He was not a hero, not a knight, And the leader of the robbery gang.
G. Heine. "Witzliputsli".
A number of articles have already been published on the VO website, which talked about how the Aztecs fought with other Indians and Spanish conquistadors. But about the latter was spoken only in passing, while it was they who managed to defeat the Aztec empire, and then the Mayan city-states in Yucatan. So it's time to tell about them - the greedy, but brave knights of profit, who went overseas with a cross on their chest and a great thirst for gold in their hearts. This is how, for example, the English historian Hubert Hove Bancroft described the conquistador of the 16th century in his work “The History of Mexico City”: “He was not just a machine, he was a great player with destiny. He risked his life of his own free will … The life of the conquistador was a continuous gamble, but in case of success, fame and wealth awaited him. That is, let's start with the fact that this person was not a soldier in the literal sense of the word. Although these people had military experience, they were a real gang of adventurers. Very often they themselves paid for the expenses of their expeditions, for which they took loans from usurers, bought weapons and horses with their own money. In addition, the conquistadors paid a fee that seemed to them absolutely exorbitant to the surgeon, as well as to the pharmacists who were involved in the supply of medicines. That is, they did not receive money for their service at all, but, as in any bandit gang, each of them had a share of the total loot, and they all hoped that if the expedition turned out to be successful for everyone, then the profit of each of them too will be great.
Official portrait of the Marquis of Oaxaca (Fernando Cortez) with his coat of arms.
As always, you should start with historiography. Moreover, English-speaking, as the most knowledgeable. In 1980, Osprey Publishing published the book The Conquistadors by Terence Wise with illustrations by Angus McBride (Man-at-Arms Series # 101). It was one of the earliest editions of Osprey and was not of high quality. In 2001, a book with the same title was published here, the author of which was John Paul, who specially dealt with this topic. Illustrated book by Adam Hook - one of the best British illustrators. In 2004 (in the series "Essential History" No. 60) Charles M. Robinson III's book "The Spanish Invasion of Mexico 1519-1521" was published, with drawings by the same artist. Finally, John Paul and Charles Robinson III joined forces in 2005 to write The Aztecs and Conquistadors, illustrated by Adam Hook. In 2009, the EKSMO publishing house published it in Russian translation under the title "Aztecs and Conquistadors: The Death of a Great Civilization." From the early Russian-language books on this topic, we can recommend the book by R. Belov and A. Kinzhalov "The Fall of Tenochtitlan" (Detgiz, 1956)
Cortez's standard 1521 - 1528
We all came out of the rye field
The historian Klyuchevsky once said so, when he explained the mentality of Russians precisely by the influence of natural-geographical factors. But why did the inhabitants of Spain have an adventurous character at that time? What field did they come from? Here, most likely, the reason is different. Let's count, how many years have they been doing their Reconquista? The same Cortez, who conquered Mexico, and his distant relative, Francisco Pizarro, who conquered Peru - they all came from the province of Extremadura, which means "especially difficult."Why is it difficult? Yes, only that was on the border between the Christian lands and the possessions of the Moors. The land there is dry, the climate is disgusting, the war has been going on for century after century. It is not surprising that people there were harsh, independent and self-confident. Others would not have survived there!
Helmet "Mediterranean type" or "large sallet", early 15th century. In such helmets, the Spaniards fought with the Moors … (Metropolitan Museum, New York)
But it was not only nature and climate that shaped the warlike spirit of the Spaniards. Such a thing as … a habit also played a role! After all, we have already mentioned that for centuries they fought with the infidels under the banner of the cross. And only in 1492 this war came to an end. But the ideas of messianism, of course, remained. They were soaked in mother's milk. And then suddenly there were no more infidels. And a lot of people were left without "work" and there was no one to bear the holy true cross. But here, luckily for the Spanish crown, Columbus managed to discover America, and all this mass of thugs, who could not imagine any other occupation except war, rushed there!
Army organization and tactics
Speaking about the military clash of the conquistadors and the Indians, first of all, the following should be noted: the Spanish army of the 16th century. very different from all other armies in Europe. First, she constantly fought during the Reconquista. Secondly, general arming of the people took place here - an almost unheard-of thing in France, where the peasant could not even think of having a weapon. By 1500, it was the Spanish citizen-soldier who had become the most effective soldier in Europe since the days of the Roman legionnaires. If the British at this time were still pondering what was better - a bow or a firearm, then the Spaniards unequivocally concluded in favor of the latter.
Spanish sallet from Granada, late 15th - early 16th century. Steel, gold, silver, enamel. Weight 1701 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Prior to this, the XV century. "The Spaniards were like everyone else." Each nobleman was an amateur warrior, for whose combat training only the most minimal requirements were imposed. That is, he had to be able to ride and wield a spear, sword and shield. The main thing for the knight was considered his "valor", and everything else was considered secondary. The commander could send knights to attack, and this was the end of his functions. Sometimes a knight suddenly shy and fleeing in front of everyone could carry the whole army with him, but it could be the other way around!
But in the XV century. the well-being of the Spaniards increased significantly. There is more money - the infrastructure has developed, there is an opportunity to hire professional warriors and pay well for their work. And the professionals, naturally, sought to use the most modern types of weapons and did not suffer from class arrogance. Moreover, since many of the mercenaries came from the emerging third estate - townspeople, merchants, artisans, their main dream was … to return to the same class. They did not want to die in glory, hence the appeal to military science, the study of military history, which made it possible to take all the best from the past. Naturally, the experience of the Romans, whose infantry successfully fought with the cavalry, was in demand in the first place. And if at first the Spanish infantry consisted of detachments of 50 people under the command of the captain, but by 1500 their number increased to 200. This is how the formations appeared, which in the middle of the XVI century. were called "thirds".
The Spanish infantry gained experience fighting the Moors, but when the Spanish army was in Italy already in 1495, the Spanish first encountered eight hundred Swiss at the Battle of the Seminar. Their main weapon was lances of approx. 5.5m in length. Forming in three lines, they swiftly attacked the enemy and … despite the stamina of the Spaniards, they smashed them on their heads!
Armor of an English pikeman for an officer, 1625 - 1630 Total weight over 12 kg. (Art Institute of Chicago)
They began to think and quickly found the answer. In 1503 g.in the battle of Cerignola, the Spanish infantry already consisted of an equal number of arquebusiers, pikemen and … swordsmen, who also had shields. The battle with the Swiss infantry was started by the Spanish arquebusiers, who fired in volleys, and the pikemen covered them. The main thing is that after such a concentrated shelling, gaps formed in the Swiss ranks. And it was at them that the Spanish soldiers in heavy armor rushed, who cut them with swords, but the long spears of the Swiss infantry, like their time, the long spears of the Epirus and Macedonians, in battle at a short distance turned out to be useless. This combination of different types of infantry turned out to be unsurpassed for that time and served the Spaniards a good service not only in Europe, but also against the Aztec armies.
At the beginning of the 16th century, even the so-called "shooting shields" appeared, intended just for the breakthrough of the battle of the Swiss. The shield protected its owner from the blows of the peak, and he, in turn, could shoot at the Swiss from close range and punch a solid gap in their ranks! This shield dates back to 1540 (Royal Arsenal in Leeds, England)
In addition, new wars brought forth new talented commanders. During the Reconquista, Ferdinand and Isabella quickly realized that military talents are more important than nobility of origin and began to nominate people of simple rank to the commanders, awarding them with titles and gold. Such was, for example, Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova, who became a clear example for all conquistadors.
Sculpture of the "Great Captain" in St. Sebastian Park. (Navalkarnero, Madrid)
As the youngest son of a wealthy Castilian landowner, he could only claim a very small portion of his father's inheritance. The Brothers Grimm fairy tale about the Puss in Boots did not arise out of nowhere. And Cordova went to look for luck as a soldier and fought wherever he did, until he attracted the attention of Ferdinand and Isabella. And already in 1495 they entrusted him with the post of commander-in-chief of all the Spanish expeditionary forces in Italy. It was under his command that the Spanish army won at Cerignola and then defeated the French at Garigliano in 1504. Cordoba received the post of Viceroy of Naples for this, which was truly incredible success for the "youngest son"!
Interestingly, in addition to the strength and ability to ride a horseback rider, Cordoba was a very religious person, constantly carried with him the image of the baby Jesus and showed true Christian mercy to the defeated enemy and was a good diplomat. Good examples, like bad ones, are usually contagious. So the conquistadors, being a priori ruthless people, drew attention to this, and began to try to fight not only by force, but also with the help of diplomacy. Well, Cordova eventually received the honorary nickname "Great Captain".
Spanish crossbow 1530-1560 Weight 2650 (Art Institute of Chicago)
Christopher Columbus acted very similarly, proposing the greatest technical innovation of his time - the caravel, a ship that was smaller than the previous carack, but allowed to maneuver against the wind. Caravels have become the most real legend in the history of geographical discoveries, but in military affairs they turned out to be even more effective. The opponents of the Spaniards could not determine where and when they could land and prepare for defense. No wind and weather could interfere with their navigation, which means that it became possible to supply their troops with food and ammunition on a regular basis far from the Spanish shores.
Since at that time there were enough literate people among the Spaniards, it is not surprising that not so few memories of the conquest of Mexico have survived to our time …
Although, of course, sailing on a caravel in the 16th century, especially across the ocean, was not easy. I had to "dwell" in a cramped deck space, where an eerie stench reigned from spoiled food, feces of rats, animals and vomit suffering from seasickness. We had fun with gambling, songs and dances, and … reading aloud! We read the Bible, ballads about great heroes - Charlemagne, Roland, and especially about the knight Side Campeador, the famous national hero of Spain in the XI century. The fact is that books at this time were already printed by typographic method and became much more accessible. No wonder many newly discovered lands, for example, Amazonia, California, Patagonia were named after the "distant countries" described in these books. Many, however, believed that all these stories are fiction, but they believed in the legends about the golden age and the silver age that took place before the fall of Adam and Eve. No wonder the conquistadors subsequently so zealously searched for the "land of gold" Eldorado and the "golden city" of Manoa.
