At the beginning of the 16th century, the Spanish Conquista, unprecedented in terms of violence and robbery, begins on the South American continent. Thousands of conquistadors rush in pursuit of treasures and ranks. As a rule, these were impoverished Spanish knights who went to a distant continent at their own expense and often contrary to the wishes of the Spanish royal court. Their conquering campaigns and expeditions took place in Guatemala, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Honduras and the Pacific coast. Suppressing the Indians, the Spaniards executed them in their thousands. The surviving conquistadors were turned into slaves and forced to work in the fields, in mines or in workshops.