Pretty sure he was not a great guy. There was a historian priest who traveled with him and recorded all of the atrocities committed. Here is a quote from Bartolome de las Casas, "The Spaniards with their horses, their spears and lances, began to commit murders, and strange cruelties: they entered into towns, burroughs, and villages, sparing neither children nor old men, neither women with child, neither them that lay in, but that they ripped their bellies, and cut them in pieces, as if they had been opening of lambs shut up in their fold." Granted this is one guy's recollection, but it should be considered in the grand scheme of things.
Ha. When is it ever okay to steal babies from their mothers and smash their heads in? Would you say this behavior was acceptable from say the year 1500 and earlier? Just want to make sure I understand your rules on modern values. I guess abortion would be the modern day equivalent. Still not okay IMO.