In the Americas, the human cost of Europe’s maritime imperialism was largely borne by the indigenous Amerindians and imported slaves. Overland expansion in the Old World faced tougher resistance and a harsher environment. So here the price of the Occidental breakout was a domestic regime of deepening social and political oppression, whose effects w

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Two voyages of the 1490s—those of Christopher Columbus from the Atlantic coast of Spain to the Caribbean in 1492 and of Vasco de Gama from Lisbon to Calicut, India, in 1498 and back in 1499—decisively changed the direction of world history. Humanity’s understanding of the world and our place in it, the organization of the global economy, the center

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Since their demise, many legends have circulated about the Cathars, usually centring around the so-called Cathar Treasure, which was said to have disappeared during the siege of Montségur, and their relationship with the Troubadours and the Knights Templar. While much of this seems to be the result of the romanticisation of the faith by writers suc

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Grâce à une merveilleuse clairvoyance, l’Europe comprend tout à coup que les grands voyages et les découvertes vont transformer davantage l’univers que toutes les guerres et la grosse artillerie, qu’une époque séculaire, millénaire, le moyen âge, est révolue et qu’une autre commence, celle des temps modernes, qui pensera et créera dans des dimensio

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