The Weapons of the Conquistadors in the 1500s

 

            There were 2 sorts of Spanish conquistadors, horse men and footmen. The horse men were paid much more than the foot men, so foot men would often save up for a horse. They used spears and swords. The swords were 3 feet long and had sharp edges on both sides. The Spanish city of Toledo was one of the best places in the world for making swords, muskets, and armor.

             Some foot men used a harquebus. A harquebus was an early musket. It was less effective at long range and more effective at close range. They were mainly used for terrorizing natives, who thought harquebuses created thunder. It was also dangerous to its user because the man has lots of gunpowder on himself and a match in one hand. Also when the gun gets clogged it may explode. For long range, professional archers had better accuracy than a harquebus.

             They mainly used a fine Toledo blade. The blades could cut down a dozen natives in a couple minutes. For a battle sometimes conquistadors would use a pack of blood hounds. Bloods hounds were a very dangerous type of war dog that could track an enemy far away by smell.