The Siege of Tenochtitlan
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Siege of Tenochtitlan. In 1521 the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes led an army of Spanish and native forces against the city of Tenochtitlan, the spectacular island capital of the Aztec civilisation. At first Cortes had been welcomed by the Aztec leader, Moctezuma, and he and his men were treated like kings. But their friendship proved short-lived, and soon celebrations turned into vicious fighting. After a prolonged siege and fierce battle, in which many thousands died, the city finally fell. This major confrontation between Old and New Worlds precipitated the downfall of the Aztec Empire, and marked a new phase in European colonisation of the Americas.
→ Listen on BBC Sounds website
Guests
- Alan Knight
4 episodes
Professor of the History of Latin America at the University of Oxford - Elizabeth Graham
3 episodes
Professor of Mesoamerican Archaeology at University College, London - Caroline Dodds Pennock
2 episodes
Lecturer in International History at the University of Sheffield
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Programme ID: b016924x
Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016924x
Auto-category: 972 (History of Mexico and Central America)
Hello (First sentence from this episode)
Hello, a 16th century adventurer to the New World wrote these awestruck words.