- 2 hours ago
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:008th of November, 1519.
00:10In a magnificent city, surrounded by water,
00:15an all-powerful Aztec ruler prepares to meet a man like no one he's ever seen before.
00:22Imagine, in your mind, blue sky, beautiful weather, sunlight glittering on the lake.
00:35And these basically visitors from Mars advance across the causeway.
00:41These are the Spaniards.
00:44They wear unfamiliar clothes and carry strange weapons.
00:49The first meeting between Cortez and Moctezuma is one of the great moments in human history.
00:58This is the moment when the two halves of humanity come together.
01:04Old world meets new.
01:11Changing forever the course of history.
01:14One, a formidable ruler who has been dominating his world for 20 years.
01:22The other, one of the most ruthless, effective, brilliant, brutal opportunists in world history.
01:29This fateful meeting will expose fault lines at the heart of the Aztec Empire.
01:42A harsh regime fueling resentment.
01:46And a fatal weakness in the face of an invisible killer.
02:09Ancient Egypt.
02:10The Roman Empire.
02:17The Aztecs of Mexico.
02:22And the Samurai of Japan.
02:27Four great civilizations.
02:31Each a pinnacle of human ingenuity and achievement.
02:35Each lasted for centuries.
02:37Their people thought they would endure forever.
02:45Until suddenly...
02:47Everything changed.
02:53These civilizations faced challenges that are all too familiar today.
03:03Climate catastrophe.
03:05Pandemic.
03:09Pandemic.
03:14War.
03:18Challenges for which ancient societies had few solutions.
03:22But what if there was a place that had the answers to what went wrong?
03:33A place full of secrets and stories.
03:38A repository of memory stretching back through time.
03:43The British Museum, home to more than 8 million artifacts, is a record of how and why the greatest civilizations rose to power and then spectacularly fell.
04:02It's treasures are the human traces that survived disaster.
04:09But might they also hold lessons for our own future?
04:14Every civilization throughout history has had an expiry date.
04:16Every civilization throughout history has had an expiry date.
04:22With great societies, the seeds of their destruction are sown within the society.
04:29They're already there.
04:30No civilization ever thinks it's going to fall.
04:36But the question is, what can we learn from the past?
04:40In the shadow of volcanoes, on an island in the middle of a vast lake,
05:07the city of Tenochtitlán is home to around 200,000 people.
05:18It is the dazzling jewel at the heart of the mighty Aztec Empire.
05:28Stretching from coast to coast, across what is modern-day Mexico,
05:32its territory covers over 77,000 square miles.
05:41Tenochtitlán is far more advanced than most European cities of this age.
05:47Five times the size of Henry VIII's London.
05:52Tenochtitlán is not like an old medieval European city.
05:56It was planned in the form of a grid, rather like Manhattan is today.
06:05The city is green and lush.
06:08Fertile water gardens produce multiple crops each year.
06:11This civilization created the technology in order to use this water and also to construct fields on the water.
06:25And these people is possible to sow corn, to sow beans, to sow tomatoes on these fields.
06:33You have all kinds of foods, chillies, peppers.
06:38You can buy fish pre-wrapped in a maize leaf, so you can kind of take away your dinner if you'd like.
06:50They have huge kind of seething markets where tens of thousands of people go shopping every day.
06:59This city is teeming with life.
07:02There are priests and soldiers, weavers, traders.
07:06The city is overwhelming in its colours and its smells and the sort of atmosphere of excitement and bustle.
07:13Much of what we know of this civilization and the clues to its catastrophic collapse lie in a remarkable set of books that survived from that time, written by the Aztecs themselves.
07:39We have hundreds and hundreds of pages in the Aztec language. They're called the codices.
07:46Today, we can look at the beautiful images and the alphabetic writing and learn a great deal about their political history, their religious beliefs.
08:11The Aztecs have a very long tradition of writing.
08:24This is my mother tongue.
08:26And this is the language that my parents transmitted to me in the 20th century.
08:31We feel very proud to find a very strong legacy in the history of the Aztec society.
08:50You're hearing things that were said, performances that were given, prayers that were uttered.
08:54It's really quite extraordinary.
08:59The picture that emerges from these manuscripts is of a community bound together by a level of equality, very unlike Europe at the time.
09:09Aztec society is incredibly progressive.
09:14You have institutional education for boys and girls.
09:20They instill the children with an understanding of being part of that Aztec machine.
09:25Men and women have very specific and very different roles, but both are regarded as equally essential to the successful perpetuation of their culture.
09:38The Empire and its five million inhabitants are under the control of a single, all-powerful ruler.
09:57Moctezuma was a man in his early 40s.
10:07He had been emperor for 17 years and a very successful one.
10:12His name, Moctezuma, means frowns like a lord, so presumably he was high-handed and had a temper.
10:19Moctezuma became ruler after the death of his uncle.
10:26He did not inherit the throne. He was chosen.
10:32The Aztecs are so interested in who's going to do a good job that that takes over from who is the closest relative.
10:41Moctezuma looks like a good bet as ruler. He is a brilliant, effective warrior.
10:47There's good evidence that he himself went out into the field and led armies and was a successful general.
10:58However, in private, Moctezuma appears to be an emperor who likes to sit in Tenochtitlan and read books and learn about his empire.
11:10He is intelligent and he has a thirst for knowledge.
11:14Moctezuma believes in his own ability to understand and control the world around him.
11:25His people revere him as a demigod.
11:28But soon he will face a challenge for which he is completely unprepared.
11:35his people revere him as a man of the dead.
11:38To a man of the land of the dead!
11:411,500 miles away, on the island of Cuba, a Spanish adventurer is plotting a bold expedition.
12:11His name is Hernán Cortés.
12:21The single most important thing about Hernán Cortés is that he is a nobody.
12:25He was born in 1485 in Extremadura, a kind of scrubby frontier bit of Spain.
12:32He could have stayed in Spain, but he's clearly very ambitious.
12:37It has been nearly 30 years since the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas.
12:51Since then, Spanish explorers, mercenaries and merchants have been travelling to the Caribbean
12:57in their thousands, looking for land, gold and glory.
13:07They are known as conquistadors.
13:12Everyone who's going to the new world is going to seek their fortune.
13:19It's the American dream. It's the idea of anyone can go and make something of themselves.
13:29They're a bit like venture capitalists investing in tech.
13:33They're looking for the next frontier, the next big thing.
13:40Cortés, growing up in Spain, saw ships laden with treasure arriving from the new world.
13:47He followed the lure and joined the ranks of the conquistadors.
13:54Cortés wants money and gold and probably also fame and recognition.
14:03Cortés is a narcissist.
14:07He's possibly a sociopath.
14:10He's a clever guy, but he's an awful person.
14:17Cortés will sacrifice friendships and betray his colleagues in order to get what he wants.
14:24Arguably, Cortés is kind of a monster.
14:29Cortés has set his sights on the mainland to the west.
14:37A previous expedition has explored its coast and brought back tales of a mysterious kingdom beyond.
14:45Said to be laden with gold.
14:49He starts drumming up support and gathering men, promising them great wealth if they come with him.
14:56Cortés is often described as a very Machiavellian kind of character, very manipulative.
15:06He's highly ambitious.
15:11Leading 11 ships and some 500 men, Cortés's thirst for gold is about to take him into the unknown.
15:20And into the heart of the most powerful warrior culture in the Americas.
15:28Do Cortés and any of his men have any sense of Tenochtitlan, of the Aztec Empire, of the extraordinary power of this civilisation?
15:35I think the answer is clearly no.
15:37Different ac OUT
15:44Conferences
15:49Throughout his rule, Moctezuma has ruthlessly expanded his empire...
15:54...backed by an army of some 200,000 warriors...
16:00warriors. Inspired by the ferocious power of the apex predators that hunt in the wilds of the Aztec
16:12world. Everything in nature, whether it be animals or mountains or plants or trees, is seen as part
16:23of their worldview. They feel that there are strong spiritual bonds there. Aztec warriors even dress
16:33as the animals whose primal violence they seek to harness. Eagle and jaguar warriors were the two
16:41highest orders in the Aztec army. They symbolize bravery, proximity to power and to creation.
16:53The Aztecs aren't just a fearsome military culture. Their religious beliefs also lead them to practice
17:01a terrifying ritual.
17:09It's hard to get away from sacrifice when it comes to the Aztecs.
17:23The popular image of Aztec culture is basically they love a sacrifice. They love nothing more
17:36than plunging a knife, ripping out your heart and holding it up to a baying mob. Everybody's covered
17:43in blood. But it's not how the Aztecs behave. They almost certainly saw these as very serious
17:49kind of religious rituals.
17:58This knife clearly is an incredible symbolic object. Knives like this are often used as part
18:06of ritual offerings.
18:08The blade is crafted from razor-sharp flint, the handle carved in wood, then decorated in mother-of-pearl,
18:22turquoise and malachite, to depict one of the most formidable of all Aztec fighters, the eagle warrior.
18:33The black patches at the tips of the eagle's wings, those are singeing from the sun, because supposedly
18:41they were the animals that stood the closest to the sun at its creation.
18:47The Aztecs see it as their duty to uphold the balance of the cosmos.
18:53To achieve this, they must feed the sun and the earth with blood.
19:00The most common ritual sacrifice takes place on top of the temple pyramid.
19:13Four priests would stretch the arms and legs of the person backwards over a pointed stone.
19:21They stretch the arms of the victim backwards.
19:24And then a fifth priest removes the heart from the ribcage, which is extended.
19:32And the heart is given to the gods.
19:46Human sacrifice also allows Moctezuma to rule his empire with absolute authority.
19:53This isn't just about saying, look how many people will die.
19:58It's about saying, look how powerful our gods are.
20:02It's about Moctezuma being at the heart of that power and being the figure around which
20:08the cosmos is swirling.
20:10He is the man who has to hold all those forces in balance.
20:13And that is a big statement about power.
20:15The Aztecs wanted to frighten people.
20:20Human sacrifice became a weapon in their war against others.
20:25For now, Moctezuma is terrifying his enemies into submission.
20:31But he is about to face an entirely new kind of opponent.
20:35Two months after setting out from Cuba, the conquistador Hernan Cortez reaches the coastline of the Aztec Empire.
21:02When the Spaniards first arrived on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, their expedition is being watched.
21:13It's the first time that the Aztec people are observing strange people.
21:21Their skin was more or less white.
21:24They were using swords, riding horses.
21:31These animals were not known in central Mexico.
21:38They have ships that are large.
21:41They have different clothing and weaponry.
21:44They are hairier, smellier, and the Spaniards seem and are grubby.
21:57Moctezuma's spies are watching.
22:01And he soon hears reports of the strange new arrivals.
22:04He could crush the Spaniards.
22:11But he chooses to let them live.
22:17Moctezuma is curious.
22:19And he wants to see them.
22:20If an alien spaceship landed and aliens looked human, got out and walked around, your first instinct wouldn't be, we must immediately kill them.
22:32You'd want to talk to them and find out where they've come from.
22:36He cannot possibly think that they pose a threat to his life or to the survival of his empire.
22:45Moctezuma sends a message to the newcomers intended to show his strength.
22:49But it's a message that will be misread.
22:54With tragic consequences.
23:01He dispatches a gift of gold.
23:04He dispatches a gift of gold.
23:19The Aztecs had a special name for gold, which was the excrement of the gods.
23:28Something so precious and so beautiful that only gods could do.
23:33Few items made of gold from the Aztec world still exist.
23:54We often hear the Aztecs prefer turquoise.
24:01But this is really not true.
24:06Once they discover the beauty, they go crazy with gold.
24:12We see the Aztecs being, in a way, like Nouveau Riche, that has acquired wealth suddenly and is showing it off.
24:24It's the equivalent to a Rolex watch.
24:27For the Aztecs, gold is not just valuable, it is sacred.
24:37A sign of the presence of gods on Earth.
24:41And through intricate craftsmanship, a way to harness supernatural forces.
24:48This ring is depicting a jaguar, the most powerful feline in the Americas.
25:01This could have been worn by a noble or a priest or a distinguished warrior.
25:08So, it's a symbol, really, of power and it's a symbol of strength.
25:22Moctezuma's gift of gold is extremely valuable to the Aztecs, but it is not meant as a welcome.
25:30I would read that as a display of power, or else a grand display.
25:38Look how rich I am, I can give you all of these things, so you should go away.
25:42The Spanish, of course, see it as a submission.
25:45Oh, he's agreed that you'll give us all these gifts and so we're going to be in charge.
25:52Moctezuma believes he's shown his strength.
25:55What he fails to realize, is that he has just made Cortez more determined than ever.
26:04It is a catastrophic mistake.
26:25Four months later, Cortez and his men are forging a path inland, up through the lowland jungle.
26:40They are beginning to understand that to get their gold, they will have to take on a vast warrior empire.
26:47But then Cortez discovers a weakness that he can exploit.
26:58There are plenty of people who've been suppressed by the Aztecs,
27:01who might want to take advantage of the arrival of a new power player in the territory.
27:07There is a simmering resentment against Moctezuma.
27:11The source of this resentment is encoded in a remarkable object from the Aztec world.
27:19This is a human existence that has been transformed into a work of art.
27:39Beneath a layer of precious stones is a human skull.
28:01We call it the decorated skull.
28:07But it's not a decorated skull.
28:10It's a power object.
28:14Its mosaic covering is of dazzling turquoise, black lignite and red oyster shell.
28:24Precious materials Moctezuma demands from the wider Aztec empire.
28:29Part of a harsh system of taxation imposed on his subjects.
28:37The city of Tenochtitlan is a parasite on other territories.
28:42So tribute can encompass everything from raw materials and currency,
28:47so things like gold and cacao and cotton,
28:50to fully created warrior outfits,
28:54and even in some cases, sacrificial victims.
28:57The richly decorated skull attached to a deerskin belt
29:05was designed to be worn by an Aztec warrior,
29:09strapped to his back,
29:11to strike awe into those that followed.
29:14The idea that this skull mask could be attached to the body,
29:22looking behind you as you move forward as a priest or a warrior,
29:27that in some senses here is this object
29:29that talks about the overcoming of death.
29:32I can imagine the warrior going into battle wearing this thing,
29:40somehow feeling invincible,
29:44protected,
29:45being reinforced in their own inner potency.
29:49The decorated skull, built from cruel tribute,
29:56is a symbol of Aztec domination.
30:00But it also holds a warning for Emperor Moctezuma.
30:04The danger for him is that there will be some people who think,
30:09God, you know, the Aztecs are very overbearing.
30:11This guy Moctezuma, you know, he's a real menace.
30:14Like, I can't wait to see the back of him.
30:16And that, of course, means that there are people who,
30:19if a new group entered the arena,
30:22would be very keen to ally with them against Moctezuma.
30:25It's a curse, often, to be in a position of power.
30:32You are in a position that is incredibly precarious.
30:36In the case of the Aztec Empire, it was even worse
30:38because this was an empire that was recently built upon
30:40conquest of multiple different groups and ethnicities.
30:44It was bloated, overtaxed, unequal, and fragile.
30:55Cortes and his men press on.
31:02And now they discover that Moctezuma's empire
31:05doesn't just harbour people who resent his rule.
31:09There are also those prepared to resist.
31:15There are city-states within Mexico
31:18which don't send tribute to Tenochtitlana and actually defy it.
31:23Most famously, its big rival is a place called Tlaxcala.
31:32Tlaxcala is a pocket of independent territory
31:34that lies directly on Cortes' route to the Aztec capital.
31:41When the Spanish first arrive,
31:43Tlaxcalan warriors try to drive them back.
31:48But Cortes has a secret weapon.
31:51Someone who can help him negotiate with the people of Tlaxcala.
31:58When the Spaniards first arrive on the coast,
32:00Cortes is very lucky that the Spaniards are given
32:0420 girls to be part of the Spanish entourage.
32:10Among them is a young woman
32:12who will help change the course of history.
32:15In Spanish, she is known as Malinche.
32:19The Aztecs call her Malincen.
32:24Malincen is said to have been born
32:27in the household of a nobleman
32:29very near the Gulf of Mexico.
32:32Between 8 and 12 years old,
32:36she was captured and sold into slavery.
32:43We do not know how many people had owned her.
32:49Hernán Cortes gave Malincen
32:51Malincen to the highest-ranking Spaniard in his group,
32:55who was very impressed by Malincen
32:57because she was beautiful
32:59and also she was very confident.
33:05Malincen soon proves extremely useful to Cortes.
33:10Born just outside the Aztec Empire,
33:12she speaks their language.
33:14Now, she learns Spanish as well.
33:20Almost overnight,
33:22she moves from being a sexual servant
33:25to being a translator,
33:28directly engaging and working with Hernán Cortes.
33:34Images of Malincen herself
33:36can be seen in the Aztec record books.
33:39She often appears either as large
33:47or larger than Hernán Cortes,
33:50which points to her importance.
33:55Malincen is helping Cortes,
33:57but she has her own agenda.
34:01She holds a deep grudge against the Aztecs.
34:05It was they who tore her from her family
34:08and sold her into slavery.
34:13Malincen is really advancing her own interests.
34:18We can well imagine
34:20that it might have seemed
34:22like an opportunity for her
34:24to escape slavery.
34:33The Clascarland's own records
34:36capture the moment when,
34:37with Malincen as his translator,
34:41Cortes tries to persuade them to help him.
34:46The Spanish have to work really hard
34:49before the Clascarlands eventually decide,
34:52OK, it looks like we might have a chance
34:56of defeating the Aztecs,
34:57so let's join forces.
34:58Six months after setting foot on the mainland,
35:25Cortes and his men,
35:26Cortes and his men,
35:27backed by 6,000 of their new local allies,
35:31cross the mountain passes surrounding Tenochtitlan.
35:37They finally get their first glimpse
35:40of the spectacular Aztec capital.
35:42They start to proceed across the causeway.
35:48Cortes and his captains leading this column of Spaniards.
35:54They have all their finery.
35:57They want to impress their hosts.
35:58Moctezuma believes in the strength and power of his empire,
36:08so he welcomes the Spanish,
36:12but he also reminds them who has the upper hand.
36:16There really is an enormous power imbalance,
36:21and Moctezuma emphasizes that power imbalance
36:24by making Cortes wait for ages and ages and ages.
36:28And he has to wait for absolutely hours
36:32before eventually he meets Moctezuma himself.
36:46This moment is, I think, the most richly symbolic,
37:10the most momentous meeting of two human beings in world history.
37:15Because it stands for something much bigger,
37:20which is the European discovery of the New World,
37:23and, of course, the New World's discovery of Europeans.
37:32And all of that is embodied in these two extraordinary people.
37:45First comes an exchange of gifts.
37:52Cortes presents a necklace of pearls and glass beads.
38:00It's no match for the craftsmanship Moctezuma can call upon.
38:06One written account records the gift of a carved serpent covered in turquoise.
38:14Remarkably, an Aztec artifact to match that description has survived.
38:20And it holds clues to the message Moctezuma meant to convey.
38:25The double-headed serpent is this absolutely exquisite object that, from the moment you first see it, you can never forget,
38:38because it imprints itself on your memory.
38:54Snakes, for the Aztecs, represent fertility.
39:13They represent life and death.
39:15The shedding of the skin symbolizes rebirth.
39:27This is to be seen, to be admired, to be shown to the world.
39:32It's part of the pride that the Aztecs have, is a display of power.
39:40The person that made it must have been aware of the emergent power of this object,
39:52and been spellbound by it as it was being made.
39:56The gift is meant to impress Cortez, but it may also be a warning.
40:11The double-headed serpent is an ambiguous symbol.
40:17It can be a negative omen, because you have the two of them pulling in different directions.
40:23So there's that slight hint of danger underlying it.
40:32If you were a betting man, and you look at these two blokes, you'd say,
40:35come on, there's only going to be one winner here.
40:37And it's not the Spaniards, who's got a few hundred adventurers and ruffians at his back.
40:43It's the bloke with a massive capital city and kind of millions of people.
40:47It seems like no match at all, but Moctezuma critically underestimates the threat.
40:56He treats Cortez like a friendly visitor, a courtly prince, when in reality he is a ruthless mercenary.
41:06He says to Cortez, welcome, this is your home, please come into the city, everything is yours.
41:13You know, we're so delighted that you've come.
41:15This was basically like people who say, oh, come into my house.
41:21But you never really mean it.
41:23You're saying polite things.
41:25These are the courtly conventions, the courtesies, that you extend to your guests.
41:29That's what Moctezuma is doing, and I think the Spanish take that literally.
41:35Cortez is like, great, you know, let's go.
41:41The Spaniards, along with the Clasgarland leaders, take up residence inside the Aztec capital.
41:53Moctezuma thinks, I am much more powerful than the Clasgarlands,
41:57and these guys will be overwhelmed by my city and me and my power,
42:03and probably they'll abandon the Clasgarlands and come and work for me.
42:12Cortez is clearly in awe of this wonderful city.
42:15One of the other conquistadors later says,
42:18we wondered if it was not a dream because it was all so beautiful.
42:22He and his men are housed in a palace next door to Moctezuma's own palace.
42:28We have this sense that he is building a relationship, a rapport with Moctezuma.
42:33The Spaniards are engaging in a kind of prolonged diplomatic encounter.
42:37They go hunting together.
42:39They were very impressed by the market.
42:43They saw the inside of temples.
42:45They were taken by boat to the other side of the lake shore
42:49to see other little towns and villages.
42:54The more the Spanish see of this fabled land,
42:57the more desperate they are to get their hands on it.
43:00The problem for Cortez is that there's no apparent end point
43:06to this prolonged period of diplomacy.
43:09After five months of diplomatic stalemate, Cortez receives news that forces him to act.
43:34Cortez learned that some other Spaniards had arrived on the coast.
43:41He knew he had a problem because he didn't have the permission to be there.
43:49Cortez has embarked on his bold venture without getting approval from the Spanish authorities.
43:57Cortez has gone rogue.
43:59Effectively, Cortez is attempting to defeat an empire without actually having a license from the king of Spain to do what he's doing.
44:09The new arrivals are here under orders to arrest Cortez.
44:14He needs a bargaining chip.
44:17So he takes a huge risk.
44:20Cortez thought it would go better for him if he could say that he had control of the kingdom through a hostage prince.
44:27This was an age-old way of making war in Europe.
44:30You take the prince hostage and then you have control over their people.
44:40He had the nerve to send a group of men into the throne room where Montezuma was.
44:46And literally take him prisoner.
44:49Malinche is doing all the translating.
45:05They say, look, you're coming with us.
45:07And he's just so stunned.
45:09It's a kind of paralysis.
45:14He's like, OK, I'll go.
45:17Such a mad gamble.
45:18Such a mad thing for Cortez to do to take Montezuma prisoner.
45:21You get this sense of Cortez being this amazing maverick who makes the right choices at the right time.
45:41What's often forgotten is the fact that he is a desperate man.
45:46He can't turn back.
45:49He's got no choice.
45:50So he may as well plough on.
45:53The gamble pays off.
45:56And Cortez bribes the new arrivals to join him in his quest for gold.
46:03Cortez is able, through his usual mix of military and diplomatic prowess, to win the new Spaniards over.
46:11In fact, it takes almost no winning over at all.
46:15He now has 800 additional soldiers.
46:19But having kidnapped Montezuma, Cortez has made the whole population of the Aztec capital his enemy.
46:34Once they have taken Montezuma prisoner, the mood in the city has definitely darkened.
46:39There's a few hundred Spaniards, they're in this palace, but around them, it's not merely the city, with like hundreds of thousands of people, but it's the whole massive empire.
46:53A band of Aztec warriors stages an attack on the palace where Montezuma is being held prisoner.
47:07The emperor is ordered by Cortez to try and defuse the situation.
47:11Montezuma was forced on a balcony to appeal to his people.
47:18They're kind of using him as a bit of a hostage, a human shield, possibly still hoping that he can act as an intermediary with the people.
47:25Although I think it's pretty clear by this point that his authority has drained away and that people are no longer listening to him.
47:32The emperor has lost all control over his people. Once hailed as a demigod, he is now powerless and all too mortal.
47:49Montezuma is a hostage who has outlived his usefulness. We know the Spanish kill all their other hostages. And there are sources that say the Spanish basically came into his room and killed him.
48:02The corpse of the once mighty leader of Central America's greatest civilization is left on the street to run.
48:32Montezuma is left on the street to rot.
48:46Before the Aztec warriors can take their revenge, the Spanish decide to grab what they can and make their escape.
48:57They're sneaking through the streets which seem deserted.
48:59How are we going to get out of here with our lives?
49:04They are seen by a woman who's collecting water and she raises the alarm.
49:12And then it's as though the whole city is pouring out of the buildings.
49:16Canoes are swarming around the Spaniards. The mortality rate is just piling up. Horses are being killed. People are being killed by the hundreds.
49:34In the chaos, around two-thirds of the Spaniards die. Some 600 men.
49:43Cortes himself is quite badly injured, but he survives.
49:47This night has gone down in history with the name of La Noche Triste, the night of sorrows. Because for the Spaniards, it is a tragedy.
49:58From the indigenous point of view, maybe we might think of it as more like a night of triumph.
50:04Finally, the Aztecs have rid their capital city of the newcomers.
50:13The whole city celebrates. The Spaniards are gone.
50:17But they have left behind a parting gift. An invisible threat that will bring the Aztecs to their knees.
50:29After the Spaniards left, for a few weeks, people were very happy.
50:51But then people began to die.
50:53For the Aztecs, can you imagine the horror as this silent, unexplainable killer first appears among them?
51:02Tantalizing evidence for this mystery disease may be embedded in the most iconic artifact from the Aztec world.
51:25Masks were a central element of Aztec life.
51:47Turquoise masks were usually placed on corpses at the time of a funeral.
51:52Here we see an Aztec, with ammoni-like eyes, aquiline nose and beautiful teeth.
52:13But this mask contains some unexpected details.
52:17We see these stones. They stand out so the imperfections of the skin are being shown.
52:30We see the man being afflicted. He is showing us what he's suffering from.
52:36The lumps on the skin might represent the disease of leprosy, widespread in the Americas.
52:49But they are also a remarkable match for a killer plague that the Spanish have introduced to the new world.
52:55Smallpox.
52:59It seems very evident to me that those bigger bits of turquoise on the surface, that is the lumps that you would find on the face of somebody afflicted by smallpox.
53:11It's hard not to associate the mask with exactly that, this wave of mortal disease that decimated 40% of the population.
53:28Since the Spaniards' arrival, smallpox has spread inland from the coast, before engulfing the Aztec capital itself.
53:41This population was virgin population in the sense that they had never been exposed to these Western microbes.
53:51They all got sick.
53:54They had no medicine that worked for it, no way to understand it.
53:59It was psychologically devastating.
54:01Smallpox is one of the most deadly diseases we've had in the history of humanity.
54:10Infectious enough to spread quite quickly, but deadly enough that actually it kills a third of people infected.
54:18It is higher than SARS, which is 10%.
54:22It's higher than COVID-19, which was, you know, 1 to 2%.
54:25When you get it, you start feeling unwell, high fever, headaches, vomiting.
54:34The next stage is the tongue and the mouth get covered with pus-filled little sacs.
54:40Once your skin starts rising up, almost like little peas underneath your skin, incredibly painful.
54:46Students come all the way up and develop into scabs.
54:49Once it's in your home, everyone will get it.
54:51And then it's the question of how many will survive.
54:59Disease is the greatest reaper across human history.
55:03More people have fallen to pathogens than they have to any other cause.
55:08Epidemics are a shock.
55:10But ultimately what's more important is how vulnerable is a society which is hit by an epidemic.
55:16Nearly 14 months after he fled the Aztec capital, Cortes has returned to a civilisation in its death throes.
55:29Now, backed by his local allies, he launches a brutal attack.
55:34They're fighting a disease-ridden, weakened, starving population.
55:39And I think that is massive in explaining how he's able to achieve what he does.
55:45The Aztecs insist on fighting to the death.
55:50So, the Spanish start moving through the city, practicing total war.
56:02It's simply the only way the Spanish are able to force the Aztecs, this proud warrior culture, to surrender.
56:09Finally, the mighty warrior empire of the Aztecs has fallen.
56:30The Aztec empire fell apart within two years.
56:45This makes it one of the fastest collapses throughout world history.
56:49That was due to the sheer variety of threats it faced.
56:51An overbearing leader who demanded tax and tribute.
56:59A disaffected people with nothing to lose.
57:04And a ruthless opponent who exploited these fault lines for his own gain.
57:10Once you think about the huge amount of indigenous people who were not happy and were ready to fight against the Aztecs, you get a very different view of the situation.
57:28This is an indigenous civil war, an empire that has collapsed in on itself.
57:33A collapse hastened by an unforeseen killer.
57:37Disease is still one of the greatest threats to civilization.
57:42We do need to look at our collective vulnerability.
57:45Just think of what happened with Covid.
57:48Pathogens always seem to be two steps ahead of us and we're trying to catch up in that race.
57:54The story of the Aztecs is ultimately a story about the arrival of the unexpected.
58:00And I think that has to be a pretty sobering lesson for us.
58:03We are deluded if we think that everything we take for granted will be here forever.
58:13Japan, a unique culture closed off to the west for centuries, is on a collision course with the modern world.
58:30As foreign aggressors arrive on their shores, Japan's ancient warrior class, the Samurai, must fight to save their way of life.
58:43Namaste
58:49Have a great day
58:51Transcription by CastingWords
Be the first to comment