646. The Fall of the Incas: Death to the Emperor (Part 3)
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What happens to Atahualpa after his capture by the Spanish?
Atahualpa speaks. Atahualpa needs. Atahualpa commands. Bring him gold. From the palaces, from the temples, from all buildings in the great places. From walls of pleasure and roofs of omen. From floors of feasting and ceilings of death. Bring him the gold of Quito and Pachamacacacacac. Bring him the gold of Cusco and Coricancha. Bring him the gold of Vilcanotta. Bring him the gold of Colai, of Amarius and Arequipa. Bring him the gold of the Chimu. Put up a mountain of gold and free your son from his prison of clouds.
So that was Christopher Plummer playing Atahualpa, Emperor of the Incas, in Peter Schaffer's play The Royal Hunt of the Sun, which we've been hearing a lot of in this series. And Atahualpa, in that scene... is summoning his people to one of the most memorable endeavors in the whole of world history. And it's the kind of scene that maybe as a child, you have a book of world history and you read about it and you think, wow, that's mad. That couldn't possibly have happened. And that is exactly what happened to me. I had a book of world history and there was Atahualpa with Francisco Pizarro in a kind of very cool hat and a beard. They were chatting away and they're in this room and there's this kind of piles of gold mounting up.
And on the room, there is a white line that's been drawn around it. And you realize that Atahalpa has to get enough gold to reach that white line. And Dominic, I have never forgotten it because the jeopardy is immense, isn't it? Yeah. If he doesn't get enough gold to reach that white line, he's going to die. If he does get enough gold to reach that white line, well...
What then?
We will find out in today's episode, won't we?
Yeah, you're not wrong. This is exactly it. I had this encyclopedia of world history as a child, maybe the same one that you did. Is it the R.J. Anstead Book of World History? It probably was, actually. But he wrote all history books in the 1970s. He did, yes. In the 1960s and 70s. So, yeah, it's a brilliant book. And there's this picture and there's this bloke gesturing at the wall. Yeah. And they're filling it with kind of golden llamas and stuff, like piling up. Yeah. And, you know, if he fills the room, the Spanish will let him go. This is in Cajamarca, where he's been taken prisoner. And if he doesn't fill the room, they will grota burn him or grota him. Yeah. And basically, you can't wait to find out what happens next.
And you know what? This really happened. And this is the story we're telling in today's episode.
How does Atahualpa attempt to negotiate his freedom?
Brilliant. So let's remind ourselves where we got to in the story of the fall of the Incas. So people will remember Francisco Pizarro and his fellow conquistadors had arrived in Cajamarca in November 1533. And they'd hold up waiting for this bloke Atahualpa, the emperor of the Incas, who's been fighting a civil war against his brother Huascar.
And Huascar is in a cage, isn't he, at this point, being brought from Cusco to where Atahualpa is.
Exactly. Huascar has been taken prisoner. So Atahualpa had won the civil war, effectively. Now, Atahualpa made this grand entrance to the town square, which we described last time. There's this confrontation with the Dominican friar, Vicente de Valverde. And then the Spanish charged into the square and they took him prisoner and they killed all his men. And we ended with this bonkers scene where he's taken in, dressed in new clothes to have dinner with Pizarro. And then to curl up with him for the night. Yeah, and then spend the night with him. And you suggested that Pizarro was a snorer. which would just make things even worse, wouldn't it? He's definitely a snorer. Pizarro's in his 50s. He's kind of tall.
He's broad. He's burly. I mean, that's a snorer. Definitely. Well, I think, I mean, that description applies to me as well. I don't think I'm a snorer. You're not burly. I mean, no one would call you burly in a million years.
People watching on YouTube will be able to see that.
See how burly Tom is, exactly. Exactly. So we ended with night falling, the carrion crows feasting on the bodies of the dead, and so on and so forth.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What happens to Atahualpa after his capture by the Spanish?
0:10–2:52
2
How does Atahualpa attempt to negotiate his freedom?
2:52–6:44
3
What role does gold play in Atahualpa's ransom?
6:44–12:16
4
How do the Spanish conquistadors react to the arrival of reinforcements?
12:16–18:14
5
What is the significance of the Inca civil war in the context of the Spanish conquest?
18:14–23:39
6
How does Atahualpa's leadership affect the Inca response to the Spanish?
23:39–29:49
7
What events lead to Atahualpa's trial and eventual execution?
29:49–37:10
8
What are the consequences of Atahualpa's death for the Inca Empire?
37:10–1:05:12
Speakers
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