Dominic Sandbrook

But Pizarro at the end says, you have been found guilty of idolatry, heresy, regicide, fratricide, treason, polygamy, and incest.

I mean, they really are throwing the book at him.

And the sentence for all this is death,

And because he had committed treason, he should die by burning unless he converted to Christianity.

Now, this is very worrying for Atahualpa because die by burning is unthinkable for an Inca.

If he's going to live on in paradise, in Hanapancha, as the Incas call it, then his body cannot be burned because you can't get into paradise if you've been burned.

And they mummify the bodies, don't they?

Yes, you must be embalmed.

If you're the emperor, and we will talk about this in the next episode, they will mummify you and then they'll give you your own palace in Cusco and they'll bring you out to festivals.

For royal weddings and things.

And parades and processions and things.

You'll have your own servants and stuff when you're a mummy.

This is terrible if Fattahualpa can't enjoy this future joy.

Now, he doesn't have much time to think about it.

The trial ends, so-called trial, if there is a trial, ends in the early hours of Saturday the 26th of July.

And the Spaniards say, we want to get this done by tonight.

Basically, A, in case Atahualpa is rescued, or B, in case Pizarro changes his mind.

And so that evening, night's falling, Atahualpa is led out into the square in Cajamarca, the place where he had been captured before this big crowd, and he's tied to a stake.

It's an absolutely kind of heart-rending scene, even though he is a bad man in some ways.

He's sobbing like a baby.