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One thing in this episode that really grated on my ears was the introduction of Juan's Spanish companion as "a real conquistador." Let's see, that's in 1496 or 1497. After Columbus' second voyage, but before his third. The Spanish hadn't conquered anything in the New World yet, not even Hispaniola. And the word, "conquistador," in the sense given it by Cortez and Pizarro, did not exist.
The depiction of syphilis seems equally ahistorical. During the first decade after Columbus brought it back from America, it was incredibly nasty -- killed you quickly. Only later did it begin the familiar evolution to a less virulent and more parasitic microorganism, following the familiar long-term path from predator to symbiote.
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Rawley Revisited - If you love one person well enough to inspire emulation, you may save the whole world.
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