YouTube video by The Mark Thompson Show

YouTube video by Austin Williams

YouTube video by Loud & Clear

YouTube video by Paul Warburg

The modern world wasn’t discovered by brave explorers — it was financed by power, legitimacy, and belief. Before stock markets, central banks, or global corporations, there was an institution that learned how to turn moral authority into geopolitical leverage. This documentary explores how religion — specifically the Catholic Church — became the hidden financial infrastructure of the Age of Exploration. Not by paying for ships, but by reducing risk, legalizing conquest, and transforming violence into lawful expansion. From papal decrees that divided the world to colonial systems built on extraction, land, and obedience, this is the economic story behind globalization’s first great boom — and why its structure still echoes through today’s financial system. This isn’t a story about faith. It’s a story about money, power, and the institutions that learned how to merge them. ________________________________________ Key Facts & Insights • The Catholic Church rarely funded expeditions with cash, but dramatically lowered political and legal risk through papal authority. • Papal bulls and treaties turned unknown continents into pre-approved property claims, reducing uncertainty for monarchies and investors. • Spain and Portugal operated as execution partners, extracting gold and silver while the Church secured land, tithes, and jurisdiction. • Colonial church institutions controlled education, marriage, inheritance, and morality — shaping economic behavior at scale. • Mandatory tithes created permanent income streams tied to agricultural and extractive output in the New World. • When Protestant powers rejected papal authority, exploration shifted from religious legitimacy to corporate and financial legitimacy. • The Age of Exploration didn’t end — it evolved into corporate imperialism, backed by capital instead of God. ________________________________________ #FinancialHistory #EconomicHistory #FinancialHistorian #TheFinancialHistorian ________________________________________ Further Reading • Empires of the Atlantic World by J.H. Elliott — a comparative study of Spanish, Portuguese, and later Protestant empires, showing how differing religious frameworks produced radically different economic outcomes. ________________________________________ If this gave you a new perspective, hit subscribe. History has the answers—and I’ll show you where to look.

YouTube video by NewsQuake

YouTube video by Fall of Nations

YouTube video by The Hickson Diaries

YouTube video by MrWARLOG

YouTube video by Fact Quickie

YouTube video by War & Politics 24

The Free Radical Report Civics Lesson

YouTube video by Redconomy

YouTube video by The Military Show

YouTube video by Steel Command

YouTube video by Thom Hartmann Program

YouTube video by PPR GLOBAL

YouTube video by I've Had It

YouTube video by Jason Hanson

YouTube video by School To Homeschool

YouTube video by The Engine Archives