Over the last few episodes we have been busy looking at Spanish activity in the Caribbean, but Portugal's activities have hardly been mentioned. Today we follow them as they make their first visit in the new world. The story includes first contact with the native Tupi people of Brazil, a great storm that will kill hundreds of people, and the naming of the American continent. ...
The Mayan peoples are well known for their advanced civilisation. They created a complex calendar, had a writing system, and possessed a vibrant and fascinating religion. This episode will examine their cultural achievements as well as discussing the various theories as to why they collapsed. ...
Today we take a break from the conquest of Peru for an interview with William Taylor - a scholar of colonial Mexican history and before his retirement, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His new book Fugitive Freedom tells the stories of two men who lived lives of deception, and examines what they can tell us about the society in which they lived. On the surface these men appear to be daring anti-heros and/or dangerous con-men. They also look like real life examples of the Picaros of Spanish colonial literature. A closer look however, reveals them to be much more three-dimensional characters, responding to the limitations of their social position and their own internal mental struggles. ...
