A History of the World in 100 Objects Folgen

This week Neil MacGregor's history of the world is exploring the impact of the great European age of expansion and discovery during the 15th and 16th Centuries. In the last programme he described the technology that allowed Europeans to sail around the world in great galleons, the "space ships of their age". Today he looks at what happens when Europeans started trading in West Africa and first came upon the ancient culture of Benin in present day Nigeria. Neil describes the world of this hugely successful warrior kingdom and the culture that produced such exquisite artwork. He also describes what happened when the British raided Benin at the end of the 19th Century and the effect that these brass portraits first had when they arrived in London. The artist Sokari Douglas Camp reflects on the sculptures as art while the Nigerian poet and playwright Wole Soyinka reacts to the violent history of Benin and the loss of part of their great heritage. Producer: Anthony Denselow

Neil MacGregor's world history as told through things. This week he is exploring the impact of Western European travel, trade and conquest between 1450 and 1600. He kicks off with an exquisite miniature version of the sort of high tech vessel that was to take Europeans right around the world. Today's object is a small clockwork version of the type of galleon that the Spanish sent against England in the Armada and that they sent across the high seas. This one was made for a grand dinner table - it could move, make music, tell the time and fire tiny cannons. Neil discusses the significance of this new breed of sailing ships and describes the political state that this galleon symbolises - the Holy Roman Empire. The marine archaeologist Christopher Dobbs compares the tiny galleon to the Mary Rose in Portsmouth and the historian Lisa Jardine considers the European fascination with mechanics and technology throughout the 16th Century.Producer: Anthony Denselow Music research specifically for the Akan drum: Michael Doran

Neil MacGregor's world history as told through things that time has left behind. This week he is exploring vigorous empires that flourished across the world 600 years ago - visiting the Inca in South America, Ming Dynasty China, and the Timurids in their capital at Samarkand and the Ottomans in Constantinople. Today he examines the fledgling empire of Portugal and describes what the European world was looking like at this time. His chosen object is one of the most enduring in art history, and one of the most duplicated - Albrecht Durer's famous print of an Indian rhino, an animal he never had never seen. The rhino was brought to Portugal in 1514 and Neil uses this classic image to examine European ambitions. Mark Pilgrim of Chester Zoo considers what it must have been like to transport such a beast and the historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto describes the potency of the image for Europeans of the age.Producer: Anthony Denselow