‘The Origins ofthe Conquistadores of Mexico City ‘Berard Grunberg ‘The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 74, No. 2 (May, 1994), 259-28, pinks joo xs -001-216982819940592576%SA28IC2594SATOOTCORIED0.CORIE2? ‘The Fpane American Herc Rei i creiy plied by Duke Universi Pres ‘Yourwse of ie ISTOR achive indicts your teapance of TSTOR's Tet and Conon of Use, aaa tnpifwer ter orpstower hm. JSTOR's Tes end Coons of Use proves. pt at unless you ae banc pit preston you my ot downland nent i of oar orig copies fails, and you may te coieat nti ISTOR uci ony fr yor penton, on-camera we. Pease cnt he plier eating my frre is wor. Pubsber contact informa ay be otis a apr jefe ha ‘Each copy of my par of «STOR anion must conn he same copyright note ta spears ne sen pated page of sch wansnision. {STOR isan independent oor poi onset deca w cating and rezving xia achive ‘shot jormit For more infomation regudingISTOR. pes cent uopon@ sore, ups jcc Mon ug 23 1515102004260 | wan | ee | wennano caUNDERE congstadors td the pcre pated of them tn corresponds ore tote trtl mage han rely noma of he reach i becae apparent tht a dios of contpstadore of Meco y was nesunary. no stuly exited tha la- SOE ican, Ate bepiing of Os centr, Francis A Ge an ped a Diedonart that as noting more than» at of toteitaSoresed cons rom Mesa, drwn up rm archives dated ee and tne to be inspite” M.Oroun y Bera drew So Te Sf he camlstderes om Meso City, the Yratin, Chaps TESCiStats Th lt won bed on sure hae atthe endo he Teen anc the begining te tent cenury, any of which reScoedhnd dt sh, replete wth ror. Ast erga TOE JCiay athe coats of Mesco Ci. New Spa, ad Wes Galcnss uederskerly Vor M Abarer and aclaed 1 47 co {Gastar bet the wor el isin to sources. umeous cmon, ‘Seton ef ony, cvs eros duc to bad nserpties, nou ‘Fike hiven Seve ond on, eco pare eal constered es Sir ocrady Ida Aleman ent stied the gil immigration etenvenucre atin te cnet fal of ateenvoeany Ameren® “he eablsment ofthe corps fr ths sy tens from tiation ot nurces wo checked snd cofred ken eset frm the = hse of en and Mein ly Ao consulted were the protests of ‘he so res fom Msn Cy and Pots te get cae o- \ecsoe writes betwee the il the aleteenth and the begaing tthe twee centr. Moreover, all he coi ofthe ng he sod toe ete hsp om he Steet century were SS id to hem were alded cttrbucs oe recet works by Peter etn, Pele Boyt Bown, anders, wherever thy were deeed cesta ects tal previous wok hweves eto wat ‘Eset apecily on the iormaconas or rlaconr) de marion y sr eter prt) ath ars Gin eds a SSE tap to atthe ghtsor reget compensation fr services rendered to the crown. These documents, created between 1524 ‘Salen, re ery ecu to dsp? That ean why mot iors2 [ran se | nenwano caurenc FLOUR i: Size of Expeditions, 15-1508 (86 = Cot, A= ro, IN Pa = Narva CAM = Cor: D2 = SS tei Rar > Bak = Magi em WO Mea, heer snd ene biptn comprise the sd expedition. Hear tne one mor othe 37 expeditions ab the publi pat Sey he ean partner, many pope sun «to fa an Sie hacbal they” ng thom wre urviors f Hardee ee eater vr rn 9 St seins mara renrraeaatn Ee ema thnentaynme ath See Ie comet ence eit ter ie inn le, cn i Seton ere Em Re es gta once at ea a i Oi wn alee Ss ee hes a Stedramigs Ses iereteeemeepmectee ea earnest Tm it ee ae as SSR TA sah ae Se earn aed4 | nnn {se | ema CRUNBERS ‘Ty ha 6 horses aad abou 1 bronze gun, 4 of which were sll and lightweight Personae lo included ao Indios from Cuba (osed mainly 15 mestengers),alog wth some Indian women" Some backs were a0 ‘Om July 4, 15:6, Francisco Saloodo's ship joloed the Spanish Hee. “esies the Ships owner, whan Corts had coerced in Cuba, the ship ancported 11 soldiers and 1 or 2 bores. Most imperant of ali, Salcedo “hnownced that Diego Vellguen, the goveroor of Cubs, hod received per ‘sie fom Spain to founds colony and begin to trade inthe recently Tscovered lad # Vedaquee tod advantage ofthis authrization to mou ew expedition, which be entrusted t Pinila de Narvier, oe of his Teutenants, withthe oder to arrest Cortés ad send him back to Cubs. ‘Narviedexpediion conlted of 18 sips (7 of which were brigan- sive) and store includig a large tock of fur, cassva bread, bac, and: Wine (The msi eolitent of sldiers produced «relative decceate Inthe popcltioa, especially in Cuba sine the Spaniards tao with them heir tive servant. Smal, fn Triadadonly to vecos remained out ff 60.2) Nerve fleet included plots and semen who bad sled with ‘Grave It als flowed mare or les the sane tineay ax Gris did. ‘fer eaching Yoestn, rounded the peninsula andarved, on Ap 23, ‘goo, st San Juan de Ulan the meantine, one ship had een lst nung etme cts a jnshoigtinis dco termes HESS eee ee as Per ieenincemeestnuene Seats eubetignwcoumenoateaed Seiten seeing {ns he sv ge at i armas vn sched, por tks ae Sises ee Scie S a eeiae eae ‘Stsoe ate woe eration ae StS tn eee Tee aan op permmtcims couse ee rere scorns eke ee ane oe 22 SEES gene hoe ch a en shares sien coerce ce Se coeeeennce Sere ee serbian iki ee rintenaeran Eepiresaaes was288 {aim | | sono caesaene ‘eu sling th a pon made sem ee a ty fiom Caray and jo the Mexican expeion "They were et ne ony eects, Pao Barb cama fom Cob swith Koss and 1 sae whde Cortés war at Tepense. Ths sal unter as ecatned bythe sn ofthe ship sent by Diego Verges, tte thought New Spain vas onder the power of hs hed maa, Palo Astute barn carve eter fr Nerve erating the over tat “Son be sent back oCabu as prise, Conts ad odie rallying The troops oth cise and apptted Babs, who he hi been Cabs fur yar xi, capi of bowen* Another ship acved “Peck Barbas ska sent th goveor of Cab, who kad comman- “Sicred rom he cwoes, Gide de Can, on sata from Spat. “Commanded by Fodrigo Motjon de Laer, brought fod, 8 sles, ‘Seronbows hone, and same opes™ "Rte nd fii, hie Cores wa Tae, yo eather vse docked at Vera Ir iougit the frst ape teri of enquires, “ho beaded cl fr the Mescan cas and wo were cipecally a Tested bythe lara ancl an. Nolonger sexy the govern of {Sth came det om Spa i shighoonge vesel hat mada Stop inthe Canara Aesman, Jaa Je Borg, had charred the 2p, eTooght ot hi Feacaco Mela frst mate ad lender of 3 Sg Gr wes be ser eur, owes, srcspocs equipment topes, sn argu merchandise. At est de Bu TOPELIAPCT produ w cab, ut barn fh tation a Mex, he dct wih Wedel to condct bes nts now try, SECs old ore vale Hana not wrong. 2 Towner bad he arte ie Vers tha Cais bag fom him it ‘roduc, lnldig the sup, snd elted bison. in ie bray and ey March 2, whe Cats wa i Teac, sr, ke Dern. Det ar dtr a Ta UR Pe Shi tii Si sana alee aC ie, Dad Cull sr COU a res ty, Grn ds Non Epa, ld evi de Ge Se Gti sn a apne Me Gan col faara Seine dog Fe lege atin a n,n de wed a ata slr tl ial cr Sen ly Save apnde oe GEER Sec ee ein lad Getic ee, si aca Ung ane 00288 [ase | say | neaano crunsene are concerned, however, this author sometimes gives to much fapor- tance ta ult secndary sources, especially forthe fist decades ofthe Sixcenth century” Fever than half ofthe 1.2 known conquistadors Sppete cn Boyd ew ist The others are ot realy stowaway, de- te the evidence that 2 fair number of immigrants came tothe New ‘Warldigaly "The route oth lt immigration, moreover, expecially that of Jews, canverson, ov comets escaping utice, passed trough Portal andthe ‘Canaries, where tamigrants procured fae prpes and bought their pus- {agen ships othe New World despite tumerous decrees that ferbade any Moors, Jews, r cones to goto America“ Santo Domingo and sometimes Jfales and Cuba were heat stops before acl in New Spain. "A comparion besween Boyd-DowransieunigrationSgures ad thse for this stay shovs sme sgneastdilerences. The two set of data gree on Andalucia the aren f greatest emigration. lathe more detaed Eooent for this dy, Let comes second, wth 18.1 percet of te con- {oitadores, bu ths aren stand in th place according to Boyd-Bowan, ‘Fhe congulstadora from Old Cattle were ie les numerous, with “bout ug pereet according to Bayd-Bowmnan, and this gure i iar to that of New Cale with about 75 percent es. “The wap ofthe conqulrtedoregengrphieal vii show clear the ‘provinces tht produced the greatest numbers: they form a bac reachiog From central Spinto Andakica, Those at contained the highest 0° ingens were Sevile, Hoel, Badajor, Ciceres, Valladolid, Salamanca, Toledo, Zamora, Burgos, Segovia, and Viscya (se table 1). Very few ongustadores cane fos entern Span (Catala, Valens, Marea, Bae feats), which warovented more tovard the Mediterranean, Seamer and pilots eften cae fem the provace of Seville and Hue: Anton de Al [nine father and sn Juan Pian the Pea amily; Lucas Cenové and {on Fity-four percent ofthe seamen and pilots came from Huelva more lag Same ‘Gemsay bers ie COU, od ee Cr eee lr ae SCR eee ieee gree rene G00 oe Ot ry cu, oy Brn Ueda, we bt ny ena sen Se lng tc bom ann ey, one eres eee ee ie eee re eae so ear cr tt, ea Hei ed ee a wees‘TABLE 1: Origin ofthe Conquistadores by Ares snd Province Toe Fearne ‘tere > os i tt 3 83on [stam nner cromnene rons : Pereatags of Conquistadores on the Fest Three Expeditions [HDG = Cha GR = Civ C= Conds ‘The most numerous were the Poraguese, wh incded a sedi, ase smh and «Backsnith. The second args group were the ftslans. They me’ prinarily fom Genes, and more than al of them were seamen. ‘Teese vo natalie farmed mere than 8 pecest ofthe non Spaniards ‘There were so Greeks, expecially fram Rhodes, and one Fleming, An ‘ceaminaton ofthe cnquistadre’arvaldates athe New Werld shows tye percentage ef Andalucaneamang those who arrived before 1510 (one third), eompared to barely 13 perent Extremadurans, Later io the ‘conquest ower Andina appeared, bt the numberof Extreradurans femrined at 14 perent. By then a lager vat of geographical origins star aoted which inicats tht che migration was spreading. ie the fst three Mesican expeditions, the same phenomenon is sotable: Andalucian remsined mate numerous ie Francisco Heraindez ‘eCards expen (3.5 percent tan in tat of Juan de Grijalva (ex percent) and that of Hern Cortés (7.1 percent see igre 2). ‘These revuls, however, sppacetly correlate withthe type of expedition Hermite de Cordsb’s venture was maily a dcovery voyage and ie ‘olved mesty seamen, While the expedition of Gila snd Cortés aso” | ran |x| nemeano carne expedition in gos and concluded toward the end of 1509 ater the set Pent of Puerto Bea (6.9 percent 1 The Cuban period, chiding the conquest ofthe island under Diego elaques, 1510-19 (186 percent) “t Departures fo Tera Firme, chal wth Pedraras Divi a early buy aod the extension of coloalzation inthe islands unt 1si6 (8.5, ercent, iS The fist dicoveries of New Spain between 1s17 and 1Si9 (57-7 revel The migrant food to Meni, a early 25120 fom the lands of Santo Dering, Jie snd Cuba sede fom he erin pel, itmehed by te tev fhe congue as Alert’ expedion shows. “Thove ing arta the Ge epedons were ten veers, or ‘hom we hve taration on cl asl umber They laced “Sunt Domingo: Anton de Alumina, Bento de Coane, Gregre de casted. ‘Cal: hnton de Alamins, Aloo Guide, Anton Bravo, Gregorio de cutabda, Junge de Avera, Jan de Send, Joan de Gra, Pero sceatar Tierra Firme: Mata Vague, Berl Dia dl Casi, Rersardino véaqur de Topi Cribal Mara La, Fanclco Moat, Aloo Ont de Zig Tscuch oe able to aceran the ages of ely 20 percent of the conguitadores In mont cote, thir ager were elrmined only through ‘Sitfnony the frases Freqealy the wince gave helo, fod sometime thi orgin and profession. n 251, Francia de All ‘Eieed in Franco Mensa Informacion t be over 5 yar ld? in tg lchor de Alves who wat, ted In Cabrel Bogue’ roan, ndings nla ttinony fr A. Carl Bravo, hedamed fo be about yo In hie judgant of eidency for his brther Peo “Sun, Gono de Abra id he was about 9" Thee sal vagures ‘Reh that ths efron st be matched eh tht on dept o rial utes, thea with sotaral dsumeats found tn he chronicle, sad ‘Don The flonan that Fedo de Arado "wes 94 wea he Ie for “Fe Herder de lobo, Di a Cae tat “Aernme seer ye separ deep umn ede da Fae Ste SRT Eon nding © none raden ap ‘o,f ek 5 ES ven da que daha de pa ret sie it” Mc rte Se dserey Had Casnin278 | natn [us [ enon orernene aged over 5, thee were om Seve, wo fom Hula, oe frm Vie Sa and one itm Portugal OF the Spaniards, thre were tame, vo Se soldier, and ane wat 3 svernth. Four exe to America Beloe {Ge Diag de Valencia war rbably in America as carly a8 1468. TW0 line in tga he ter fur between 136 and 39, Thre of them {oak part nthe conuet er of Sno Domingo, Porto Re or Tera Finn, ove even seed in aly oan de Excan, Pedro Confer de Nae, Pedr de Valen, Jan Dia and Beran Inguer were inthe ote. Herain Corts was {sod co wee Peta de vrs, Aono de Ava, Antonio de Ags lego de Avia, Czas Vaques de Ayla, sd Aadrés de Tops I ia tse recht tha the mort fous cpl of the compu are found. ‘Dla deal was ont ag ands were Cuca de gular, Coal de Abas, Lait beh, Anton de Carl, Beratdino Vizquer de ‘Tpla, Alono Herdader Pucrtocarere, and Vaso Por, Juan Nez ‘Mazda, edrgo de Evia, Aloo Pre de aor, Diego de aaa, Jorge and Gime de Alvarado, Pero de Argin, and Seco de Barabont ‘eee ale in thi vents. “The youngest wre between age 16 and 8, uch as Diego de Calo, cara dal Pl, Pedro de Maa Migel Lopes, diigo de Cased, Sol fon Cano A fn uber thm gui eared the ative langage, Sue, incloding Par and Catatet, became tranalors. There were Sects lily, sabe very youngeen, such Jom Ortega called “Ore- fla” who was Ctr poge tod who ied tthe hands of the Mesias Social, Profetoaa, and Cultural Background Contrary to widespread assumptlan, the number of hidalgos among the congulsadaces remuoed very Woted. In ost eases the mistaken Wea ‘their nurcbers exe from the conqultadores themselves or thei de- Seendans 30 ot 90 yeas Iter, the liter oten pretended to be hidlgo, though no ace of hi statu appeared in any previous documests. Thus ia 1gyBe Diego de Calla didnot mention his bialga, atin ag60 he de loved Nims lj idalgo de buon linpleza genaracién* Andrés de “Tvl was ced bidalgo ony in his 579 infraci.® Juan Cornels ‘ave fa move complicated: in Na 3592 aformacida he described himsell |S a bdalg, and ths war confemed bythe granting of his coat of rm in 1SaB in 1547, however, hen longer ut frward this clan. Ham ica wn AG Ra a 8 SS RSE cial tay ite ty Ma Mabie congutadire dd SS Sas titi ok Song oss, Nears. oulteat] i bcd tl é Ny i28 [an nay | nensano cnuwerc ‘rans; Conquistadores Occupations =e m— > St et a oe im | SB: mee y on Clete 6 Merchant No 2 geo EE EF Even fhe Spaniard task with them ther ative servants (especialy those from Cube), nae ofthe Later was given the tle of conqustador, fot even the devoted Tlaesltenos. The only exception is Diego de Val- ‘Buenm an Tndlan for Cubs, who came a New Spain with 4o men of is us pebble Narvit expedition, to patcpate inthe conquest of Mesico Cty.” ‘Compiling st of the conquistadors ocipation ina xs. To date Information i valable on only 1g percent of them. The results are there {bre nt meangf- What nove tha ther occupations were varied: tore than a third were Liked to the sea Gexmen and plo), 979 per ‘Cent were ated to trade (lesen) and cra work sckmiths,earpen- fern, tall). Almost 16 percent were solders, and nesly 11-1 pereent were letrades, notes or secretaries, Press, monks, deters, chemists (Ghorencits and mosilane are alo found. Despite the lack of detaed ‘Stormation,peasots ae known to have constituted a portion ofthe co- (Guisadore, hus the Ucenciado Lucas Vinques de Aylén explained io [louney tg that farmers and pigkeepers wee among Narviez men ‘ony ofthe eangutadert ad sccuptins connected with the on ques, Ue the seamen, elders and excopeteros,crstbownen, and gu ers about 8 percent of Corts expedition. A fay good iden of the ‘umber of seamen comes from Dix del Casto, who point out 637 men nCorté expedition, fcuding 109 seamen tt 10 per vere and 45 Ccopetros sod erssbowmen* Ths aroun toa reaoable 38 percet eal slders were very few and offcer nonexistent. They were ll rak-aad-le slters who tad enlisted to serve the ezown onthe der 9 “Ea de abe", Dinar sees, Fy Seid ei, mus eda, cop 38.could append thee signatre,congared with 15.8 percent who declared ‘hey dif not kaow how ta write (ce abe 4) high proportion of hidal- e864 percent could write cay the Basques Crstbal Martin Milla Be oetine ao was in Ameria rod oa, and Juan Bano de Quej, ‘to srved before ito, were fiesta Aboot ten congubtadores left “irtten accounts of ther explois, hough only i ofthete chronicles have Turvived. Those of Aloo de Ojeda, Gerénimo Rutz de la Mots, Alone {2c bint, and Joan Cano had dlappeared by the end ofthe shtecoth century! Coneusions ‘To make a satis study of people win lived at the begtoning ofthe ‘iuounth cenury is not exy, bot nonetheless necessary. Peter Boyt Bowen's work has shown the way, bu the resus must be reficed and checked gat indisputable sources to esablh history ofthe conquest ‘fabe Nev World that ts open athe odeube (uch a that shown fa the. ‘onc: the Quincenteonry) nor to ideological manipulation. It ot bai of such work that we wil be able to deine the conquitadores ‘word and, bythe sme token, understand the history ofthe conguist. “ALbough they have been traiically presented ether a wrserupa- tos advesures responsible for borble masters or as crusaders ane foundersof modern Lata Amerie, the conqustadores generally belonges {our af hese categones, They wee prunarly wen who tied fe ‘what they could not cain in tele ative county. Tei origtaltyre- ies in Ger eponse when they were paged into» new and unamuliar ‘rvironment that constantly ut thar ives in danger, Thee suosess lies fr. On Cann, ss Bea dees cnr Narada: ca eres aks a ty ele de pie te rt o> SESS IGT tp flees pn ence Gy ACN 7) 8 fm pn tc Nano Conga: Rare decftnus isn hme ere tay Tonga ad Cea eS, SERRE I te i ei