Chapter 



IBERIAN CONQUEST 



X IVE hundred years elapsed between the time the Norse first 

 completed the crossing of the Atlantic by the northern routes and the 

 first crossing of the Middle Atlantic by Columbus. In the fourteenth 

 and fifteenth centuries first the Portuguese and then the Spaniards 

 began to do for the Middle and South Atlantic what northern nations 

 did for the North and Arctic Atlantic. They may have been late in 

 starting, but once under way their ships traveled with all sail set and 

 a "bone in their teeth." 



Sometimes a man will drift through life leading a worthy but unre- 

 garded existence until one day he finds himself or an idea takes pos- 

 session of him; then he begins to live with all his powers and to flour- 

 ish. This is exciting and heartening when it happens to a man; when 

 it happens to nations, the whole world watches and waits. 



In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries two small nations of Europe 

 came alive, strode forth to establish worldwide empires and gave rise 

 to independent states. In the beginning the small kingdoms of Portu- 

 gal and Spain shared the Iberian Peninsula. They also shared the 

 Atlantic seaboard. It was from the ocean that they drew their 

 strength and the Atlantic was their highway to adventure and con- 

 quest. 



In the early years of the fifteenth century neither Portugal nor the 

 several states that were later united under Spanish rule were of great 

 importance in European politics or European trade. Since the time of 



132 



