Featured Project: Spanish Conquistadors

This week we highlight the Spanish Conquistadors project. The term “Conquistador” refers to the Spanish and Portuguese explorers, soldiers and adventurers who brought much of the New World under the control of Spain and Portugal during the 16th century. This project aims to identify conquistadors on Geni, merge all duplicates and ensure the quality of data on each profile. If your interested in helping out, check out this project and join its collaborators!

Here are a few Conquistadors included:

Hernán Cortés – Perhaps one of the most well known Spanish conquistador, Cortés led the expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire. He was also noted for bringing large portions of mainland Mexico under Spanish rule.

Hernando de Soto – He led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States and claimed large parts of North America in the name of Spain, including what is now the state of Florida. De Soto is credited as the first documented European to cross the Mississippi River.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado – He was a Spanish conquistador who hoped to conquer the mythical Seven Cities of Gold. Between 1540 and 1542, he explored much of modern-day New Mexico and the southwestern United States.

Francisco Pizarro – A Spanish conquistador, Pizarro led several expeditions to South America. In 1532, he  was victorious in his conquest of Incan Empire. He founded the city of Lima, which is today, the capital city of Peru.

Pedro de Valdivia – He was the first royal governor of Chile and helped expand Spain’s rule to the Bío-Bío River.

View the Spanish Conquistadors Project