Ep 19: Verrazzano and the Cèllere Codex

We look at the first European voyage to the US Eastern coast undertaken by Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524, which produced the first ethnological and geographical account of the region known as the Cèllere Codex.

The full English translation of the Cellere Codex can be found here. For the handwritten copy by Verrazzano, the scans are available in Lawrence Wroth’s book (see Sources).

Some maps that depict the Verrazzano False Sea:

Note the chunk carved out of Southeastern US in the oldest map of New York. (Source)

Source

More maps on the false sea:

Antique Prints blog

My Old Maps – includes a downloadable 21-page description of the Verrazzano False Sea and many maps.

Additional tidbits:

Verrazzano’s birthplace is located at the Verrazzano Castle in Chianti, Italy. (open to visitors!)

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is also named after him.

Sources:

Codignola, Luca. ‘Another Look at Verrazzano’s Voyage, 1524.’ Acadiensis: Journal of the History of the Atlantic Region 29, no. 1 (1999): 15.

Wroth, Lawrence. The Voyages of Giovanni Da Verrazzano 1524-1528. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1970.

Ep 18: The “German” Colonisation of Venezuela

We explore a forgotten period in the history of colonisation in Latin America, when the Welser banking family briefly colonised Klein-Venedig (Little Venice) in Venezuela from 1526-1546. This episode was co-written with Satya, who helped immensely in the research process.

Source: de.wikipedia

I relied on the work of Spencer Tyce for most of the episode, check out his r/askhistorians interview where he goes way more in-depth into the colonisation of Venezuela:

There’s also an English translation of Nikolaus Federmann’s Indianische Historia (the only detailed record of this period), out on 15 December 2021: A Violent First Contact in Venezuela: Nikolaus Federmann’s Indian History

Also somewhat tangentially related: Colonia Tovar, a town in Venezuela, is known as the “Germany of the Caribbean”. It was founded in 1843 by immigrants from the Grand Duchy of Baden in the German Empire.

Sources:

Roth, Julia. ‘Sugar and Slaves : The Augsburg Welser as Conquerors of America and Colonial Foundational Myths.’ Atlantic Studies 14, no. 4 (2 October 2017): 436–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/14788810.2017.1365279.

Tyce, Spencer Randolph. ‘German Conquistadors and Venture Capitalists: The Welser Company’s Commercial Experiment in 16th Century Venezuela and the Caribbean World.’ PhD diss. The Ohio State University, 2015.

Ep 17: The Aztec-Spanish War (Part 3)

In this final installment to the Aztec-Spanish War series, we wrap up the events leading up to the 1521 fall of Tenochtitlan. We also examine the aftermath of the war, and rebut the conventional ‘explorer’ narrative. For further reading, check out the sources used in this episode at https://hocpodcast.wordpress.com.

Image of the smallpox epidemic from the Florentine Codex – Book 12, Chapter 29 (source)

Full description of the epidemic in the Florentine Codex

Cómo funcionaba la coalición interétnica que conquistó México-Tenochtitlan – Mexico anthropologist Federico Navarrete on the agency of indigenous allies in the Aztec-Spanish War (in Spanish)

A somewhat related documentary: The Absent Stone/La piedra ausente (2013), on the eventful transportation of the Tlaloc monolith from Coatlinchan to Mexico City in 1964. (Read more here)

The sources used in this episode can be found in the post on the Aztec-Spanish War (Part 1).

Ep 16: La Malinche: Interview with Laura Esquivel

In this episode, we focus on Malinche, the interpreter for Hernán Cortés. In an interview with Laura Esquivel, the author of Malinche (2006), she shares her insight into Malinche’s perspective, and her reinterpretation of the figure of Malinche as a Mexican herself. This interview was translated in real time by Jordi Castells, who is also the illustrator for the codex images in Malinche.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4z5Gc9u1zt0xsFlhunFrJ2?si=4d1209346ee44425

You can get Malinche from Amazon here.

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Malinche in the History of Txlaxcala Codex (source)

Malinche in the Florentine Codex (source)

Malinche: A Broken Identity (2021) – A short film on Malinche by Lucille Lortel Theatre that “addresses the origins, names, life, and real and symbolic functions Malinche has performed throughout Mexican history”.

Malinchism – a perjorative that describes those who think that foreign values are superior.

Twitter thread from @AztecEmpire1520 on Cortes’ many mistresses

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Further readings:

Aveling, Harry. ‘La Malinche, Laura Esquivel, and Translation’. Translation Review 72, no. 1 (September 2006): 41–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/07374836.2006.10523944.

Mukherjee, Indrani. ‘“Seeing” the Malinche Myth as Nomad Subject in Laura Esquivel’s Como Agua Para Chocolate’. Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics 43, no. 4 (Winter 2020): 51–63.

Tate, Julee. ‘La Malinche: The Shifting Legacy of a Transcultural Icon: The Latin Americanist, March 2017’. The Latin Americanist 61, no. 1 (March 2017): 81–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/tla.12102.

Townsend, Camilla. Malintzin’s Choices: An Indian Woman in the Conquest of Mexico. Diálogos. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006.

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Transcriptions for the interview are available below, first in Spanish and then in English.

Ep 15: Aztec-Spanish War (Part 2)

In the second part of the Aztec-Spanish War, we venture into Tenochtitlan and deconstruct a few myths around the encounter between the Spanish and the Mexica.

Moctezuma’s death in the Florentine Codex (Wikimedia)

I couldn’t find a full list of images depicting the arrival of the Spanish in Tenochtitlan. If you can get your hands on Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble’s English translation of the Florentine Codex, the drawings are neatly compiled in the mid-section of the book.

Source

Description of Tenochtitlan from Cortés’ second letter

Tenochtitlan recreated in VR

Key Florentine Codex extracts: Moctezuma meeting Cortés, Massacre at the Great Temple, Spanish fleeing Tenochtitlan

The Tree of the Night of Sorrows (the descendant of the tree where Cortés allegedly wept after escaping from Tenochtitlan)

Archaeological excavations at Tecoaque (in English)

Archaeological excavations at Tecoaque (in Spanish)

Sources used in this episode can be found in the notes for Episode 13.

Ep 14: Retelling the Aztec-Spanish War: Interview with Paul Guinan

Paul Guinan, writer and artist of the graphic novel, Aztec Empire, speaks about his creative process, combing through Spanish and indigenous sources, and popular depictions of the Aztec-Spanish War. Aztec Empire was created by Big Red Hair, comprised of Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett. Read Aztec Empire for free on https://www.bigredhair.com/books/aztec-empire. (Check out the very comprehensive bibliography too!) Follow them on Twitter at @AztecEmpire1520, where they regularly tweet interesting threads on the Aztecs, and their artistic process. The transcript of the interview is available below.

Image from Twitter @AztecEmpire1520

Transcript (edited slightly for clarity):

Ep 13: Aztec-Spanish War (Part 1)

We’re back in the Americas! The Aztec-Spanish War was so much more than the narratives centered around Hernán Cortés versus Moctezuma II. We look at the history of Mesoamerica, historical sources and the events leading up to the war.

Maps uploaded by u/jabberwockxeno on Reddit

Further readings:

The 1513 Requirement in Spanish and in English

The Aztec Empire, an ongoing graphic novel series

Hernán Cortés‘ letters to Charles I

Florentine Codex (Project Gutenberg)

Pages from the Mendoza Codex

The True History of the Conquest of New Spain (Bernal Díaz del Castillo)

Ep 12: Enrique of Malacca in Postcolonial Literature

Harun Aminurrashid’s 1957 postcolonial novel Panglima Awang portrayed the first circumnavigation from Enrique of Malacca’s perspective. Dr Pitchay Gani Aziz, educator/writer and winner of the 2020 Singapore Literature Prize for creative non-fiction in Malay, speaks about Harun’s life, the significance of the novel and nationalist Malay literature in postcolonial Malaya.

Panglima Awang has been translated into English, though the novel is somewhat difficult to obtain – email me at historyofcolonisation@gmail[dot]com if you’re interested. Dr Pitchay’s book, Falsafah Pengkaryaan Melayu Singapura (The Philosophy of Singapore Malay Creative Writing Process) is sold out, but an English translation is currently in the works.

Further readings:

Hooker, Virginia Matheson. “History, Literature and Social Change: Harun Aminurrashid’s Independence Novel “Panglima Awang”.” Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 72, no. 2 (277) (1999): 5-16. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41493390.

Koster, G. L. “A Voyage to Freedom: Imagining the Portuguese in Harun Aminurrashid’s Historical Novel Panglima Awang.” Indonesia and the Malay World 37, no. 109 (November 2009): 375–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639810903269342.

Ep 11: Enrique of Malacca — The First Man Around the World?

Enrique of Malacca may have been the first person to round the globe – but why isn’t he mentioned as often as Ferdinand Magellan or Juan Elcano? Our first guest, Professor Romain Bertrand (Sciences Po), speaks about the role Enrique played in the circumnavigation and his evolving legacy in Europe and Southeast Asia.

You can get Prof Bertrand’s book, Qui a fait le tour de quoi ? : L’affaire Magellan (Who went around what?: The Magellan Expedition) on Amazon or fnac, currently only available in French.

Further readings:

The Enrique de Malacca Memorial Project, created by artist Ahmad Fuad Osman.

Interview transcript, edited for clarity:

Interview with New Naratif

https://newnaratif.com/podcast/a-faithful-history-of-colonisation/

I spoke to PJ Thum (New Naratif) and Sean Francis Han (Wake Up Singapore) about the goals and plans for this podcast and the impacts of colonialism in Singapore. You can access it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else you get your podcasts from.