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Portuguese Cochin
Cochin, located on the southwest coast of India, was a Portuguese colony from 1503 to 1663. Known to the Portuguese as Cochim, it was one of several important cities on India’s Malabar Coast and a great trade centre for spices like pepper...
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Fala do trono
Fala do Trono, painting by Pedro Américo, Brazil, 1872. This painting depicts the opening of the General Assembly by the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II, on May 3, 1872. In addition to the Emperor, the painting features important political...
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The Founding of Santiago de Chile
A 19th-century painting by Pedro Lira Rencoret showing the foundation of Santiago de Chile in 1541 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia. (National History Museum, Santiago)
Interview
Interview: Catherine of Braganza - Charles II's Portuguese Queen
Though Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705) wed Charles II of England (reign 1660-1685) in a union of great political consequence, her life and impact in Restoration England remain largely overlooked in the English-speaking world. In her latest...
Definition
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire was established from the 15th century and eventually stretched from the Americas to Japan. Very often a string of coastal trading centres with defensive fortifications, there were larger territorial colonies like Brazil...
Definition
The Conquest of New Spain
The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492 to c. 1580) is an account written in 1568 of the early Spanish colonization of Mesoamerica, specifically the conquest of the Aztec civilization in Mexico from 1519 to 1521 when Díaz...
Definition
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (c. 1500-1542) was a Spanish conquistador who fought in Panama and Nicaragua and accompanied Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) in the conquest of the Inca civilization in Peru. He famously explored North America, including...
Definition
Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro (c. 1475-1538) was a Spanish conquistador who was second-in-command to Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) during his expedition that attacked the Inca civilization from 1531. Almagro then led his own expedition to explore Chile...
Definition
Homo Naledi
Homo naledi is an extinct species of human discovered in Rising Star Cave in South Africa in 2013 CE in what has become the biggest single-species hominin find in Africa to this day, which is moreover set to cause a bit of an avalanche within...
Article
Christianity in Japan
Christianity arrived in Japan in 1549 when Jesuits first set foot in Kagoshima. Initial attempts to spread the religion were met with confusion; however, through employing various methods, they began to see success. However, by 1650, Christianity...