The First Indigenous Americans in Europe

Dan Snow's History Hit

1492 marked the beginning of the Colombian Exchange - the transfer of people, goods, ideas and commodities across the Atlantic between Europe and the Americas. We hear a lot about the conquistadors, the settlers, Jesuit priests and colonisers from Spain, Portugal and Britain whose success in the 'New World' was built on the help and enslavement of indigenous people. But what of the indigenous peoples who made the journey in the opposite direction? Many travelled to Europe, some as slaves, others as courtiers, diplomats and even tourists.

Author and Britain's only Aztec historian Caroline Dodds Pennock joins Dan to tell the stories of the Maya who first brought chocolate to the court of Isabella and Ferdinand, the Algonquin diplomats who travelled with Walter Raleigh and took residence in Elizabethan London and the Brazilian King who stopped by Hampton Court palace to see Henry VIII.

Caroline's new book is called 'On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe'

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.

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