When Ponce de Leon was not off exploring, he spent most of his time on the island of Puerto Rico. Despite having conquered it himself with ease however, his life there was far from straightforward. His governorship was challenged by both the indigenous inhabitants who launched a protracted rebellion, and rival Spaniards who hoped to control the island themselves. ...
Cortez was determined to meet with emperor Moctezuma - even if Moctezuma had made it more than clear that he wanted nothing to do with him. To do this, he would have to march over land to Tenochtitlan but getting there would not be easy. Between him and the Aztec capital stood the mighty Aztec city of Cholula and the land of the mysterious and ferocious Tlaxcalans. Cortez would have to negotiate his way past both before he reached his goal. ...
In today's episode we look at what was going on within the Inca empire in the lead up to the conquest. To help with this, Nicholas Machinski of A History of the Inca podcast joins us to share his specialist knowledge. You can find his podcast on his website or wherever you get your podcasts from: https://ahistoryoftheinca.wordpress.com/ ...