The Spanish Treasure Fleet: How Silver Crossed the Atlantic

Before the Manila Galleon linked Asia and the Americas, Spain had already built an even more vital maritime system: the treasure fleets that carried silver from Potosí and Mexico across the Atlantic to Seville. This episode follows the annual convoy system known as the Carrera de Indias — the route, the ships, the pirates, and the staggering scale of the operation. Lucas and Luna explore the role of the Casa de Contratación, the dangers of the Florida Straits, the two-route system (Flota de Nueva España and Galeones de Tierra Firme), and the 1628 loss of the 1628 fleet to Piet Hein. They also touch on the massive fraud and smuggling that meant perhaps twice as much silver left the Americas as officially arrived in Spain. This is the story of the pipeline that funded the Spanish Empire — and choked its economy. #CarreraDeIndias #SpanishTreasureFleet #Silver #Potosí #CasaDeContratación #Seville #FloridaStraits #PietHein #FlotaDeNuevaEspaña #GaleonesDeTierraFirme #Smuggling #HabsburgSpain #AtlanticHistory #NewWorldSilver #NavalHistory #Piracy #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo