Glossary

  • Adelantado - governor of a frontier province; leader of a military expedition of exploration. Title given to certain military leaders during the era of the Conquest.
  • adobe - (Sp. adobar, to plaster) the sturdy mud buildings of the Pueblo Indians of the Río Grande, strong enough to support several storeys. Perhaps the notion of 'multi-storied buildings' was deemed indicative of advanced cultures.
  • alcalde - alderman, member of a municipal council; sometimes also 'mayor.'
  • Altiplano - the highland plateau of Bolivia.
  • Amazonas - women-warriors of Scythia in Greek mythology.
  • arcabucero - arquebusier; the lighter and more efficient 'musket' was not introduced until the early-1600s. Firearms were often a battle-winner in the New World, but not exclusively so. In the open country of the Aztec lands the close-order grouping of armoured knights and lancers, supported by artillery and disciplined arquebiers could defeat an enemy army several times their number, particularly when not raining. In the Inca lands the tropical rainforests and moist highlands made the arquebusier's slowmatch-management a nightmare - firearms were often useless. In fact, more respected than the Europeans' firearms were their swords - prized trophies if the Indians could capture them, adding to their martial kudos.
  • Audiencia - high court of appeal to safeguard Crown interests; the region of its jurisdiction.
  • baquianos - seasoned veterans
  • bergantín - a brigantine, a small vessel combining oar and sail.
  • boratio - Aruaca word for an Indian village chief, before his people had been baptised (also: piache)
  • caballero - knight, cavalier, horseman.
  • cacique - Aruaca word for an Indian village chief, after his people had been baptised.
  • La Cañela - the 'Land of Cinnamon,' reputedly in present-day north-east Peru. Sought by Gonzálo Pizarro in 1542.
  • capitán - captain. Also: commander.
  • chapetones - newcomer to the New World (cf. the inexperienced 'tenderfoot' or 'freshman').
  • Chilleños - 'Men of Chile,' the veterans of Pedro de Almagro's expedition to Chile, 1534-1537.
  • cimarrón - runaway slave or cattle. Also: recalcitrant or mutinous seaman put ashore in a desolate area to fend for himself; hence: 'to be marooned.'
  • compadre - godfather. More usually: friend, companion.
  • Conquístador - conqueror; Spanish commanders who conquered Indian empires or nations. The most notable were Cortés (Mexico), de Alvarado (Guatemala), de Avila (Panama-Costa Rica), Pizarro (Peru), de Quesada (Colombia), and the de Montejos (the Yucatán).
  • Criollo - Creole: Spaniard born and raised in Spanish America.
  • El Dorado - the fabled 'Gilded Man' and his kingdom.
  • encomienda - a trust, charge, or feudal fief. This term is often used in favour of the more exact repartimiento de Indios: 'an allotment of Indians,' the encomendero having the right to use their labour and extract tribute. The encomendero was obliged to both defend and instruct these Indians, as well as supply horses and arms to the King when required. In several ways, it was similar to the Inca mita system of tribute.
  • entrada - expedition (into the interior), often with Christianizing the indigenous peoples as another of its goals.
  • Frey - title of a member of the Franciscan Order.
  • gobernadór - gouvernor (of a Presidencia or region); appointed head of an Indian municipality.
  • Gran Orejón - lit: 'big ear.' A rich prince whose 'kingdom' was reputed to be somewhere in the Peruvian-Brazilian jungle.
  • hacendado - proprietor of a hacienda; man of property.
  • hacienda - a large country estate or plantation, with its dwelling mansion; landed estate, ranch.
  • Indiero - slave raider.
  • indieros guerros - Indians captured in slave raids.
  • islas inutíles - the 'useless islands' (the Lesser Antilles).
  • kiva - or 'kiwa,' large underground chambers in the towns of the Pueblo Indians, into which the elders and spiritual leaders descended via long ladders. Here the people of the corporeal 'upper-world' communed with the (often ancestral) spirits of the 'nether-world.'
  • ladrones - the perennial brigandage infesting the Mexican mountains, worsened following 1848 by unpaid Mexican soldiers turning to banditry.
  • Landser - a German foot-soldier.
  • Los Llanos - the vast mud plains of central Venezuela.
  • Mar del Norte - the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean [see Mar del Sur].
  • Mar del Sur - the South Seas, or Pacific Ocean. Contrary to popular imagination, the Panama Canal actually traverses the Americas' narrowest neck of land from north-northwest to south-southeast.
  • Marañónes - the 'Men of the Marañón,' Lope de Aguirre's renegade army.
  • mesa - 'table-topped' plateau, prevalent throughout northern Mexico and the south-western United States.
  • mestizo/mestiza - man/woman of mixed European and Indian parentage.
  • moque - incense used in the Muisca region of Cundinamarca
  • páramos - high stony valleys in the Andes.
  • Pay-titi - 'Tiger Father,' the supposed ancestral priest-king of the Incas, reputed to have come from somewhere in the Amazonian jungle (more likely a jaguar .... "a tiger? In South America?" This remains a curious title, as tigers are not native to the Americas).
  • Peninsular - name used by American-born Spaniards (Criollos) for Spaniards born in Spain.
  • peragua - Caríba war canoe.
  • plaza mayor - the main square (of a village or town).
  • presidencia - administrative division of an Audiencia.
  • pueblo - town. Name give by the Spaniards to the Río Grande and several other Indian nations of present-day New Mexico who built multi-storied houses of adobe (dried mud).
  • Quinto - the Royal Fifth; the Crown's share of the treasure fleets sailing from the New World to Spain.
  • relación - report.
  • rancho - small settlement or pearling farm, particularly along the coast of Tierra Firme.
  • el relámpago - the 'gleam of good fortune,' the hope of riches. Cf. gold-fever.
  • rescate - ransom. 1) system of purchasing Indian slaves from other Indians, outlawed in 1542. 2) smuggling of contraband by, and illicit trade/barter with foreigners.
  • Ritter - (Ger) knight, cavalier.
  • soldado - soldier.
  • Tierra Firme - the northern littoral of South America, being the Caribbean coastlines of today's Venezuela and Colombia. Another, perhaps better-known name would be 'the Spanish Main.'
  • Trajín - the arduous portage of the mule caravans from Panama to Nombre de Diós and (after 1595) Porto Belo; the 18 leagues of this route.
  • vecino - legally-enrolled householder; former soldier who had been granted some land in the New World, but who, as part of the local militia, also had to answer a call-to-arms if required.
  • visitadores de idolatría - missionary expeditions to suppress any suggestion of, or actual pagan rites.
  • Zipá - title of a Muisca ruler.



Sources consulted:
  • Hiram Bingham, Lost City of the Incas: the story of Machu Picchu and its builders. (Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1948)
  • J.M. Cohen, Journeys Down The Amazon, being the extraordinary adventures and achievements of the early explorers. (Charles Knight, 1975)
  • Ferol Egan, The El Dorado Trail, the story of the Gold Rush routes across Mexico. (University of Nebraska Press, 1970)
  • Cornelis Ch. Goslinga, A Short History of the Netherlands Antilles and Surinam. (Martinus Nijhoff, 1979)
  • F.A. Kirkpatrick, The Spanish Conquístadores. (The Pioneer Histories. A. & C. Black, 1946)
  • Bruce Norman, Footsteps. Nine archæological journeys of romance and discovery. (BBC Books, 1987)
  • J.H. Parry, The Spanish Seaborne Empire. (Hutchinson, 1966)
  • Gene Savoy, Vilcabamba: Last City of the Incas. (Robert Hale, 1971)
  • Robert Silverberg, The Pueblo Revolt. (University of Nebraska Press, 1970)
  • The Times Atlas of World Exploration. (Times Books/Harper Collins, 1991)
  • Timothy Severin, The Golden Antilles, the story of the travellers, adventurers and soldiers of fortune who search for a promised land in the Caribbean. (Hamish Hamilton, 1970)




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