00:00 Tenochtitlán was a thriving city in the Aztec Empire with a population of around 150,000, known for its markets, festivals, temples, and canals, until the arrival of the Spanish, who were noted for their foul smell.

05:41 The Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlán in the 16th century led to the downfall of the city and the birth of the myth of European superiority, which still influences things like immigration policies today.

10:40 The conquest of Tenochtitlán has traditionally been portrayed as a triumph of Europe over indigenous people, but a shift in perspective has led to a more inclusive understanding of the event through the exploration of indigenous archives and the rise of social and intellectual movements.

15:46 The Florentine Codex, an encyclopedia of Mexica life written in the 1570s, provides valuable insights into the culture and history of Tenochtitlán, including accounts of omens and the conquest, which have been overlooked in traditional narratives.

21:49 Christopher Columbus and subsequent Spanish expeditions to the Caribbean were motivated by a desire for wealth, religious conquest, and adventure, leading to the murder, enslavement, and theft from indigenous people, and Hernán Cortés, driven by rumors of immense wealth, set his sights on the empire in Mexico City.

27:07 Hernán Cortés, accompanied by Donia Marina, a key player in the conquest, builds alliances with local leaders and the people of central Mexico who are resentful of the ruling city of Tenochtitlan, forming an army composed mainly of indigenous soldiers, and arrives in Tenochtitlan in November 1519.

32:46 After initially being welcomed into Tenochtitlan and treated well, Cortés and his men put Montezuma under house arrest, looted the city, and committed atrocities, leading to a massacre and the enraged people of Tenochtitlan attacking the Spanish compound.

39:34 The fall of Tenochtitlan was primarily due to an epidemic of disease, likely smallpox, brought by the Spanish that decimated the population and left the city in a rapid decline, leading to its eventual capture by Cortés.

45:22 Cortez's letters and the book written by Francisco López de Gomara created a narrative that the Spanish conquered Tenochtitlan because they were technologically and morally superior, but this narrative lacks nuance and accuracy, as Tenochtitlan was actually rebuilt by indigenous elites after its fall and remained an indigenous or Mexica city for at least a decade after the conquest.

50:30 The fall of Tenochtitlan allowed Europe to gain immense wealth from the Americas, laying the groundwork for the material and ideological world we live in today, which is still dominated by European nations and living with the impacts of European imperialism.