Search Results: Hernan Cortes

Sir Henry Morgan (c. 1635-1688) was a Welsh privateer who operated in the Caribbean against the Spanish Empire and then became Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. Morgan was a charismatic and able military leader who masterminded devastating...

The buccaneers were privateers who attacked enemies of their state, namely Spain, in the Caribbean and on the American coast (the Spanish Main) throughout the 17th century. Initially hunters and then seamen and soldiers, the buccaneers successfully...

A map illustrating Spain’s drive to expand its empire following the 1492 Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula and Columbus's discovery of America. Inspired by tales of land and instant riches, thousands flocked to the New World with hopes...

The British East India Company (1600-1874) was the largest and most successful private enterprise ever created. All-powerful wherever it colonised, the EIC's use of its own private army and increasing territorial control, particularly in...

The apparatus of colonial government in the Spanish Empire consisted of multiple levels, starting with the monarchy and Council of the Indies at the top and moving down to the viceroy, audiencias, mayors, and local councils. The system was...

A map illustrating the route and failing fortunes of the Spanish Armada (from Spanish - Grande y Felicísima Armada, “Great and Most Fortunate Fleet”) in 1588. A crucial part of a planned invasion of England by King Philip II of Spain, the...

A 17th-century painting by Juan de la Corte showing a Spanish galleon under attack. (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

The British East India Company (EIC) was founded as a trading company in 1600. Run by a board of directors in London, the company employed a private army, first to protect the trade it conducted in the Indian subcontinent and then to expand...

A map illustrating Spain’s drive to expand its empire in South America following the occupation of the larger Caribbean islands by 1512. The promise of gold drove the Spaniards far and wide across the continent, from the Isthmus of Panama...

An illustration showing the torture of indigenous American peoples by Spanish conquistadors. From the 1552 edition of A Very Brief Recital of the Destruction of the Indies by Bartolomé de las Casas which was a graphic indictment of the exploitation...