Conquistadoras (female conquistadores)

[Cacique Caribe]

This Spanish-language YT channel has a wealth of information on the men AND women who came to the new world looking for fame and riches:



https://www.youtube.com/@ConquistadoresEsp/videos

I hope you can benefit from the info.  Enjoy!

Dan

[Patrice]

   Interesting, I didn't know about them.

[carlos marighela]

Indeed but also worth noting there were women warriors who fought the enslavement the European conquerors brought.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandara_dos_Palmares

[Cacique Caribe]

That’s awesome!!! 

Good to know that a few decided to actually put up some sort of resistance*.  Makes for better gaming, knowing that the Iberians had to really work for (conquer) their lands and spoils.

Now I have to look for one or two armed Iberian female figures (28mm) to accompany my Conquistadores.  Any suggestions?

Dan
* I wonder if anyone put up similar resistance in Africa itself, where their enslavement really began, at the hands of African and Muslim raiders and slave traders and at the behest of African monarchs and tribal leaders.  After all, there was already a robust and ancient slave trade LONG before the Portuguese ever circumnavigated the continent and the rest of Europeans got involved in it.

[carlos marighela]

* I wonder if anyone put up similar resistance in Africa itself, where their enslavement really began, at the hands of African and Muslim raiders and slave traders and at the behest of African monarchs and tribal leaders.  After all, there was already a robust and ancient slave trade LONG before the Portuguese ever circumnavigated the continent and the rest of Europeans got involved in it.

In short, yes, of course there was resistance. the assumption that Africans just passively accepted being enslaved is a silly, casually racist ,Western conceit and the attempt to shift the 'original sin' to Africans themselves is typically part of reactionary response to the associated guilt.  It wasn't some kind of Tennessee Valley Scheme or Peace Corps, slaves were often taken in bloody, violent, raids or as prisoners of war.

Naturally enough people resisted that both individually and collectively. Worth noting that in most African societies slavery was not heritable, ie the children of slaves were not automatically enslaved themselves. Compare and contrast with the European scheme.

The Portuguese colony of São Tomé and Principe had numerous instances of slave rebellions. São Tomé was not only a plantation but also a trans-shipment point. Try googling Rei Amador, a resistance leader whose rebellion destroyed 70 sugar mills.

By the by, not all African slavery was the produce of war or raids. In some societies, slavery was a form of indenture with kinship bonds and significant rights afforded to slaves.

Yes, there was slavery in Africa before colonisation, just as in earlier times there was slavery in Europe. The thing is that Europeans turbo charged it. European plantations in the Americas had an insatiable hunger for cheap labour.  Somewhere between about 12 and 13 million enslaved people were shipped across the Atlantic, the forebears of my children included. Of that number anywhere between 10 and 20% of the enslaved died on the passage. The volume of the slave trade within Africa in that time isn't even remotely comparable to what took place under the auspices of European traders.  By way of example, slavery of various types was traditionally practiced in much of West Africa but on a relatively small scale. It really kicked off in the Kingdom of Kongo when the Portuguese opened sugar plantations in São Tomé and later Brazil, within a short space of time it became thousands.

Bear in mind that a proportion of trade goods sold to African slavers included European weapons, which in part made them more efficient as slavers. The Dane gun being the principal example.

As for female conqistadores, at least one manufacturer makes a somewhat Hollywood version:

https://entoyment.co.uk/product/28mm-francesca-the-conquistador/

There are a few late medieval female knight sculpts out there. Perhaps you could use one of those as a start point for conversion if you want a more heavily armoured version.

[Cacique Caribe]

I agree with most of what you say, except for one notable point … wondering about historical cases of revolts against African slaveholders* is not “silly, casual racism … conceit … or reactionary”. 

It’s called curiosity, plain and simple.  I love history, what can I say? Without curiosity you get no communication and no understanding.  Without understanding you get no tolerance.  Without curiosity you simply get apathy.

Not welcoming (and not promoting) curiosity is actually the “casually racist” gesture.

Wow, that Francesca figure looks amazing.  Thanks!!!

EDIT:  Too bad that postage to the States, for Francesca and two packs of Copplestone halflings (subtotal £24.65), comes to Flat rate: £27.99

Dan
* I would still love to learn about historical examples of it.  The ones you provided were interesting, though were only against European slaveholders.  There must have been some slave revolts during Mansa Musa’s day.  Or perhaps against the Zanzibari/Omani Muslim slaveholders.

[carlos marighela]

Dan,

I am not suggesting you are racist, merely that there is a trope, particularly popular in your country, that tries to create a false equivalency that because Africans indulged in slavery, somehow the Atlantic slave trade is not as bad as it seems. It's a right-wing talking point and it is directly rooted in racism. Usually the same dickheads that get upset about Confederate flags, celebrating MLK Day etc, etc.

Your curiosity is to be applauded. Wondering about the historical incidence of acts of resistance is fine.

I used to live in Salvador da Bahia, a city where there where one of the most famous mass slave revolts took place, the Revolta dos Malês (Muslim Rebellion) and much of the action took place within a few city blocks of our apartment.

A five minute walk took me to where there is now a large bronze statue of Ganga Zumbi, the original leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares. Five minutes further on is the Pelourinho,  where slaves were publicly whipped and where stands one of the oldest churches built by freed slaves in the Western Hemisphere (I was married there incidentally) .

It's a city with a majority black population and has the strongest African traditions in Brazil, probably in the hemisphere. My wife used to be a tour guide and one day she was taking a group of Portuguese tourists around the historic centre of town. One of them asked her 'Why are there so many black people in Salvador?' My wife responded: 'Well, you brought us here'. 

Curiosity is always better than ignorance.

[Cacique Caribe]

My wife used to be a tour guide and one day she was taking a group of Portuguese tourists around the historic centre of town. One of them asked her 'Why are there so many black people in Salvador?' My wife responded: 'Well, you brought us here'. 

Curiosity is always better than ignorance.

Carlos

That was a valid question by the Portuguese tourist, though she personally never had anything to do with bringing slaves over.

With that said, many ambitious adventurers joined the ranks of the conquistadores, looking for fame and riches.  But until last month I had no idea that Spanish women were among the armed men, armed as well, and that they were fighting side by side with their countrymen and their many native Allies.  I always imagined Spanish ladies being too “gentile” (I know that’s no the right word, but it’s the closest I could come up with) to get their hands bloody that way.

Did Portuguese women join the Portuguese explorers on expeditions and took a similar active role in the actual fighting?  I would love to hear their names and stories.  How about the other 16th cent European explorers?  Were their numbers also sprinkled with a few tough women fighters?

Dan

[carlos marighela]

Carlos

That was a valid question by the Portuguese tourist, though she personally never had anything to do with bringing slaves over.
Dan

It was an idiotic question. The man that asked it was Portuguese, standing in the historic centre of the former colonial capital of Brazil, a country that has more people of African descent than anywhere outside of Africa. The lack of intellectual curiosity that underpins such a question is mind boggling. There's an old saying that you can keep your mouth closed and appear a fool or open it and confirm the fact. Clearly they went with the latter option. 

Funnily enough I know the routine of that city tour, having once done some translation for my wife with English speaking tourists. They usually get exposed to a capoeira group and it's explained how capoeira was developed by slaves to mask a martial art as a dance from the slave owners. They will get a chance to get a photo taken with a baiana in traditional dress and invariably the subject of the silver balangada charm bracelets is explained, the folk law being that a new charm was given by the owner of the female household slave annually and when they had a complete set they would be set free. Later they get taken to various jewellery and gift shops and are invariably given the chance to purchase said balangada.

They are shown where the whipping post once stood in the Largo do Pelourinho and as often as not shown where the slaves stood inside the magnificent, gold covered Church of São Francisco as they waited for their masters. The better guides might point out the obscene carvings done by the (slave) artizans on the outside and on occasion if the tourist ventures inside NS do Rosário dos Pretos, (built by freed slaves) they might get shown the slave cemetery at the rear and the iron mask that Escrava Anastacia was forced to wear as a cruel punishment.

Bottom line? If anyone comes away from a tour of Salvador not understanding the impact and origins of slavery and its impact on demographics then there is only one question and that is whether they suffered a serious brain injury or the condition is hereditary.

I don't know of any female European bandeirantes. Typically the bandeirantes intermixed with indigenous peoples and many bandeirantes were themselves the products of such unions. There were definitely European women on the colonial frontier in Brazil, but typically performing more traditional gender based roles. That's not to say there haven't been female warriors in Brazil. Maria Quitéria is a famous heroine of the independence struggle and Anna Garibaldi (wife of Giuseppe but known in her own right in Brazil) is another to name but two but these are well beyond the early colonial period.

In modern times it is well worth noting that indigenous women have often been at the forefront of their struggle for indigenous rights. Sonia Guajajara, the current Minister for Indigenous Affairs, is a notable but hardly unique example. You could call them guerreiras verdadeiras and you would be right.

[carlos marighela]

Oh and returning to Africa there's the example of Njinga Mbandi, an Angolan queen who resisted Portuguese expansion and slavery. There's even a Netflix doco if you want to check her out.

[Cacique Caribe]

Back to the subject of Conquistadoras, there a few more listed here, though not all were fighters:

https://theobjective.com/further/cultura/2020-10-07/ines-del-alma-mia-otras-10-mujeres-espanolas-la-conquista-america/

https://historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/edicion-impresa/articulos/conquistadoras-mujeres-olvidadas-america_17806

https://www.muyinteresante.es/historia/32189.html

Enjoy!

Dan
PS.  And a new series, though it doesn’t seem to be available here in the US:

[Cacique Caribe]

To make the battlefield or exploration area look more authentic, I’ve found these three useful suggestions for vegetation in much of Latin America, SE Asia and Africa.

- For sharp thorn thickets:

https://wargaming.info/2011/an-aquarium-of-thorn-thickets/

- Making tall grass from artificial grass rugs:

https://wargamesgazette.com/2020/01/23/more-terrain-pieces-for-my-vietnam-project/

- Using washes on aquarium plants:

http://1000footgeneral.blogspot.com/2017/06/making-jungle-terrain.html

I hope it helps.

Dan
PS.  I found a source for the “thorn thickets”.  Just select Type 3:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/125948750058?hash=item1d532168ea:g:VJcAAOSw6N9kbt1H&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0DdUq0qvy3dbl%2BootlCDxfdzZwQS3NWdywuDuKdkA1or7bn5NPwlGI%2FF%2FCFlN4aYb2FLA2yVdPsZEzwtOrsmgukiH0PIf2dOn1q%2FEr99bAaM%2FCRNsE0MhEinZrgzZx99586TCO%2FRWx7sXIvHwLBK6QSc%2FMHWnIU1L2y%2FfRv0YEhc%2FFjq7q%2BZ%2FIrVyOeeGln0Zkxr82uhZyrYEzuLxjFeYfofXL%2ByiK7i3fJ95%2B8%2FRfsR%2BB1QEiUKDX0M4Nh0z54wSvLI2i22G7GPBOwTUN%2F%2FHw4%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4Sprsm2Yg

[Cacique Caribe]

The “Type 3” plastic “thorn thickets” have arrived!!!

And they look exactly as advertised, perfect for semi arid thorn bushes.

Dan

https://wargaming.info/2011/an-aquarium-of-thorn-thickets/