Dominic Sandbrook

Did you force your subjects to sacrifice women and children to your gods?

Were your wars just?

Have you been giving orders for the Spaniards to be killed?

Some of the Spanish sources say the questions were ridiculous and the interpreters were deliberately mangling the questions and Atahualpa's answers to portray him in the worst possible light.

Atahualpa, for all that we've said, he's a very hard man.

He's also a very emotional man.

He breaks down in tears and he says, I can give you twice as much gold and silver as I've already given you if you'll spare me.

And we're told that Pizarro was crying as well.

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.