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Skulls, Temples & Churches: A Visit to the Walled City of Evora
Article by Kim Martins

Skulls, Temples & Churches: A Visit to the Walled City of Evora

The sunbaked plain of the Alentejo region in central Portugal is called planicie dourada (golden plain) by the Portuguese, and it is dotted with cork oak forests, vineyards, olive groves, and hilltop towns with whitewashed houses. 'Alentejo'...
Montezuma
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Montezuma - Last Ruler of the Aztecs

Montezuma (aka Moctezuma), or more correctly, Motecuhzoma II Xocoyotzin, meaning 'Angry Like A Lord’, was the last fully independent ruler of the Aztec empire before the civilization's collapse after the Spanish Conquest in the early 16th...
The Gold of the Conquistadors
Article by Mark Cartwright

The Gold of the Conquistadors

The staggering quantity of gold the conquistadors extracted from the Americas allowed Spain to become the richest country in the world. The thirst for gold to pay for armies and gain personal enrichment resulted in waves of expeditions of...
The Spanish Empire, Silver, & Runaway Inflation: Crash Course
Video by CrashCourse

The Spanish Empire, Silver, & Runaway Inflation: Crash Course

In which John Green explores how Spain went from being a middling European power to one of the most powerful empires on Earth, thanks to their plunder of the New World in the 16th and 17th centuries. Learn how Spain managed to destroy the...
Ten Notorious French Pirates
Article by Mark Cartwright

Ten Notorious French Pirates

Piracy has involved many nationalities over the centuries, but one of the prominent groups in the medieval and early modern periods was the French pirates, who terrorised the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean. French writers often...
Ferdinand Magellan
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan, or Fernão de Magalhães (c. 1480-1521), was a Portuguese mariner whose expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe in 1519-22 in the service of Spain. Magellan was killed on the voyage in what is today the Philippines...
Cochineal
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Cochineal

Cochineal is a brilliant red dye extracted from the crushed bodies of parasitic insects which prey on cacti in the warmer parts of the Americas. The dye was an important part of trade in ancient Mesoamerica and South America and throughout...
Pirate Havens in the Golden Age of Piracy
Article by Mark Cartwright

Pirate Havens in the Golden Age of Piracy

The buccaneers who roamed the Spanish Main and the pirates who plundered the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean during the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) needed a place of refuge where they could share out and enjoy their loot. Pirate havens...
Juan de Grijalva
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Juan de Grijalva

Juan de Grijalva (aka Grijalba, 1489-1527) was a Spanish conquistador who explored the eastern coast of Mexico in 1518. His notable achievements included a demonstration that the Yucatán Peninsula was just that and not, as previously thought...
Aztec Civilization
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Aztec Civilization

The Aztec Empire (c. 1345-1521) covered at its greatest extent most of northern Mesoamerica. Aztec warriors were able to dominate their neighbouring states and permit rulers such as Montezuma to impose Aztec ideals and religion across Mexico...
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