This episode discusses England's long term attempt to colonize Ireland (it's first attempt at colonization) and how it relates to English experiences at the colonization of the New World.

This episode discusses the De Soto expedition to La Florida and its exploration of what eventually becomes the south eastern United States. 

This lecture discusses the Spanish conquest of the Aztec (Mexica) and Inka empires.

This episode covers the Islamic invasion of the Iberian peninsula, the Reconquista, and discusses how these events led to the Spanish discovery of the Americas.

This episode covers the resurgence of long-distance trade in the 15th century saw a mix of traditional and innovative strategies to revive old routes and establish new maritime networks, with sea routes increasingly dominating over land-based trade. China played a crucial role, with its economic growth under the Ming dynasty driving regional commerce, while silver became the main currency for trade, especially with the influx of American silver. The Indian Ocean also saw a revival, with Muslim and Hindu merchants dominating trade, and the Portuguese expanded their influence through maritime exploration, establishing trading posts and using military power to secure control over key routes, especially in Africa and Asia. 

This episode discusses Christopher Columbus and the world he lived in prior to the discovery. It will emphasize his education, European knowledge of the world, and why the Spanish government gave him the opportunity to explore. 

This episode covers the Europe in the 15th century, once weakened by plague, internal conflict, and technological backwardness, began a dramatic transformation driven by a desire to bypass Muslim-controlled trade routes and access the wealth of Africa and Asia. Led by Spain and Portugal, Europeans developed advanced ships like the caravel, explored the Atlantic, colonized islands such as the Canaries and Madeiras, and established plantation economies reliant on slave labor—first of native peoples like the Guanche, then increasingly of Africans. These Atlantic conquests served as both a training ground and a blueprint for the later exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas, blending military conquest, religious justification, and commercial ambition into a powerful expansionist force. 

This episode covers the first (documented?) contact in the new world between Europeans and Native peoples. Norse seafarers from Scandinavia, particularly Leif Erikson and his successors, established brief and ultimately unsuccessful settlements in North America around the year 1000 A.D., most notably at L’Anse aux Meadows in present-day Newfoundland. These expeditions, based on saga accounts, were driven by exploration and the need for resources like timber, but persistent conflict with Indigenous peoples (Skraelings) and harsh conditions led to their abandonment. Despite impressive navigation skills and shipbuilding techniques, the Norse presence in the New World faded into obscurity centuries before Columbus, leaving little direct influence on later European exploration.

This episode explores the culture and religions of the Native peoples of the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus in 1492.

This episode covers the history of the American continents prior to the arrival of Columbus in 1492