#conquistador

On June 23, 1537, the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Mendoza died after a turbulent career that left a lasting mark on the history of South America. Born into a noble Spanish family around 1487, Mendoza was appointed by King Charles I of Spain to lead an expedition to the Río de la Plata region. His mission was to expand Spanish influence, establish settlements, and secure new territories for the Spanish Crown during the great age of exploration.

Mendoza is best remembered for founding the first settlement of Buenos Aires in 1536. The colony faced enormous hardships almost immediately. Food shortages, disease, and fierce resistance from local Indigenous peoples placed the settlement under constant threat. Despite the settlers' determination, conditions became so severe that many colonists died from starvation and conflict. Mendoza himself suffered from poor health throughout the expedition, which weakened his ability to lead effectively.

Tonight DJ Gink is doing a theme of Voyage of Discovery, and thought an apporpriate image would be a twink conquistador exploring a New World jungle, which took me an incredibly long time to actually achieve, but I did manage it in the end. But then I started thinking of the White Stripes song "Conquest" so I'm including a link to that as well :)

Si nescias ego sum rex Jacobus1, ille primus, cognomento Bonus, qui tribus infidelium sarracenorum regnis Balearico primum, Valentino deinde, Murcie postremo vi armorum a me subactis; et duobus ibidem edicularum milibus, quas sarraceni mezquitas appellant, in ecclesias Catholice venerationis conversis et Cristiano nomini restituis. Sequentem hanc de me historiam C. Cesaris exemplo proprio calamo…