1513 in Cazorla, Spain. He is most remembered as a participant in the expedition to Mexico (1520) led by Panfilo de Narváez and the expedition for the conquest of Guatemala (1524–1525) commissioned by Hernán Cortés. He, along with Diego de Mazariegos, founded the City of “Villareal de Chiapa de los Españoles”, now San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, in 1528 as a regional base for the conquest of Guatemala.

Juan Garrido c. 1480 – c. 1550) was an African conquistador who was born in the Kingdom of Kongo. Mwisi Kongo or Kongolese by birth (not to be confused with Congolese from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or the Republic of Congo aka Congo-Brazzaville; these two countries were created after the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885), he went to Portugal as a young man. In converting to Catholicism, he chose the Spanish name, Juan Garrido ("Handsome John"). He joined a Spanish expedition and arrived in Santo Domingo (Hispaniola) about 1502. He participated in the invasion of present-day Puer

Francisco de Villagra Velázquez (1511 – 22 July 1563) was a Spanish conquistador, and three times governor of Chile.

Juan Pérez de Zurita (1516 - c. 1595) was a Spanish Conquistador, the son of Alonso Díaz de Zurita, native of Cañete de las Torres and Inés Fernández de Córdova. In 1536 he began his military career. In 1548 he was in Granada and in 1550 he embarked to the Indies with his brother Alonso de Zurita. In 1553 went on to the kingdom of Peru. At the beginning of 1557, by order of the Viceroy Hurtado de Mendoza he was sent with an expedition of 700 soldiers under the command of his son García Hurtado de Mendoza, to Chile. From there by order of the new Governor Mendoza, he was sent with a command of

Diego de Holguín, 1486 -?, was a Spanish conquistador and the first mayor of San Salvador, in April 1525. He had remarkable activity in the conquest of many nations in the Caribbean islands, Central America and Mexico, where he became famous for his courage. Holguín was born around 1486 in a Spanish town called Tona or Sona. He arrived in the Americas very young and settled in the Spanish colony in present day Dominican Republic in 1506. There he participated in the foundation of the cities of Aragua, Puerto Real and Ciudad de la Vega. Captain Diego de Holguín participated in the conquest of G

Hernando Pizarro y de Vargas (Spanish: [eɾˈnãndo piˈθaro]) was a Spanish conquistador and one of the Pizarro brothers who ruled Peru. He died in Spain at an advanced age, unlike his brothers who suffered violent ends. Hernando was born in Trujillo, Extremadura, Spain. He was the son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodríguez de Aguilar (senior) (1446–1522), who served as colonel of infantry in the Italian campaigns under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and in Navarre. His wife was Isabel de Vargas.

Juan de Ayolas (died c. 1537) was a conquistador born in Briviesca who explored the watershed of the Río de la Plata for the Spanish Crown. He accompanied Pedro de Mendoza on his 1534 expedition to colonize the region between the Río de la Plata and the Strait of Magellan and briefly succeeded him as the second governor of the region after Mendoza returned home in 1537. Seeking supplies, he sailed up the Paraná River and founded a fort called Corpus Christi, as Sebastian Cabot had before him. Leaving Domingo Martínez de Irala at Puerto la Candelaria (modern Fuerte Olimpo), he sailed up the Par

Juan Valiente (1505? - † 1533, Tucapel) was a Spanish black conquistador who participated in the expeditions of Pedro de Almagro in present-day Guatemala and Chile. Taken into captivity as a slave in Africa, he was transported to Mexico, where he was purchased by a Spaniard who returned with him to Spain. As a young man, Valiente negotiated a kind of lease - permission to join a conquistador's expedition for the chance to earn profits and buy his freedom. He ended up staying in Chile.

Diego de Roxas or Rojas (1500–1543) was a Spanish Military, Explored, Conquistador of Central America and South America.

Francisco Ortiz de Vergara (Seville, 1524 – Ciudad Zaratina, 2 December 1574) was a Spanish conquistador and colonizer.He succeeded Gonzalo de Mendoza as governor of Rio de la Plata. He was elected, rather than appointed by the king or his predecessor. His election was confirmed by bishop Pedro de la Torre, but he was demoted by the Royal Audience and returned to Spain in 1565 following charges by Nuño de Chaves. During his administration, there were a number of failed attempts at new settlements - Sancti Spiritus, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. This last, in the southern Amazon B

Gonzalo de Mendoza (? in Baeza, Spain – 1558 in Asunción, Paraguay) was a Spanish conquistador and colonizer. A native of Andalusia in Spain, he joined his brother Pedro at his new colony of New Andalusia in 1536. Together with Juan de Salazar y Espinosa, he founded Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción (Asunción del Paraguay) on 15 August 1537, which soon became the seat of the colony. Under succeeding governors, he acted as their captain and lieutenant, while exploring Paraguay and Brazil. He succeeded Domingo Martínez de Irala as acting governor of the renamed Governorate of Rio de la P

Luis de la Torre was one of the Spanish conquistadors who governed New Spain while Hernán Cortés was absent from the capital.

Francisco Cano, born around 1568, was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He traveled the north of Mexico during the 16th century seeking gold and other precious metals. In the 1560s, he served as Lieutenant Major of the Mazapil mines. He discovered a lake in Mexico that led to further colonization of the region. His opening up supply lines in Zacatecas was important for the colonization of what is today New Mexico. His work in the mines provided major assets for the expanding metal trade and the Spanish economy worldwide.

Juan Pardo was a Spanish explorer active in the latter half of the sixteenth century. He led an expedition through what is now North and South Carolina and into eastern Tennessee, acting on orders from Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. Menéndez de Avilés had built Fort San Felipe in 1566 and established Santa Elena on present-day Parris Island; these were the first Spanish settlements in South Carolina. While leading an expedition inland, Pardo founded Fort San Juan at Joara, which was the first European settlement in the interior of North Carolina in 1567–1568.

Francisco Bahamonde de Lugo served as Governor of Puerto Rico from 1564 to 1568. He also acted as Governor of Cartagena de Indias from 1572 to 1574. He died while holding office in Cartagena.

Jorge de Alvarado y Contreras was a Spanish conquistador. He was the brother of the more famous Pedro de Alvarado. He was born in 1460 in Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. He died in 1540, 1541, or Madrid in 1553.

Martín de Goiti (c. 1534 - 1575) was one of the soldiers who accompanied the Spanish colonization of the East Indies and the Pacific, in 1565. From his main base in Mexico City, he was the leader of the expedition to Manila, ordered by Miguel López de Legazpi in 1569. There, he fought a number of battles against the Muslim, Tariq Suleiman/Soliman (Arabic سليمان), the Hindu Rajah Matanda (Hindi ऋअज ंअतन्द), and the Taoist Lakandula (trad. Chinese 王 杜拉) of the kingdoms in Luzon; for control of the lands and its settlements. He is also known for his statesmanship by betrothing his sister to Batan

The Pizarro brothers were Spanish conquistadors. They arrived in Peru in 1530. They all were born in Trujillo, Spain. The four brothers include Juan Pizarro (d. 1536), an illegitimate son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodríguez de Aguilar; María Alonso Francisco Pizarro (d. 1541), an illegitimate son of the same captain; Francisca González Gonzalo Pizarro (d. 1548), an illegitimate son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodríguez de Aguilar; María Alonso Hernando Pizarro (d. 1578), a legitimate son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodríguez de Aguilar; and Isabel de Vargas.