1.

1
Francisco Pizarro

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Francisco Pizarro González was a Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incan Empire.
Pizarro González was born in Trujillo, Spain, the illegitimate son of Gonzal Pizarro, an infantry
colonel, and Francisc González, a woman of means. His exact birth date is uncertain, but is
believed to be sometime in ...more
moreABOUT
o Birthplace: Trujillo, Cáceres, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador
alsoRANKED
#92 onThe Most Important Military Leaders in World History

see more on Francisco Pizarro>

2. 2
Hernán Cortés
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Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish
Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large
portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century.
Cortés was part of the ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 62 (1485-1547)
o Birthplace: Medellín, Spain, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador
alsoRANKED
#57 onThe Most Important Military Leaders in World History#197 onThe Most Influential People of All Time

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3.

4. 3
Francisco de Orellana
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Francisco de Orellana was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He completed the first known
navigation of the entire length of the Amazon River, which initially was named "Rio de
Orellana." He also founded the city of Guayaquil in what is now Ecuador. more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 35 (1511-1546)
o Birthplace: Trujillo^! Cáceres, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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5. 4
Gonzalo Pizarro
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Gonzalo Pizarro y Alonso was a Spanish conquistador and younger paternal half-brother of
Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror of the Inca Empire. Bastard son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro y
Rodríguez de Aguilar who as colonel of infantry served in the Italian campaigns under Gonzalo
Fernández de Córdoba, and ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 38 (1510-1548)
o Birthplace: Trujillo^! Cáceres, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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6.

7. 5
Diego de Almagro
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Diego de Almagro, also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador and
a companion and later rival of Francisco Pizarro. He participated in the Spanish conquest of
Peru and is credited as the first European discoverer of Chile. Almagro lost his left eye battling
with coastal natives ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 63 (1475-1538)
o Birthplace: Almagro^! Ciudad Real, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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8. 6
Juan de la Cosa
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Juan de la Cosa or sometimes Juan the Biscayan was a Spanish navigator and cartographer,
known for designing the earliest European world map that incorporated the territories of the
Americas that were discovered in the 15th century. De la Cosa played an important role in the
first and second voyage of ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 50 (1460-1510)
o Birthplace: Santoña, Spain
o Profession: Navigator, Conquistador

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9.

10. 7
Francisco de Carvajal
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Documentation License

Francisco de Carvajal was a Spanish military officer, conquistador, and explorer remembered
as "the demon of the Andes" due to his brutality and uncanny military skill in the Peruvian civil
wars of the 16th century. Carvajal's career as a soldier in Europe spanned forty years and a
half-dozen wars.more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 84 (1464-1548)
o Birthplace: Rágama, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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11. 8
Rodrigo de Bastidas
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Rodrigo de Bastidas was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who mapped the northern coast
of South America, discovered Panama, and founded the city of Santa Marta. more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 59 (1468-1527)
o Birthplace: Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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12.

13. 9
Rodrigo de Quiroga
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Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was
twice the Royal Governor of Chile. more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 68 (1512-1580)
o Profession: Conquistador

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14. 10
Sebastián de Belalcázar
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Sebastián de Belalcázar was a Spanish conquistador. more

moreABOUT
o Birthplace: Córdoba, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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15.

16. 11
Alonso de Alvarado
Alonso de Alvarado Montaya González de Cevallos y Miranda 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 ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 56 (1500-1556)
o Profession: Conquistador

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17. 12
 Diego de Nicuesa
Diego de Nicuesa was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. In 1506, he 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 ...more
moreABOUT
o Profession: Conquistador

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18.

19. 13
Jorge Robledo

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Jorge Robledo was a Spanish conquistador. He traveled in Colombia, Guatemala, and Peru. He
founded the cities of Santa Ana de los Caballeros, Cartago, Valle del Cauca and Santa Fe de
Antioquia He was executed by Sebastián de Belalcázar over a dispute of the Governorship of
these towns. more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 46 (1500-1546)
o Birthplace: Úbeda, Spain
 o Profession: Conquistador

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20. 14
Melchor Bravo de Saravia

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Melchor Bravo de Saravia y Sotomayor was a Spanish conquistador, interim viceroy of Peru,
and Royal Governor of Chile. more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 65 (1512-1577)
o Birthplace: Soria, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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21.

22. 15
Pedro de Mendoza
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Pedro de Mendoza y Luján was a Spanish conquistador, soldier and explorer, and the first
adelantado of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 50 (1487-1537)
o Birthplace: Guadix, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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23. 16
Juan Jufré
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Juan Jufré de Loayza y Montesa was a Spanish conquistador who participated in the 1541
expedition of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile. He was the first alcalde of Santiago, Chile 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 ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 62 (1516-1578)
o Birthplace: Medina de Rioseco, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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24. 17
Pedro de Candia
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Pedro de Candia was a Greek Conquistador and explorer. Specialized in the use of firearms and
artillery, he participated in the conquest of Peru He was killed in the Battle of Chupas, on 16
September 1542, by Diego de Almagro II. more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 84 (1458-1542)
o Birthplace: Heraklion, Greece
o Profession: Conquistador

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25. 18
Pedro Pizarro
Pedro Pizarro 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, which he finished in 1571. more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 87 (1515-1602)
o Birthplace: Toledo, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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26. 19
Pedro de Heredia

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Pedro de Heredia was a Spanish conqueror, founder of the city of Cartagena de Indias and
explorer of the northern coast and the interior of present-day Colombia. more
moreABOUT
o Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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27. 20
Francisco de Montejo
Francisco de Montejo y Álvarez was a Spanish conquistador in Mexico and Central America.
Francisco de Montejo was born in Salamanca, Spain, in 1479 to Juan de Montejo and Catalina
Álvarez de Tejeda. He left Spain in 1514, and arrived in Cuba in time to join Grijalva's
expedition along the coast of ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 74 (1479-1553)
o Birthplace: Salamanca, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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28. 21
Diego Centeno
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
Nicaragua. In the ensuring battles between ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 35 (1514-1549)
o Birthplace: Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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29. 22
Hernando de Soto

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 Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the first European
expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, and the first documented
European to have crossed the Mississippi River. A vast undertaking, de Soto's North American
expedition ranged throughout the ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 46 (1496-1542)
o Profession: Conquistador

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30. 23
Juan de Grijalva

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Juan de Grijalva was a Spanish conquistador, and relation of Diego Velázquez. He went to
Hispaniola in 1508 and to Cuba in 1511. Grijalva was one of the earliest to explore the shores
of Mexico. According to Hernán Cortés, 170 people went with him, but according to Pedro
Mártir, there were 300 people.more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 20 (1507-1527)
o Profession: Conquistador

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31. 24
Diego de Holguín

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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 ...more
moreABOUT
o Profession: Conquistador

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32. 25
Francisco de Villagra
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Francisco de Villagra Velázquez was a Spanish conquistador, and three times governor of
Chile.  more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 52 (1511-1563)
o Birthplace: Santervás de Campos, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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33. 26
Juan de Ayolas
Juan de Ayolas 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 ...more
moreABOUT
o Birthplace: Briviesca, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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34. 27
Hernando Pizarro
Hernando Pizarro y de Vargas was a Spanish conquistador and one of the Pizarro brothers who
ruled over Peru. He ultimately died in Spain at a very advanced age, unlike his brothers who all
suffered violent ends. Hernando was born in Trujillo, Spain, son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro y
Rodríguez de Aguilar ...more
moreABOUT
o Birthplace: Trujillo, Cáceres, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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35. 28
Alonso de Reinoso
Alonso de Reinoso 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 ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 49 (1518-1567)
o Profession: Conquistador

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36. 29
Andrés de la Tovilla
Andrés de la Tovilla 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 led by Panfilo de Narváez and the expedition for the conquest of Guatemala
commissioned by Hernán Cortés. He, along ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 41 (1513-1554)
o Profession: Conquistador
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37. 30
Juan Valiente
Juan Valiente 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, ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 48 (1505-1553)
o Profession: Conquistador

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38. 31
Juan Garrido
Juan Garrido was a black African-Spanish conquistador. African by birth, he went to Portugal
as a young man. In converting to Christianity, he chose the Spanish name, Juan Garrido. He
joined a Spanish expedition and arrived in Santo Domingo about 1502. He participated in the
invasion of present-day ...more
moreABOUT
o Birthplace: West Africa
o Profession: Conquistador

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39. 32
Juan Perez de Zurita
Juan Pérez de Zurita 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 ...more
moreABOUT
o Age: Died at 79 (1516-1595)
o Profession: Conquistador

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40. 33
Francisco Ortiz de Vergara
Francisco Ortiz de Vergara was a Spanish conquistador and colonizer, born in Seville. 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 ...more
moreABOUT
o Birthplace: Seville, Spain
o Profession: Conquistador

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41. 34
Gonzalo de Mendoza
Gonzalo de Mendoza 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 on 15 August 1537,
which soon became the ...more
moreABOUT
o Profession: Conquistador

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42. 35
Diego de Rojas
Diego de Rojas was a 16th-century Spanish Conquistador. more
moreABOUT
o Profession: Conquistador

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43. 36
Juan Pardo
Juan Pardo was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was active in the later half of the
sixteenth century. He led a Spanish expedition through what is now North and South Carolina
and into eastern Tennessee. He established Fort San Felipe, South Carolina, and the village of
Santa Elena on present-day ...more
moreABOUT
o Profession: Conquistador

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44. 37
Francisco Bahamonde De Lugo
Francisco Bahamonde De Lugo is the Grandson of Inés de Lugo, a Spanish Military man,
conquistador, city founder, and administrator. Francisco Bahamonde De Lugo was born in the
Canary Islands. He was Governor of Puerto Rico between 1564 and 1568. The neighbors of San
German, located then in Guayanilla, ...more
moreABOUT
o Profession: Conquistador

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45. 38
Jorge de Alvarado
Jorge de Alvarado y Contreras was a Spanish conquistador, brother of the more famous Pedro
de Alvarado.  more
moreABOUT
o Profession: Conquistador

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46. 39
Luis de la Torre
 Luis de la Torre was one of the Spanish conquistadors who governed New Spain while Hernán
Cortés was absent from the capital. There was much infighting during this period. Nine men
were involved in the government, not including Cortés himself, who made a very brief return in
1526. They usually formed a ...more
moreABOUT
o Profession: Conquistador

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47. 40
Francisco Cano
Francisco Cano was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who travelled the north of Mexico to
find gold and other precious metals, in the 16th century. He served as Lieutenant Major of the
Mazapil mines in the 1560s and discovered a lake in Mexico which led to further colonization of
the area. He is ...more