Conquest in the 15th century

Conquest and subjugation were the order of the day in the 15th century.

Most societies back then were ruled by monarchs who had absolute power over their people, controlling every aspect of their lives and brooking no dissent. Many of those monarchs were intent on extending their dominion to adjacent and distant lands, or on taking back lands previously seized from them. And though methods varied, none were particularly benign.

During that fractious century, the French expelled British occupiers from their soil, Spain did the same to the Muslims, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, the Mali Empire was laid low by the Songhai in Western Africa and the Azteks subjugated Central America. The list goes on, with each of these conquests being undertaken by brutal force of arms.

In the Caribbean, the peace-loving Tainos, who Columbus first encountered, had muscled the more primitive Siboney off the islands in the hundred years prior. And had Columbus not arrived upon the scene, the sadistic Caribs most likely would have raped, castrated, enslaved and cannibalized their way through the entire Taino population in the ensuing century.

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