The Conquistadors: Exploration, Greed, and Destruction — Fexingo History

While the Mexica (Aztecs) dominated much of central Mexico, one powerful empire resisted both their expansion and later the Spanish conquest: the Purépecha (Tarascan) Empire of Michoacán. This episode explores how the Purépecha, under leaders like Tangáxuan II, built a state that rivaled Tenochtitlan in size and sophistication. They developed advanced bronze-working, a unique tribute system, and a...

In 1528, a Spanish expedition led by Pánfilo de Narváez landed in Florida and promptly fell apart. Only four survivors would make it back to Spanish territory eight years later, having walked thousands of miles across the unknown continent. This episode follows Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his companions—including the enslaved African Estevanico—as they journey from the Gulf Coast through modern...

While the Spanish conquest of the Americas dominates our series, the Spanish Empire also reached across the Pacific. In this episode, we follow Miguel López de Legazpi and Andrés de Urdaneta as they establish the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Philippines in 1565. We explore the archipelago's diverse pre-colonial societies—from the Islamic sultanates of Mindanao to the barangay communit...

In 1697, over 150 years after the first conquistadors landed in Mesoamerica, the last independent Maya kingdom fell. This episode tells the story of the Itza Maya at Nojpetén (Tayasal) on Lake Petén Itzá in northern Guatemala. Led by the ajaw Kan Ek', they resisted Spanish incursions for generations, preserving their traditions and independence while the rest of the Maya world crumbled. We explore...

Francisco de Montejo, a veteran of Cortés's invasion, spent over two decades trying to conquer the Maya of the Yucatán Peninsula. Unlike the Aztecs or Inca, the Maya had no central emperor to decapitate. Montejo's first expedition (1527-1528) ended in disaster as Maya warriors harassed his forces through the jungle. His son, Francisco de Montejo el Mozo, took over and eventually established Spanis...

In this episode of The Conquistadors, Lucas and Luna explore the lasting impact of the Requerimiento, the Spanish legal document read before conquest, and the fierce debates it sparked among theologians, jurists, and conquerors. They trace the journey of Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas from encomendero to the 'Protector of the Indians,' his battles with Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda at Valladolid...

In 1513, Spanish conquistadors began reading a legal document to Indigenous peoples before attacking them: the Requerimiento. This episode explores the bizarre, tragic history of this 'requirement' — a formal demand that natives submit to the Spanish Crown and the Catholic Church or face 'just war,' enslavement, and death. Lucas and Luna trace its origins in medieval Spanish law, its composition b...

While conquistadors like Cortés and Pizarro fought their way through Mesoamerica and the Andes, an invisible ally traveled with them: smallpox. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how Old World diseases devastated Indigenous populations, decimating empires before battles were even joined. They discuss the 1520 smallpox outbreak in Tenochtitlan that killed Moctezuma's brother Cuitláhuac and cou...

When the Spanish arrived in the Valley of Mexico, they were stunned by something far more impressive than gold: the great market of Tlatelolco. This episode takes you into the heart of Aztec commerce, where jade, cacao beans, slaves, and quetzal feathers changed hands under the watch of special judges. Lucas and Luna explore how this massive plaza—serving up to 60,000 people daily—was organized, p...

In 1680, the Pueblo peoples of New Mexico rose up in a coordinated rebellion that expelled Spanish colonists for over a decade. This episode explores the brutal encomienda system and forced conversion under Spanish rule, the visionary leadership of Popé, a Tewa religious leader from Ohkay Owingeh, and the secret planning that united diverse Pueblo villages speaking six different languages. We disc...

In 1532, Francisco Pizarro captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa at Cajamarca. The Spanish demanded a room filled with gold as ransom, which the Incas delivered from across the empire. Yet Pizarro executed Atahualpa anyway, triggering a chain of events that shattered Tawantinsuyu. This episode examines the ransom itself—its logistics, the complicity of Inca nobles, and the infamous 'treasure room'—a...

In 1697, over 150 years after Cortés toppled Tenochtitlan, Spanish conquistadors finally conquered the last independent Maya kingdom: the Itza capital of Nojpetén on an island in Lake Petén Itzá. This episode tells the story of the Itza Maya, who survived for centuries in the dense Petén jungle after the collapse of Chichén Itzá and Mayapán. We explore their sophisticated political system under th...

In this episode of The Conquistadors, Lucas and Luna shift focus from the well-known conquerors to the extraordinary journey of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. After the disastrous Narváez expedition of 1527, Cabeza de Vaca and three other survivors — including the enslaved African Estevanico — spent eight years trekking across what is now the southern United States and northern Mexico. Stripped of we...

In 1550, a Spanish king ordered a halt to all conquests. He wasn't being kind—he was waiting for an answer. The question: did indigenous Americans have souls? For four months, two men debated before a council of theologians in Valladolid. Bartolomé de las Casas, a Dominican friar, argued that Native peoples were rational beings deserving of freedom. Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, a humanist scholar, cou...

While the conquests of Cortés and Pizarro are well-known, the encomienda system that followed was arguably more devastating to Indigenous Americans. In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine the origins of the encomienda in the Spanish Reconquista, its transfer to the Americas, and the brutal labor conditions it imposed on native peoples. They discuss the legal justifications from figures like Juan...

In 1540-1542, just years after the fall of Tenochtitlan and the Inca Empire, a massive indigenous uprising shook the Spanish colony of Nueva Galicia in western Mexico. The Mixtón War was led by a Caxcan leader named Tenamaxtli, who united diverse tribes—Caxcan, Zacateco, Tepehuán, and others—against oppressive Spanish rule. This episode explores the causes of the rebellion, including the brutal en...

While Cortés and Pizarro are household names, Nuño de Guzmán remains a relatively obscure figure — yet his brutal campaign in western Mexico in the 1530s was arguably even more destructive. This episode digs into Guzmán's slave raids, his foundation of Nueva Galicia, and his systematic enslavement of the Purépecha, Caxcan, and other indigenous groups. We explore the Mixtón War (1540-1542), the lar...

After the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, a new resistance emerged. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the revolt of Manco Inca Yupanqui, the siege of Cusco in 1536, and the establishment of the Neo-Inca State at Vilcabamba. They discuss how Manco Inca, initially a puppet ruler, turned against Francisco Pizarro and his brothers, rallying thousands of Inca warriors in a desperate war. The...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the dramatic encounter between Francisco Pizarro and the Inca emperor Atahualpa at Cajamarca in 1532. They discuss the Inca civil war that left the empire divided, Pizarro's cunning ambush, the ransom of a room filled with gold, and the eventual execution of Atahualpa. Lucas explains the role of indigenous allies like the Cañari, the challenges of communicat...

While Cortés conquered the Aztecs, his lieutenant Pedro de Alvarado unleashed a brutal campaign against the Maya of Guatemala. This episode follows Alvarado's 1524 invasion, from the infamous massacre at the Toxcatl festival in Tenochtitlan—which nearly derailed Cortés—to his bloody subjugation of the K'iche' Maya. We explore the weaponry, tactics, and politics of the Maya kingdoms, including the...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna delve into the harrowing final months of the siege of Tenochtitlan in 1521, a turning point in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. They explore Cortés's brutal tactics, including the use of brigantines to cut off food and water, the devastating smallpox outbreak that decimated the Mexica, and the final desperate defense led by Cuauhtémoc. The conversation high...

In 1519, Hernán Cortés landed on the coast of modern-day Mexico with 508 soldiers, 16 horses, and a burning ambition. Within two years, he would bring down the Aztec Empire—a civilization of over 200,000 people. This pilot episode of The Conquistadors: Exploration, Greed, and Destruction takes you to the heart of that clash. We set the scene at the gates of Tenochtitlan, the magnificent island cap...