What is Conquistador?
[[File:Retrato de Hernán Cortés.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Hernán Cortés]], Conquistador of the [[Aztec|Aztec Empire]].]] A '''Conquistador''' ([[English language|English]]: ''Conqueror''; : ''Conquistadores'', or ''Conquistadors'') was a [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] or [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] soldier, [[explorer]] and adventurer.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of CONQUISTADOR|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conquistador|access-date=2022-07-30|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>Vanhanen, Tatu (1997). ''Prospects of democracy: a study of 172 countries''. New York: Routledge. p. 112. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/0-415-14405-1|<bdi>0-415-14405-1</bdi>]].</ref> The ''Conquistadors'' invaded and conquered much of [[the Americas]] and the [[Philippines]] Islands and other islands in [[Asia Pacific]]. Many of them were ''hidalgos'' ([[noble]]men of low category). Their conquests brought these lands under [[Spain|Spanish]] and [[Portugal|Portuguese]] colonial rule between the [[15th century|15th]] and [[17th century|17th]] centuries, starting with the 1492 settlement by [[Christopher Columbus]] in what is now the [[Bahamas]]. They created what is now called [[Latin America]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Focus on Latin America|url=https://www.berea.edu/cie/focus-latin-america/|access-date=2022-07-30|website=Center For International Education|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730011734/https://www.berea.edu/cie/focus-latin-america/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The first successful conquistador was [[Hernán Cortés]]. Between 1520 and 1521, Cortés and the native enemies of the [[Aztec]]s, conquered the mighty [[Aztec Empire]]. Present day [[Mexico]] came under the dominion of the [[Spanish Empire]], as [[New Spain]]. [[Francisco Pizarro]] later found and conquered the similarly large [[Inca Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Francisco Pizarro|url=https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/francisco-pizarro|access-date=2022-07-30|websit