Unit 2

Worldviews in Conflict

Lesson 3

In what ways did the desire for gold and glory shape the Spanish actions during the 1400s and 1500s?

The desire for gold and glory was every bit as important as the desire to convert Indigenous peoples to Christianity.

During this time, a country’s supplies of gold and silver were the basis of its wealth. Spain needed gold and silver to increase its reserves of these precious metals.

Wealth was just as important in Renaissance Spain as it is in our modern society.

The pressure to find precious metals for Spain led Christopher Columbus to mislead Queen Isabella about the amount of gold he found in the New World.