Early Modern
Francisco de Orellana's Voyage down the Amazon (1541-1542)
Orellana's party became the first Europeans to travel the length of the Amazon, reaching the Atlantic in August 1542.
Region
Americas
Early Modern
Cabrillo's Expedition to California (1542-1543)
The first European survey of the coast of present-day California; Cabrillo died during the voyage and the ships returned to Mexico in April 1543.
Early Modern
New Laws of 1542: Las Casas and Indigenous Rights in the Indies
Indigenous slavery was banned and new encomiendas forbidden, but colonial resistance and a revolt in Peru forced the Crown to withdraw key clauses in 1545.
Early Modern
Cocoliztli Epidemic (1545–1548): Catastrophe in New Spain
A large share of the Indigenous population of central Mexico died, deepening the demographic collapse that followed the Spanish conquest.
Early Modern
Potosí Silver Mines (1545): Cerro Rico and Spain's Treasure
Potosí became the largest silver mine in the world, a major source of Spanish royal income and of the silver that flowed into Europe and China, at a heavy cost to Indigenous forced labourers.
Early Modern
Valladolid Debate (1550–1551): Las Casas versus Sepúlveda
The panel of judges issued no clear collective verdict, but Sepúlveda's case for conquest was not officially endorsed and the debate shaped later Spanish policy.
Early Modern
Florentine Codex: Sahagún's Nahua Encyclopedia of Mexico
A twelve-book bilingual, illustrated encyclopedia of Nahua culture and the conquest survived in Florence and became a key source on the Aztec world.
Early Modern
Tobacco Comes to Europe (1560s): Jean Nicot and Early Use
Tobacco became established in Europe first as a medicine and then as a popular habit, and grew into a major colonial cash crop.
Early Modern
Lope de Aguirre and the Marañón Expedition (1560–1561)
The expedition collapsed into mutiny and murder; Aguirre's rebellion ended when he was killed by royal forces at Barquisimeto in October 1561.
Early Modern
Urdaneta's Tornaviaje (1565): The Return Route across the Pacific
The San Pedro reached Acapulco after about 130 days at sea, establishing a reliable eastward route across the Pacific and enabling Spanish rule in the Philippines.
Early Modern
Manila Galleon Trade (1565-1815): Ships Linking Asia and America
For 250 years the galleons carried American silver to Asia and Asian goods to the Americas and Europe, creating the first regular trans-Pacific trade route.
Early Modern
Founding of St. Augustine (1565): Oldest City in the US
Spain established a permanent settlement in Florida, destroyed the French Huguenot colony at Fort Caroline and held St. Augustine as the capital of Spanish Florida for most of the next 256 years.