Having looked at the general history, this episode we hone in on the events that led up to the discovery of the Americas. We cover the war of Castilian succession and why it was so important for the future of the Americas - despite the fact that they had not been 'discovered' yet. Along the way we will encounter family feuding, incest and scheming which would make Game of Thrones look tame. ...
The Spanish attempt once again to settle in North America, but again their ambitions will be frustrated. The Narvaez expedition was an unmittigated disaster. It did however produce one of the most unbelievable stories of survival of the era. Link to the petition to save ILAS - https://www.change.org/p/professor-jo-fox-and-professor-wendy-thomson-stop-the-closure-of-the-institute-of-latin-american-studies-sas-university-of-london?recruiter=1157550372&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=share_petition&recruited_by_id=df7b78d0-10b8-11eb-b104-b7326168604e ...
This episode takes a look at how Inca society was organised. As we will see, theirs was a highly developed state with social structures which draw comparison with our own. One in particular is interesting, as it could be argued that they created a form of proto-socialism complete with communal land use and a welfare state. ...