Conquistadors are exactly what their titles proclaim them to be, they conquer. Conquistadors were servants to the Spanish throne, and at times to the Portuguese, and are attributed to much of the successful colonization that Spain had.
On this day March 13th, 1519, Hernan Cortes lands in Mexico. Little is known about the character or motivation of Cortes, but he has remained a legend. He was born to a family of low nobility and was expected to make a career in law; however, Cortes had other plans for himself when he dropped out of university at 16.
Cortes is often either idealized for having acquired new property for Spain and exploring the new world, or demonized for having massacred many innocent people. Cortes brought about the fall of the Aztec Empire; that is simply the truth. Hate him or love him, he changed the course of history and geography.