Within the framework of The 12th International Convention of Asia Scholars – Crafting a Global Future, Casa Asia hosts the session The Pacific: A Retrospective in the context of the 500 Anniversary of Magellan-Elcano First Circumnavigation of the World.

On November 27th, 1520, 500 years ago, three of the five ships under the command of Captain Magellan that had left the port of Seville on August 10th 1519 in search of the spices of the Indies, crossed the Strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific.

After 36 days sailing through the straits, located in the extreme South of Chile, between what we now know as Patagonia and the Big Island of Tierra del Fuego, the navigators of the naos Victoria, Concepción and Trinidad were about to be the first to fulfill the dream of Christopher Columbus: to reach the East from the West

The expedition of Magellan and Elcano was the first to travel and discover all the roundness of the world.

This occurred between 1519 and 1522, when the means of navigation were still incredible rudimentary, and life abroad of  those rudimentary ships lacked any confort or security. In addition, it was a journey into the unknown, and completely on their own against to endless dangers. 

The journy that began with Magellan and ended under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano was the definitive and irrefutable proof that the earth was spherical, at the time most of the people still believed that the earth was flat. The expedition put an end to that myth.

In total, they travelled 14,460 leagues until on September  6th, 1522 they finally returned to Sanlucar de Barrameda in Cadiz, Spain and culminating the first circumnavigation of the world. 

Neither the Portuguese Magellan , nor his replacement in command of the expedition, the Spanish Elcano ever tried to circumnavigate the Earth, the sough only the precious spices. Instead they took  a first step of what today is known as globalization.

In this panel we would examine how the Pacific has evolved in this 500 anniversary of this remarkable event, from a multidisciplinar perspective.

Language of the event: English.

Programme:

Thursday 26th of August, from 4.00pm to 5.00pm (Kyoto, Japan)

On the Spice Islands: Spain and Moluccas during the XVI and XVII centuries. From the Moluccas to the Pacific

The Magallanes-Elcano expedition (1519-1521), besides making history for being the first to complete the circumnavigation of the planet, was also the protagonist of other important historical achievements like the discovery of the sea passage south of the American continent or being the first navigation to cross the Pacific ocean. The posterior expeditions that from the Americas followed the trail of the Magallanes-Elcano fleet towards the Moluccas, apart from initiating the European knowledge of new regions in the Pacific, culminated with the discovery of the “tornaviaje” (1565): the return navigation from Asia to North-America that enabled the Spanish settlement in the Philippines and the arrival of the Hispanic influence to various Asian regions. The Spanish settlement on the archipelago of the Moluccas (1521-1663) was key for the Spanish experience, not only for Asia but also for some Pacific regions (Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia). Their presence on the so called Spice Islands allowed the Spaniards to settle in the north of Insulindia and to undertake numerous navigations between the Asian and American coasts. In order to initiate these new journeys, the Spaniards, on many occasions, had to turn to the knowledge and help of the inhabitants of other Asian regions.

Presenter: Antonio Carlos Campo Lopez – UNED
PhD candidate at UNED (Madrid, Spain)
Member of the reseach group: Southeast Asia under Iberian influence in the world, 1581-1668, UNED.

Why so long? Searching for the reason of the Spanish persistence in Moluccas

After many unsuccessful attempts, at last, in 1606, one year after the VOC’s forces have done it, the Spaniards succeeded in occupying Moluccas islands. Nevertheless, they were quickly overwhelmed by their northern European enemies and, by the end of the same decade, they already lost to the Dutch many of their positions in the archipelago. Starting the beginning of the next decade, great military projects aimed at rolling back the protestant enemies from Asia were conceived, in vain.

Consequently, the Spanish presence in Moluccas, which cost more than 200.000 pesos a year, being then responsible for most of the deficit of the Philippine colony, seems to have been useless, in terms of military, economical and religious benefits, as pointed by the reports redacted at the moment of its removal.

But this dismissal only happened in 1663, that is, 15 years after the signature of the treaty of Munster through which the Eighty Years war between the Spanish Monarchy and the Dutch Republic was settled.

Why so long? What are the reasons or the interests, in Moluccas, in Manila, in Madrid, or elsewhere, that could justify such a long upholding in such an adverse context?

This exposition will attempt to propose plural answers to this disconcerting enigma.

Presenter: Jean Noel Sanchez – University of Strasbourg
Associate Professor, Director of the Department of Iberian Studies
University of Strasbourg, France

Spain and the Spice Trade in Indonesia

Indonesian historiography does not mention much about the involvement of Spain in the dynamics of the spice trade in the 16-17 centuries. The view that has emerged is that Spain only had a brief interaction with Indonesians during this period. This involvement is limited to the Maluku Islands. In a more in-depth examination, it can be seen that Spain plays a significant role in the spice trade in Eastern Indonesia. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish to the Maluku Islands in 1522, Europeans who was active in the spice trade was the Portuguese.

The presence of Spain opened a new chapter because the Portuguese was no longer the dominant force, because with it a new balance was formed between the local rulers who managed the spice trade activities. Both the Spanish and the Portuguese and later the Dutch in the early 17th century, tried to provide protection to the local rulers who were allied with them. Protection was given in order to gain dominance in the spice trading activities. Despite being involved in competition with other European countries, Spain was still able to expand its influence. The area of Spanish influence in Eastern Indonesia was not limited only to the Maluku islands, but also to the northern part of Sulawesi Island and several other areas. Unlike the Portuguese, Dutch and British, the Spanish concentrated their activities more in Manila than in the spice-producing regions.  

Presenter: Bondan Kanumoyoso – University of Indonesia

Rethinking Globalisation, Imperialism and Colonialism

The popularity of the theme Globalisation in recent decades has contributed to a re-thinking of history from this perspective. It has encouraged an all too easy conflation with the notion of imperialism and by extension with colonialism. A brief survey of the history of the Philippines reminds us of the limitations of this trope. 

Well before Magellan’s arrival various parts of the archipelago were already interconnected among themselves and with the rest of the region, and this “region” extended even beyond Southeast Asia. While Iberian expansion from the 16th century is usually dated from Magellan’s arrival in 1521, the Luçones and others were already in Melaka a decade earlier.

Spanish colonialism from the late 16th century was an uneven process with varying impacts on the islands societies. Much of these impacts were directly or indirectly economic. But we still have vague understandings of the consequences of military encounters as well as proselytization. Very importantly the Manila-Acapulco trade of a quarter of a millennium physically bypassed Spain itself.

How often do we think of the decline of the Spanish empire in the 19th century especially in the Americas in connection with our own national history. This must surely have affected Spanish attitude towards what was left of its empire. Globalisation in recent decades has introduced new tints and reconfigured the kaleidoscope of reading our history.

Presenter: Felice Noelle M. Rodriguez
Visiting Scholar
Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Philippines

Trade, Christianity and Diplomacy: Re-examining the Spanish Imperial Aims of the Magellan Expedition in the Pacific

The arrival of the expedition in Cebu in 1565, led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and the Augustinian Fray Andres de Urdaneta,  effected the actual conquest  of the Philippines and some nearby clusters of islands in the Pacific. Most Philippine history textbooks, however, concluded that the Spanish project of colonization and Christianization began some forty four years earlier, with the arrival in Cebu in 1521 of Ferdinand  Magellan’s Armada de Maluco. Such conclusion was provoked by the narrative of Magellan’s demand on the local chiefs for submission to the Spanish Crown and their conversion to Christianity. The belief that Magellan was the harbinger of colonization and Christianization explains the divergent focus of the Quincentennial celebration in the Philippines: the state glorifies the natives’ victory against colonization, the Catholic church’s gratitude for the introduction of Christianity. 

But an incisive perusal of Spanish archival sources, particularly Charles V’s Instrucciones,  indicate that the expedition was aimed at the Moluccas and not in the Visayas, to trade in spices and precious stones and not to evangelize.   Thus this lecture emphasizes that Magellan’s conduct towards  the Visayan natives did not necessarily represent the imperial objectives of the expedition.

Presenter: Danilo Madrid Gerona
Associate Professor V
Partido State University, Philippines

Panel Convenor
Yasmin Paricio, Casa Asia, Spain

Panel Chair
Rafael Bueno, Casa Asia, Spain

Panel Discussant
Florentino Rodao Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

Presenters

Antonio Campo Lopez, UNED, Spain
Jean Noel Sanchez, Associate Professor, Director of the Department of Iberian Studies, University of Strasbourg, France
Bondan Kanumoyoso, University of Indonesia, Indonesia
Felice Noelle Rodriguez, Visiting Scholar, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Philippines
Danilo Gerona, Associate Professor V, Partido State University, Philippines