{"podcast":{"title":"The Conquistadors: Exploration, Greed, and Destruction — Fexingo History","slug":"the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470","podcast_index_feed_id":7864470,"rss_url":"https://feeds.fexingo.com/history/the-conquistadors.xml","website_url":"https://www.fexingo.com/history/the-conquistadors/","image_url":"https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-conquistadors/cover.png","author":"Fexingo","episode_count":182,"summary":"From the moment Hernán Cortés burned his ships on the Veracruz shore to the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521, the Spanish conquistadors remade the Americas through a volatile mix of courage, cruelty, and greed. Lucas and Luna guide listeners through the brutal collision of two worlds, examining not only the well-known figures—Cortés, Pizarro, Moctezuma, Atahualpa—but also the indigenous allies, enslaved Africans, and forgotten women who shaped the conquest. Each episode dissects a specific campaign or cultural encounter: the siege of Tenochtitlan, the conquest of the Inca Empire, the protracted Maya resistance, and the lesser-known expeditions into Florida and the Amazon. They explore the legal and moral debates of the Valladolid Controversy, the devastating impact of Old World diseases, and the encomienda system that bound native peoples to Spanish lords. The show also confronts the long legacy: how conquest myths were constructed, how indigenous memory survives, and how modern movements grapple with statues, repatriation, and historical memory. This is not a simple story of heroes or villains—it is a search for understanding amid the rubble of empires. Can we truly grasp the scale o…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-29T06:20:17.143281+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470"},"episode":{"title":"The Lost Fleet of Cortés: Ships That Sank in Lake Texcoco","slug":"the-lost-fleet-of-cort-s-ships-that-sank-in-lake-texcoco","published_at":"2026-06-15T14:59:11+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470/the-lost-fleet-of-cort-s-ships-that-sank-in-lake-texcoco","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470","url":"https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-conquistadors/episode-0097.mp3","audio_url":"https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-conquistadors/episode-0097.mp3","summary":"In 1521, Hernán Cortés ordered the construction of thirteen brigantines — shallow-draft warships — to break the Aztec hold on Tenochtitlan. But two of those ships never made it to battle. They sank in Lake Texcoco before a single shot was fired. What caused the loss? Who was responsible? And what did the sinking reveal about the fragile alliance between Spanish invaders and their Tlaxcalan allies? This episode examines the logistics, the sabotage rumors, the scapegoating of a Spanish carpenter, and the aftermath that reshaped Cortés's strategy. Drawing on Bernal Díaz del Castillo's account and the Florentine Codex, we piece together a forgotten episode that nearly derailed the siege. The lost ships of Lake Texcoco offer a rare window into the tensions, accidents, and human error that lurked behind the grand narrative of conquest. #Cortés #Brigantines #LakeTexcoco #Tenochtitlan #Tlaxcalan #BernalDíaz #FlorentineCodex #MartínLópez #Sabotage #Scapegoat #Conquistadors #Mesoamerica #SiegeOfTenochtitlan #Shipwreck #History #FexingoHistory #1521 #SpanishConquest Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo","meta_description":"In 1521, Hernán Cortés ordered the construction of thirteen brigantines — shallow-draft warships — to break the Aztec hold on Tenochtitlan. But two of tho…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":356,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470/episodes/the-lost-fleet-of-cort-s-ships-that-sank-in-lake-texcoco/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470/the-lost-fleet-of-cort-s-ships-that-sank-in-lake-texcoco.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}