Conquistadores and the Spanish Empire (Vocabulary)

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key people, places, institutions, and concepts from the lecture on conquistadores, the Spanish Empire, and early colonial rule.

Conquistador

Spanish conqueror-soldier-explorer who claimed lands in the Americas (e.g., Cortés, Pizarro); driven by God, Gold, and Glory.

Nueva España (New Spain)

Spanish colonial territory in the Americas; established after conquest, with capital built atop Tenochtitlan’s ruins.

Santo Domingo

Oldest European settlement in the New World; served as a base for Caribbean conquests.

Tenochtitlan

Aztec capital; on the site of modern Mexico City; fell to Cortés and allies in 1521.

Moctezuma II

Aztec emperor who welcomed Cortés; later killed during the conquest.

La Malinche (Malinche)

Interpreter and ally to Cortés; sometimes viewed as a traitor for aiding the Spaniards.

Veracruz

Port where Cortés began his conquest of the Aztecs in 1519.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who toppled the Aztec Empire and founded New Spain.

Noche Triste

“The sad night” (1520) when Spaniards were forced to retreat from Tenochtitlan.

Smallpox

deadly Old World disease that devastates indigenous populations and aids conquest.

Francisco Pizarro

Conquistador who toppled the Inca Empire in 1532 and founded Lima.

Cusco

Inca capital; captured by Pizarro; its fall helped collapse Inca power.

Lima

Capital of Spanish Peru; founded after the conquest of the Inca.

Cabeza de Vaca

Spanish explorer who shipwrecked in Florida and wandered to Mexico; wrote about his journey.

Coronado

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado; searched the American Southwest (1540–1542) for El Dorado and mapped the region.

El Dorado

Mythical city of gold sought by Coronado; symbol of El Dorado legends.

Quivita / Cinquilan

Names used for cities of gold associated with El Dorado legends in the Southwest.

Juan de Oñate

Spanish explorer who expanded into northern New Spain and founded Santa Fe (1610).

Santa Fe

One of the oldest Spanish settlements in what is now the United States; capital of New Mexico.

Castas system

Racial and birth-based hierarchy in Spanish America (peninsulares, criollos, mestizos, indios, Africans).

Peninsulares

People born in the Iberian Peninsula; top tier in the caste system; held colonial offices.

Creoles (Criollos)

People of European descent born in the New World; second tier in the caste system.

Mestizos

People of mixed European and Native American ancestry; middle caste.

Indios

Native Americans; often the lowest cast in the colonial hierarchy.

Sancha

Wife’s or partner’s mistress; extramarital partner; produced mixed-ancestry children.

Taíno (Arawak)

Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean encountered by Columbus; Taíno are part of the broader Arawak group.

Hispaniola

Caribbean island containing the Dominican Republic and Haiti; site of Santo Domingo.

Amerigo Vespucci

Italian explorer who argued the Americas were a new continent; America named after him.

Bartolomé Dias

Portuguese explorer who rounded Africa’s Cape of Good Hope (1488), opening sea routes to Asia.

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer who reached India by sea (1497–1498); linked Europe to Asia by ocean.

Quetzalcóatl

Aztec god-emissary associated with a pale, traveling man; fueled misinterpretations of Cortés’s arrival.

Reconquista

Christian reconquest of Iberia from Muslim rulers; completed in 1492.

Dia de los Muertos

Day of the Dead; a Mexican holiday mixing Catholic and Indigenous traditions.

Second Reconquista

Spanish campaign (1690) to retake Santa Fe after the Pueblo Revolt (1680).

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

Uprising of Pueblo peoples against Spanish rule in New Mexico; temporary Spanish defeat.

Nueva México

Frontier region established under Nueva España; later becomes the U.S. state of New Mexico.

Silver mining (Mexican silver wealth)

Mexico’s vast silver mines funded the empire; enormous wealth extracted and shipped to Spain.