S5E212 - The Macehualtin: Mexico's Commoners in the Shadow of Conquest

In this episode, Lucas and Luna step away from the famous conquistadors, tlatoani, and high priests to explore the lives of the macehualtin — the commoners who made up the vast majority of Mesoamerican society. From the calpulli farming communities and the telpochcalli schools to the tequitl labor tax and the pochteca traders, we trace how ordinary Nahuas lived, worked, and fought before and during the Spanish invasion. We look at how the Florentine Codex, compiled by Bernardino de Sahagún, preserves their voices, and how the arrival of Cortés and the catastrophic cocoliztli epidemics reshaped their world. We also...