Spanish Conquistadors

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The Spanish conquistadors had an obsession with urban life. The cities they found in the new world impressed them,10 but their motivation to conquer was mainly the desire for gold.17 Isabella and Ferdinand had united their kingdoms and ended Muslim control of Granada in 1492,10 when exploration of the West began famously with Christopher Columbus. By the time the conquistadors entered Mexico, King Charles V controlled Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.10
In the time after the Spaniards conquered Cuba, from 1511 to 1514, Diego Velázquez became its first governor. He made plans for more expeditions, supported by Spain, to the mainland, from Cuba.335 In 1517 the Spaniard Grijalva explored the Yucatan peninsula,21 which was the first time Mexico …show more content…

His position was replaced with the high court, and later by a viceroy. Cortés moved back to Spain in 1539, only to be shunned by King Charles V for not getting his approval in the first place. He lived a life of seclusion, eventually dying in Seville in 1547.66
By 1525, the Europeans had figured out that there was a giant land mass, which was North and South America, and which lied between Europe and Asia.22 Many were inspired by Cortés, and conquest of the Americas radiated in all directions from Mexico.66
Concerning the government of the colonies of New Spain, the years from 1492 to 1550 were a trial-and-error period spent figuring out exactly how to go about ruling them. In 1524, the Council of the Indies was chartered as an agency separate from the Council of Castile. The laws of the Indies were first made official in the year 1681. From the mid-sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the political organization of the colonies was stable.90
Royal agents of the king were known as viceroys.90 They served as civil and military officials of the king, and were aided by audiencias, which also served as judicial bodies.371 There were multiple viceroyalties in the new world. Mexico was controlled by the viceroyalty of New Spain, which had a capital at Mexico City90 atop the ruins of

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