, Spain was at the peak of power with the rulers King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Queen Isabella was highly religious as a catholic. Because of this, she led a crusade against Muslims. Once Spain had conquered many lands and pushed out the Muslims, they started to fund voyages. These voyages were sent over seas to find new land to expand upon since other countries in Europe began doing the same. The conquest was justified in religion, expansion, and wealth, along with many other reasons. .
The Spaniards and other Europeans traveling to the new world first sought to spread the word of God. Some, upon arrival to the new world, found most of the inhabitants to be pagan. Some of the natives worshiped many gods, while some worshiped none at all. Lery writes, "Not only are they utterly ignorant of the sole and true God; what is more, in contrast to the custom of all the ancient pagans, who had many gods, they neither confess nor worship any gods, either of heaven or of earth" (Lery, History of a Voyage, 134). Lery shows that weather the natives worship pagan gods or none at all, they were in need of messengers to convert them to the correct religion, Christianity. Lery wanted to correct the natives wrong doings and help them to convert to Christianity. Religion was one of the reasons the Europeans traveled to the new world.
On the other hand, the natives like the Maya and many others felt that they did not need to convert to Christianity. The many natives felt that these invaders had no right to come and take them and their land. Many of them believed all the foreigners wanted was gold and treasure. A historic text of the Aztec culture explains, "When the Spaniards were installed in the palace, they asked Motecuhzuma about the city's resources and reserves and about the warriors" ensigns and shields. They questioned him closely and then demanded gold" (Portilla, "The Broken Spears," 66).
