The Spanish conquest of El Salvador was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish conquistadores against the Late Postclassic Mesoamerican polities in the territory that is now incorporated into the modern Central American country of El Salvador. El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America, and is dominated by two mountain ranges running east–west. Its climate is tropical, and the year is divided into wet and dry seasons. Before the conquest the country formed a part of the Mesoamerican cultural region, and was inhabited by a number of indigenous peoples, including the Pipil, the Lenca, the Xinca, and Maya. Native weaponry consisted of spears, bows and arrows, and wooden swords with inset stone blades; they wore padded cotton armour.
The Spanish conquistadores were largely volunteers, receiving the spoils of victory instead of a salary; many were experienced soldiers who had already campaigned in Europe. The Spanish expeditions to Central America were launched from three different Spanish jurisdictions, resulting in rival conquests by mutually hostile Spanish captains. Spanish weaponry included swords, firearms, crossbows and light artillery. Metal armour was impractical in the hot, humid climate of Central America and the Spanish were quick to adopt the quilted cotton armour of the natives. The conquistadors were supported by a large number of Indian auxiliaries drawn from previously encountered Mesoamerican groups.
The first campaign against the native inhabitants was undertaken in 1524 by Pedro de Alvarado. Alvarado launched his expedition against the Pipil province of Cuzcatlan, also known as Nequepio, from the Guatemalan Highlands, but by July 1524 he had retreated back to Guatemala.Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 766. Gonzalo de Alvarado founded San Salvador the following year, but it was eradicated by a native attack in 1526, during a general uprising that spread across the region. Pedro de Alvarado returned to campaign in El Salvador in 1526 and 1528, and in the latter year, Diego de Alvarado reestablished San Salvador and issued encomiendas to his supporters. In 1528, the uprising finally ended when the Spanish stormed the native stronghold at the Peñol de Cinacantan.
In 1529, El Salvador became embroiled in a jurisdictional dispute with neighbouring Nicaragua. Pedrarias Dávila sent Martín de Estete at the head of an expedition to annex the territory to Nicaragua. Estete captured the leader of a rival Spanish expedition in eastern El Salvador, and marched on San Salvador, before being repulsed by a relief force sent from Guatemala. In 1530, Pedro de Alvarado ordered the establishment of a new settlement at San Miguel, in the east of the country, to protect against further incursions from Nicaragua and to assist in the conquest of the surrounding area. Indigenous uprisings against the invaders continued, spreading from neighbouring Honduras. The general uprising across the two provinces was put down by the end of 1538, and by 1539 the province was considered pacified. The conquistadores discovered that there was little gold or silver to be found in El Salvador, and it became a colonial backwater with a small Spanish population, within the jurisdiction of the Captaincy General of Guatemala.Pérez 2016, p. 5.
El Salvador before the conquest Before the conquest, El Salvador formed a part of the Mesoamerican cultural region.Peterson 1997, p. 25. The central and western portions of the territory were inhabited by the Pipil, a Nahua people culturally related to the Aztecs of Mexico. The Pipil were divided into three main provinces in El Salvador; the two largest were Cuscatlan and Izalco, while Nonualco was the smallest of the three.White 2009, p. 27. Cuscatlan extended from the Paz River in the west to the Lempa River in the east.Boland 2001, pp. 12–13. Izalco lay to the southwest of Cuscatlan and was subservient to it on the eve of the Spanish conquest;Boland 2001, p. 13. its territory is now incorporated into the modern departments of Ahuachapan and Sonsonate.Fowler 1993, p. 182. The Nonualco area is in the region of La Paz centered around the city of Zacatecoluca. Other indigenous groups with territories in El Salvador were the Ch'orti' and the Poqomam (both of these were Maya peoples), the Lenca, the Xinca, the Kakawira, and the Mangue. The Postclassic Maya and Pipil cities were relatively small by Mesoamerican standards, especially when compared with the great Maya cities of the earlier Classic period (c. 250–950 AD).White 2009, p. 28. The Lenca occupied territory to the east of the Lempa River,Olson and Shadle 1991, p. 199. where their principal kingdom was Chaparrastique.Boland 2001, p. 13. Rivas 1993, 2000, p. 42. Chaparrastique extended across territory now incorporated into the departments of La Unión, Morazán, and San Miguel. The Ch'orti' and Poqomam occupied territories in the west near the present day border of Guatemala. The extreme east of El Salvador was occupied by the Mangue, with the Matagalpa in the southeast. The population of the entire territory of El Salvador is variously estimated between 130,000 and 1,000,000 at the time of the conquest; the low-mid estimates within this range are more likely.Boland 2001, p. 13. Fowler 1988, pp. 113, 115.
The three principal kingdoms of Cuscatlan, Izalco, and Chaparrastique engaged in regular warfare, and smaller groups occasionally rebelled against their larger neighbours. There was flourishing trade, with cacao as the principal commodity, although maize, cotton, and balsam were also traded.
Native weaponry and tactics The Pipil used wooden weapons with stone blades. Their weapons included long spears, atlatls (spear-throwers), arrows, and the macana (a wooden sword with inset obsidian blades similar to the Aztec macahuitl). These weapons proved inferior to elements of Spanish warfare such as steel, the horse and firearms.White 2009, p. 31. Recinos 1952, 1986, pp. 89–90. The Spanish described how the natives of El Salvador wore thick cotton armour, described as three fingers thick, that extended down to their feet and significantly encumbered them.Recinos 1952, 1986, pp. 89–90.
After the first two large-scale battles between the Spanish and Pipil armies resulted in decisive victories for the European invaders, the natives preferred to flee their settlements at their approach rather than face the conquistadors on an open battlefield.Recinos 1952, 1986, p. 92. A common tactic of the natives was to concentrate themselves in strongly defended mountaintop fortresses.Gallardo 2014, pp. 74–75.
Background to the conquest
Christopher Columbus discovered the New World for the Kingdom of Castile and Leon in 1492. Private adventurers thereafter entered into contracts with the Spanish Crown to conquer the newly discovered lands in return for tax revenues and the power to rule.Feldman 2000, p. xix. The Spanish founded Santo Domingo on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola in the 1490s.Nessler 2016, p. 4. In the first decades after the discovery of the new lands, the Spanish colonised the Caribbean and established a centre of operations on the island of Cuba.Smith 1996, 2003, p. 272.
In the first two decades of the 16th century, the Spanish established their domination over the islands of the Caribbean Sea, and used these as a staging point to launch their campaigns of conquest on the continental mainland of the Americas.Barahona 1991, p. 69. From Hispaniola, the Spanish launched expeditions and campaigns of conquest, reaching Puerto Rico in 1508, Jamaica in 1509, Cuba in 1511, and Florida in 1513.Deagan 1988, p. 199. The Spanish heard rumours of the rich empire of the Aztecs on the mainland to the west of their Caribbean island settlements and, in 1519, Hernán Cortés set sail to explore the Mexican coast. By August 1521 the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had fallen to the Spanish.Smith 1996, 2003, p. 276. The Spanish conquered a large part of Mexico within three years, extending as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The newly conquered territory became New Spain, headed by a viceroy who answered to the Spanish Crown via the Council of the Indies.Coe and Koontz 2002, p. 229. The conquest of Central America that followed was effectively an extension of the campaign that overthrew the Aztec Empire.Barahona 1991, pp. 69–70.
Conquistadors
The conquistadors were all volunteers, the majority of whom did not receive a fixed salary but instead a portion of the spoils of victory, in the form of precious metals, land grants and provision of native labour.Polo Sifontes 1986, pp. 57–58. Many of the Spanish were already experienced soldiers who had previously campaigned in Europe.Polo Sifontes 1986, p. 62. A sizeable portion of the Spanish conquistadors were from the southwestern regions of Spain, with their origins in Andalusia and Extremadura. Up to 1519, according to licenses issued in Spain, over half were from these two regions. From 1520 to 1539, this fell to just under half of all conquistadors leaving Spain.Gallardo 2013, p. 107. The conquest of the Central American Isthmus was launched from three directions; Mexico, Panama, and the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (present day Haiti). Relations between rival conquistadors were dominated by mutual distrust, greed, and envy.Stone 1990, p. 51.
The conquistadors were accompanied by a great many indigenous allies. These included Tlaxcaltecs, Mexicas, Cholutecs, Xochimilcos, Texcocanos, and Huejotzincas that accompanied Pedro de Alvarado from central Mexico, Zapotecs and Mixtecs that joined him as he marched south towards Guatemala and El Salvador, and Kaqchikels that joined him in Guatemala.
A key strategy was the establishment of colonial towns across the territories that underwent the process of conquest and colonisation; they were used to project Spanish power over the surrounding countryside.Gallardo 2013, pp. 105, 109. The Spanish were particularly horrified by the Mesoamerican religious practice of human sacrifice, prompting them to attempt to eradicate the native religion.
Spanish weapons and armour The steel sword was the greatest Spanish advantage in terms of weaponry.Restall and Fernández Armesto 2012, location 1576. The conquistadors employed broadswords, rapiers, firearms (including the arquebus), crossbows and light artillery such as the falconet.Pohl and Hook 2008, pp. 26, 62. Gallardo 2014, p. 77. An important Spanish advantage was the use of war horses; their deployment often terrified the native inhabitants of the Americas, who had never seen horses until European contact. As important as the physical advantage given to a mounted conquistador was the ability to rapidly move bodies of troops across a battlefield to outmaneuver their opponents, who were exclusively on foot. Repeated mounted charges could have a devastating impact on massed native infantry.Wise and McBride 1980, 2008, pp. 9–10. The Spanish also employed fierce war dogs in battle.Johnson 2009, p. 76. Pohl and Robinson 2005, pp 95–96. Restall and Fernández Armesto 2012, location 1585. When laying siege to native fortresses, they would on occasion build wooden siege engines padded with cotton armour, which would act to shield attackers from enemy missiles, and allow them to climb over any fortifications. Mounted conquistadors were armed with a lance, that also served as a pike for infantrymen. A variety of halberds and bills were also employed. As well as the one-handed broadsword, a long two-handed version was also used.Pohl and Hook 2008, p. 26. Crossbows had arms stiffened with hardwoods, horn, bone and cane, and supplied with a stirrup to facilitate drawing the string with a crank and pulley.Pohl and Hook 2008, pp. 26–27. Crossbows were easier to maintain than matchlocks, especially in a humid tropical climate.Pohl and Hook 2008, p. 27.