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The Totonac: Cortés's First Allies on the Gulf Coast
Season 2 Episode 91
When Hernán Cortés landed on the Mexican Gulf Coast in 1519, he found a people simmering with resentment against the Aztec Empire: the Totonac. Based…
2 months ago
Cortés and the Tribute System: How Indigenous Wealth Funded Conquest
Season 2 Episode 90
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica was financed not by Spanish gold but by Indigenous tribute networks. …
2 months ago
Cacao: The Currency That Built an Empire
Season 2 Episode 89
Before chocolate became a sweet treat, it was money. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the role of cacao beans as currency in Aztec society. Th…
2 months ago
Malintzin: The Interpreter Who Shaped the Conquest
Season 2 Episode 88
In this episode of The Conquistadors, Lucas and Luna explore the extraordinary life of Malintzin—better known as La Malinche—the Nahua woman who serv…
2 months, 1 week ago
The Encomienda's Shadow: Repartimiento and Forced Labor
Season 2 Episode 87
We've talked about the encomienda system before, but this episode digs into what came next—and what coexisted alongside it. After the New Laws of 154…
2 months, 1 week ago
The Requerimiento's Lingering Shadow: Laws, Lies, and Conquest
Season 2 Episode 86
In this episode, Lucas and Luna revisit the Requerimiento — the Spanish legal decree read to indigenous peoples before conquest — but from a new angl…
2 months, 1 week ago
Cortés's Brigantines: The Ships That Won Tenochtitlan
Season 2 Episode 85
In 1521, Hernán Cortés faced a seemingly impossible problem: how to besiege an island city without a navy. His solution—building a fleet of thirteen …
2 months, 1 week ago
The Noche Triste: Cortés's Night of Sorrows
Season 2 Episode 84
On the night of June 30, 1520, Hernán Cortés and his men attempted to flee Tenochtitlan under cover of darkness. What followed was a catastrophic rou…
2 months, 1 week ago
The Cholula Massacre: Cortés's Calculated Terror
Season 2 Episode 83
In October 1519, just two months after arriving in Tenochtitlan, Hernán Cortés orchestrated one of the most brutal episodes of the Spanish conquest: …
2 months, 1 week ago
The Lost Conquistador: Juan de Grijalva and the Yucatán
Season 2 Episode 82
Episode 82 of The Conquistadors takes a step back from the familiar Cortés narrative to explore the earlier, often overshadowed expedition of Juan de…
2 months, 1 week ago