On November 20
On November 20, the Human Saga records one pivotal event: The New Laws and the debate over the encomienda (1542).
On this day
Spanish colonisation rested heavily on the encomienda, a grant entitling a colonist to extract labour and tribute from indigenous communities in return for nominal protection and religious instruction, a system that in practice often…
Also this week in history (Nov 17 – Nov 23)
In 794 CE, Emperor Kanmu moved the imperial court from Nagaoka-kyo to a newly built capital named Heian-kyo, the "Capital of Peace and Tranquility," on the site of modern Kyoto.
The Suez Canal, a 100-mile waterway linking the Mediterranean and Red seas across the Isthmus of Suez, opened to navigation on 17 November 1869 after a decade of construction overseen by Ferdinand de Lesseps and the Suez Canal Company.
On 21 November 1806, from occupied Berlin, Napoleon issued a decree declaring the British Isles under blockade and prohibiting all trade and correspondence with Britain across territories under French control.