Capítulo 1

A PASSAGE TO THE WORLD The Strait of Magellan during the Age of its Discovery Mauricio ONETTO PAVEZ

2 3 Mauricio Onetto Paves graduated in 2020 will be the 500th anniversary of the expedition led by history from the Pontifical Catholic Ferdinand Magellan that traversed the sea passage that now carries his University of Chile. He obtained name. It was an adventure that became part of the first circumnavigation his Masters and PhD in History and of the world. Civilizations from the L’École des Ever since, the way we think about and see the world – and even the Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales universe – has changed. The Straits of Magellan were the final piece in in Paris. a puzzle that was yet to be completed, and whose resolution enabled a He is the director of the international series of global processes to evolve, such as the movement of people, academic network GEOPAM the establishment of commercial routes, and the modernization of (Geopolítica Americana de los siglos science, among other things. This book offers a new perspective XVI-XVII), which focuses on the for the anniversary by means of an updated review of the key event, geopolitics of the Americas between based on original scientific research into some of the consequences of the 16th and 17th centuries. His negotiating the Straits for the first time. The focus is to concentrate research is funded by Chile’s National on the geopolitical impact, taking into consideration the diverse scales Fund for Scientific and Technological involved: namely the global scale of the world, the continental scale Development (FONDECYT), and he of the Americas, and the local context of Chile. The text is aimed at a currently teaches at the Autonomous general reading public so that both young and old can be inspired to University of Chile. His work and take an interest in a small building block in the construction of our publications to date have focused modern world, of the America and of Chile, with this attractive book on the development of spatial and whose text is illustrated with images especially chosen for it. historical understanding in Chile and the Americas between the 16th and 18th centuries. His most recent research focuses on the Magellan Straits and their geopolitical importance during the 16th century.

4 5 © Mauricio Onetto Pavez

Graphic designer : Nicolas Sykas A PASSAGE TO THE WORLD Corrector de texto: Sebastián Suter Gándara The Strait of Magellan during the Age of its Discovery Translated into English by Natascha Scott-Stokes

Illustrator/Electronic Image Restoration: Nicolas Sykas Mauricio ONETTO PAVEZ translated by Natascha SCOTT-STOKES Summary

Introduction ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������11

1 - The voyage of Ferdinand Magellan and Sebastien Elcano (1518-1522)... 13

2 - The news that changed the world...... 23

3 - A new awareness of the world ans its history after the discovery of the Straits of Magellan...... 29

4 - The Magellan Straits : a territorial conduit...... 37

5 - The Straits and «the secrets of the Earth»...... 45

6 - The conquest of Chile : an excuse to claim the Straits of Magellan..... 51

7 - The earliest knowledge of the Straits of Magellan : shipwrecks and exploratory voyages...... 59

8 - The Straits as a solution for the Chilean War...... 67

9 - A geopolitical problem : pirates ans english, french and dutch corsairs.... 75

10 - The Straits as a defining factor in the perception of Chile...... 83

Conclusion...... 90

Bibliography...... 92

This book is dedicated to four travellers starting their journey, Almendra, Sue, Santino and Constantin. Introduction

ounded on my academic the 16th century, need to be better research, this book seeks to understood and valued in the teaching Foffer a new perspective on the of history, not least because they were many possible historical interpretations fundamental to the earliest pioneer of the geopolitical importance of the settlements and the emergence of Straits of Magellan throughout the globalization, which developed after that 16th century, and will place their date and endures to the present. relevance within a global and continental An understanding of how this world- American context, as well as highlight passage was viewed, coveted and their role in the establishment of Chile’s represented will enable students of national territory. history to consider new questions in In light of the imminent their learning process and will help commemorations of the 500th to expand the way we think about anniversary of the official discovery of history beyond wars, key events the Straits of Magellan – at least as far as and personalities, to include other the rest of the world was concerned in perspectives worth analysing that project that era – the intention here is to provide the creation of real and imagined spaces, a foundation on which to re-consider inspire movement around the world, this ‘world-passage’ from a historical and impact on the human imagination. point of view. The significance of the By the same token, thinking about discovery of the Straits of Magellan in connecting spaces, such as the Straits, 1520, and the subsequent development helps us understand that, from the of this geographical sea passage during beginning, national histories such as

11

distinct continents and people, number of indigenous peoples that My deep gratitude goes to Louise Bénat- and is not only relevant to already populated the region when the Tachot, Serge Gruzinski, Andréa Doré, the local national history expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan Andrés Vélez, Luz Ángela Martínez, of Chile or the regional traversed the sea passage that now Flavia Morello, Paola Grendi, Sandra history of the towns and bears his name, as well as of the grave Ulloa, Ingrid Chanefo, Joaquín Zuleta, people of the southern tip consequences they suffered as a result of Nataniel Álvarez, Marcelo Mayorga and of South America. all the changes we are about to examine. Kassandra Hernández. However, the specific objective of this This book will therefore By the same token, I would like to book is to focus on the geopolitical demonstrate the ways in thank the Autonomous University perspective. which the specific history of Chile, which has facilitated the of Chile from the 16th The interpretations offered here are publication of this work with funding century onwards was tied to supported and confirmed by a series of via its Department of Research and dynamics that went well beyond cartographic representations. Likewise, Post-graduate Studies. This publication the country’s borders – which historic manuscripts from the era and would not have been possible without were not the same in that era, and a current bibliography are presented it. Grateful acknowledgement is also evolved according to a variety of events for those who are inspired to delve offered for the role of CONICYT, the Chile’s were always connected to global – and directly impacted on its social, further into these topics by exploring the institution that provided financing considerations, which provides us with a political and territorial evolution. The specialist publications available. through its Fondecyt start-up project richer and more complex understanding central focus is primarily on geopolitics, Nr. 11150474, and to GEOPAM for its A number of individuals and of the past, replacing a simplistic localised specifically on its four constituent sponsorship programme for the creation institutions enabled this project to come view as the only possible horizon, with a dimensions: namely the political, of international networks for academics to fruition, supplying information and broader vision of the past that obliges us commercial, geographic and imaginary at the initial stage of research projects. enthusiasm, as well as participating to see it within the context of the constant spheres. in the academic activities tied to the Finally, I would like to express my tension between other people, places and Given the above, this text will not scientific research project on which this friendship and sincere professional agendas, just as in our present reality concern itself with the socio-cultural text is based. admiration for Nicolas Sykas and today. consequences of the European discovery Sebastián Suter, with whom this I acknowledge with thanks assistance In other words, this work intends to of the Straits of Magellan, nor give handsome publication was created. provided by the Instituto Français Chile, show how the history of a specific place significant attention to anthropological Without their commitment, rigorous the Centro Cultural de España, the like the Magellan Straits is linked to themes. I am very well aware of the great attention to detail and creativity this regional museum in Punta Arenas and global history, with connections to book would never have been possible. LiquenLab.

2 3 Chapter 1 The voyage of Ferdinand Magellan and Sebastien Elcano (1518-1522) Chapter 1

Description of the Indies Occidentales Antonio de Herrera Madrid, 1601

The Spanish Court saw itself obliged to back up its new overseas territories with a series of regulatory measures, military pacts and royal provisions, which all caused offence to the Portuguese. After all, they had been the expansionist pioneers and, furthermore, Ferdinand Magellan, who was in part responsible for the ‘discovery,’ was one of their nationals.

As Carmen Bernard and Xavier de Castro have indicated, regarding the knowledge of navigation in the second half of the 15th and the early 16th century, it was the Portuguese who held the advantage over any other European court, due to their technical expertise in otivated by the Straits were discovered that ship building and their nautical science. commercial ambition expansion and connectivity reached their and territorial rivalry, the apogee and began to operate at every From the discovery of the Straits Ferdinand Magellan M level of the global sphere, and at modern Pieter Balthazar Bouttats ‘discovery’ of the Straits of Magellan in onwards, Portugal and Spain, the Antwerp, 1728 1520 was the decisive moment of the speeds, such as we know today. great colonial powers of the era, were 16th century, in terms of the colonial Without doubt, those events rearranged embroiled in diplomatic disputes expansion initiated by European powers; the world’s general geopolitical order regarding the terms contained in the and although it is true to say the four and the great beneficiaries of the 1493 Treaty of Tordesillas, which quarters of the world had already begun discovery of the Straits of Magellan were generated unresolved disagreements that to interact, thanks to the ‘appearance’ the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and were resolved within a few decades, by of America, as the historian Serge Spain, to the detriment of Portugal. the 1529 Treaty of Zaragoza. Gruzinski has said, it was only once

6 7 Chapter 1

The importance of spices and commerce In relation to expansionist ambitions, the desire to reach the Orient was inspired by the commercialization of spices. However, contrary to what has been taught for decades, their Globe illustrating the region importance was not for preserving food, but rather to provide of the Magellan Straits prior to their discovery a combination of sensations, aromas, health benefits, prestige, Johannes Schöner and elements of fashionable culinary practices with which they Nürnberg, 1515 were associated.

As Paul Freedman has stated, spices ‘were marvellous and mysterious manifestations of the world’s secrets and miracles,’ and he added that ‘the search for the lands where spices were found was at once an economic endeavour, and part of the medieval desire to discover the earth’s secrets.’

Both Magellan and his associate Christopher de Haro understood the significance of searching out new lands, and to that end petitioned the King of Spain in early 1518 for the necessary permits to travel to the Map of the first circumnavigation of the world Orient via a new route they had received Battista Agnese, Venice, 1544 notice of. The Royal Contract was signed on The voyage that set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda passed various places before reaching the Straits. For 22nd March of that same year. example, the Canaries, Santo Agostinho Point in Brazil, the city of Rio de Janeiro, the River Plate and the San Julián. The exploration of the Straits, initially named the The All Saints Canal, began towards the end of October 1520, and was only traversed by the ships Victoria, Trinidad and Concepción. The organization of the expedition and its equipment is detailed in many documents, the majority of which are published and whose original manuscripts are housed in the Archive of the Indies. These documents include descriptions of tools, arms, munitions, provisions, wages and even the final wills of the leading captains.

8 9 Chapter 1 Nao La Victoria Levinus Hulsius, 1606

According to the personal secretary denied this when the voyagers petitioned to King Charles V, Maximilianus him for support. Transylvanus, both navigators proposed Originally the expedition was composed to the king that he should send his of 237 individuals from all over Europe, vessels and navy to ‘that part of the seas who were installed in five ships: the in the Orient by descending the other Victoria, the Concepción, the San hemisphere,’ an idea the king and his Antonio, the Trinidad, and the Santiago. Indicazione del Primo Viaggio intorno al Globo Terracqueo fatto dalla advisors at first thought a ‘most difficult However, the return to Seville on 8th nave La Vittoria della Squadra di Magaglianes negli anni 1519-1522 and vain’ prospect. Nevertheless, the September 1522 was completed by (Map based on Pigafetta’s report) expedition was finally authorized. just one ship, the Victoria, carrying 18 Furthermore, once the Spanish king Antonio Pigafetta, Milan, 1800 surviving crew and Fernando Magellan recognized the tremendous potential The best-known description of the first circumnavigation of the world was written by Antonio Pi- was not among them, for he had died gafetta, who once served the Knights of Rhodes. Origianlly published in Italian, it was quickly of the enterprise, should it succeed, he during a dispute with the natives of the translated into many other languages. decided to finance the greater part of it. Philippine Island of Cebu, in April 1521. His report was completed in 1524 and published in book form by 1536, under the title of Relazioni The remaining expenses were covered in torno al primo viaggio di circumnavigazione. Notizia del Mondo Novo con le figure dei paesi by the contacts both petitioners had in scoperti. It was Juan Sebastian Elcano who arrived Germany and other parts of Europe. in charge of the surviving vessel and His text describes some of his first impressions of the Straits, including the following entry: “We call who was responsible for the commercial this stretch the ‘Patagonian Strait;’ in which one finds excellent safe ports, perfect waters, wood – In spite of the resources they were though only of cedar – fish, sardines, shell fish and celery, as well as sweet herbs, and some bitter profits that resulted. This is why the given, it was not easy to put together ones. The vegetation grows in gullies and was all we could find to eat, on many days. I don’t believe figure of the navigator became the most a better nor more beautiful sea passage exists anywhere in the world.” the expedition because of Magellan’s important symbol of the feat achieved, Portuguese nationality, and it is even and why we see so many illustrations of believed the King of Portugal himself the vessel Victoria, which became an icon was involved in boycotting him, of its time. despite the fact that he

10 11 Chapter 2 The news that changed the world Chapter 2

Orbis Universalis Description Thomas Woodstock London, 1582

n 1522, the personal Today we know the sea passage through secretary to the Straits of Magellan was crucial to King Charles V, Maximilianus navigation and the future of the modern I world, not least because its discovery Transylvanus, wrote a letter to Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg, the Cardinal- by the Spanish implied a revolutionary Archbishop of Salzburg in Austria. In the change on a global scale. For the first letter, he announced that thanks to the time, all points of the planet could expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan, be connected. Maximilianus was Spain had gained dominion over new well aware of the significance of this, lands: the fabled and now real Spice and considered the best strategy for Islands. This was vital news indeed, but developing the new opportunities it even more important was the second implied for the Spanish Crown was to Letter head piece of information contained in the share the information in the form of Maximilianus Transylvanus, Valladolid, 1522 letter: namely that the expedition had political propaganda. The original title of the missive written in 1522 is Maximiliani Transyluani Caesaris a Secretis Epistola, de Admirabili & discovered a sea passage to the Orient, Nouissima Hispanoru[m] in Orientem Nauigatione, Qua Uariae, & Nulli Prius Accessae Regiones Inue[n]tae Sunt, Cum unheard of until then, and which we now Ipsis Etia[m] Moluccis Insulis Beatissimis, Optimo Aromatu[m] Genere Refertis: Inauditi Quoq. Incolar[um] Mores Ex- know as the Straits of Magellan. ponutur, Ac Multa Quae Herodotus, Plinius, Solinus Atque Alii Tradiderunt, Fabulo Sa Esse Arguunt. Contra, Nonnulla Ibide[m] Uera, Uix Tamen Credibilia Explicant. Quibuscum Historiis Insularibus Ambitus Descrebit Alterius Hemisphaerii, Unde Ad Nos Tande[m] Hispani Redierunt Incolumes.

14 15 Chapter 2

Following this line, he inaugurated existing measurements for the planet global economic and territorial were not as definite as believed; they also expansionary projects for King Charles suspected there may be territories that V, making sure his propaganda reached should be included in the dominions all the courts of Europe to make them belonging to Spain and not to Portugal. aware of the great discovery that was In fact, this was one of the arguments Claudius PTOLEMY going to benefit his king. Of course it presented to the king, when the 100 – 175acc. was also intended to reach the ears of the navigators petitioned him to sponsor Spanish Crown’s various creditors and Claudius Ptolemy was born in Egypt and was active du- their enterprise. And although their ring the 2nd Century AD. He was renowned for his work associates, such as bankers, merchants, hypothesis, based on knowledge in astronomy, mathematics, chemistry and geography. mariners, scientists and universities, to Furthermore, he was Antiquity’s greatest promoter of the gathered from multiple sources and on motivate them to invest in what might lie science of astronomy and also composed a treatise on their professional experience, failed geography that dominated scientific thought for centuries. beyond the known world. to entirely convince the court, they Among his many works, which included a planetary hy- did, nevertheless, gain the required pothesis, writings on optics, an astrological treatise called The Earth becomes one world Almagest and work on astronomic phases, his treatise permission and financing to initiate their known as Geographia was famous and provided the In his letter, the royal secretary business venture. foundation of geographical thinking up until the 15th cen- presents the voyage begun under the tury and the day when Christopher Columbus acciden- leadership of Magellan as the most Indeed, upon their return from circling tally reached America by following the erroneous maps in his book. important in history, not only for being the globe, the suppositions of the Cosmographie universelle selon les na- navigators were confirmed, and previous Despite his geographical calibrations needing correc- a navigational feat, but also because it vigateurs tant anciens que modernes tion, many of the concepts he introduced in his book are calculations of the earth’s geography established a new delineation of the Guillaume Le Testu accepted to this day; such as, for example, his The Hague, 1556 planet. This was the first expedition were found to be erroneous coordinates for latitude and longitude. that had succeeded in circumnavigating and in need of correction. geographical dimensions and in terms the world, an achievement that went This meant a break with of its cosmography. The outlines of the far beyond what had been done by the cartographic model globe were now definitively established the celebrated mythological seafarers established by Ptolemy, by means of a new way to traverse it. of Antiquity, such as Jason and the which had been the defining Argonauts – a nautical reference since reference for centuries up to Old measurements and that date, as well as the lodestar time immemorial - but whose exploits uncertain borders were limited to the Mediterranean. for all seafarers. Transylvanus speculated that the new Having said that, Maximilianus’ sea passage would consolidate a new way letter also relates that while Ferdinand of perceiving and travelling the world, Magellan and the merchant Christopher which was now fully known, both in its de Haro intuitively understood that

16 17 Chapter 3 A new awareness of the world and its history after the discovery of the Straits of Magellan Chapter 3

he Straits of Magellan not only served as a passage to Tunite the world, but also as a point of departure for thinking about the globe in its entirety and, by the same token, re-envisioning the world and its commercial potential. A new global consciousness can be detected after the discovery of the Straits.

Das Erst General Sebastian Münster Basel, 1550 A new era and history Both a spatial and a temporal revision In the process of joining the gaps of the resulted from the break with accepted mappa mundi a change also occurred in knowledge handed down since Antiquity, perceptions of time and our relationship which was recalibrated as a result of the to it, something that was determined by expeditions carried out by the likes of the newly discovered spaces. Columbus and Vespucci, who paved the Thus, concepts of our past, present and way for reaching the new sea passage. future acquired new definitions, which

20 21 Chapter 3

manifested themselves in the following In this way, it was the key experience way: on the one hand, what had been of the age that revealed our true reality, known of the past was questioned and, which would pave the way to a new on the other hand, the horizon of the earthly paradise. Furthermore, it was in present was extended, and the idea of the ‘far away,’ the unknown, that true traversing the recently discovered New history would be found. World became the revised reference point from which to measure reality. The New globe, new monsters future, meanwhile, revealed itself as an The spatial revision demanded a opportunity to speculate and dream of modification and redefinition of how discovering wealth and a better destiny the images of the world had been in the ‘distant regions’ of the earth, or in interpreted, up to that time. Within this the ‘distant future,’ which could even be series of paradigmatic changes, came the utopia. emergence of the Modern Age, which was An example of this temporal rupture characterized by a temporal and spatial can be found in the letter written by aperture towards the new, as opposed to Maximilianus Transylvanus, who argued the old. This meant, as the philosopher for a revision of certain given truths Peter Sloterdijk has defined it, that the presented in the Classical texts, given conquest of the world was inspired by the that, according to him, many contained visionary. In this context, for example, incorrect information. He made it clear there emerged a need during that era to that, as far as he was concerned, names revise how the image of the unknown such as Pliny or Herodotus should or other was presented. Transylvanus be replaced by those of Peter Martyr dealt with this aspect by inverting the d’Anghiera and Hernán Cortés. paradigm that had prevailed prior to Magellan’s expedition, characterizing To further establish their importance, the expeditionary enterprises of the Transylvanus relates certain events these Conquest as ‘monstrous’ for being explorers experienced one or two years willing to risk their lives, sometimes Deliniatio Freti Magellanici earlier, and it is clear that for him, the needlessly, in the name of securing Levinus Hulsius, Frankfurt on the Main, 1626 revision of history necessarily had to be profits, rather than characterizing the The discovery of the Straits of Magellan also impacted on anthropology. The very idea of humanity was transformed. related to the circumnavigation of the unknown cultures as monstrous, as was Representations of indigenous populations encountered in various locations were modified, while new ones also arose, New World that had been discovered, the custom until then. such as was the case for the Patagonians. a place where the present and future After the mid-16th century, up until the end of the 17th century, cartographic illustrations presented them as people ac- intertwined. This profound change in the idea of cording to their specific characteristics of height and strength, just as they had been described in the first narratives of the expedition led by Magellan.

22 23 Chapter 3

Haemisphaerium Stellatum Australe Cum Aequali Sphaerarum Proportione Andreas Cellarius Amsterdam, 1708 who the real monsters were and in the concept of ‘monstrosity’ itself was linked to the vast aspect of the objectives of the companies sponsoring the Conquest, and to the impact they had, which was directly related to the new awareness of the world. On the one hand, this idea was expressed in a variety of forms that were neither always aesthetic nor coherent, but which sought to express observations and experiences of the New World; and, on the other hand, it was related to the idea of unlimited synergetic movement at a global level, which was the keynote of an era in which objects and people became linked by personal and collective ambition.

Celestial Globes Gores Johann Schöner, Strasbourg, 1517 The modern concept of monster is based on a synthesis of ideas of different kinds of monsters, the awareness of interactions between new elements, people and places, and the search to meld> all these into a planetary context. Thus we can see that whereby illustrations of monsters in historic car- tography were based on the idea that they were created by God for punitive reasons and had unnatural characteristics; modern representations, from the 16th century onwards, display evidence of a profound encounter with the new thinking inspired by the discovery of the Straits of Magellan: a global awareness, travel, profits, investment and risk, and catastrophe.

24 25 Chapter 4 The Magellan Straits : a territorial conduit Chapter 4

Prodromus Astronomia Firmamen- tum Sobiescianum sive Uranogra- rom the time the Straits Mapamundi phia table AAA: Corona Australis of Magellan were first Andrea Bertelli Johannes Hevelius officially traversed in 1520, Venice, 1593 Gdansk, 1690 F Revealing of the unknown they established themselves as a global reference point that served to create During the decades following the terms of their territory and in relation and reconfigure a variety of territorial discovery of the Straits of Magellan, they to the imaginary. This exemplifies a notions, including the oceanic and became a gateway, in cartographic terms, common practice in the cartography of terrestrial. This implied that, once their to delineating the Americas, the Pacific, the day, when such documents mixed transit had been experienced, there was the realm of Chile, and also imaginary knowledge from a range of disciplines, a need to not only re-envision the world sites, such as Terra Australis. An example including aesthetic information about inserted into an existing geopolitical illustrating the latter can be seen in the territories, which was sometimes based framework - which was reflected in Cosmografía Universal (1555) by the on actual experience, and sometimes specific maps - but also to rethink the Frenchman Guillaume Le Testu, in which just based on the imagination. After all, sea, because this was the first time the the sea passage is shown as both a gateway France then had no right to enter the Pacific Ocean was recognised in its and a bridge that could allow for the territory, much less to draw maps of a entirety. It also inspired a new version of existence of that unknown land, wild yet zone that belonged to the Spanish Crown. fertile, and promising potential wealth. the astronomic map. In this sense, one has to remember Thus we can see that from this time Le Testu’s work is also revealing because that representations of certain regions – onwards, the Straits functioned as the sequences he presents dispense with especially of those one did not own – were a connecting conduit between the scales and transform Terra Australis into based on the speculated image current at natural, geographic and astral world, as a projection of the Americas, both in the time. understood by mankind.

28 29 Chapter 4

A New World through the Straits Clearly, the discovery of the Straits was as important as that of the Americas in creating the foundation on which to construct territorial notions of the New World, not only from a geopolitical point of view – in relation to the connectivity of its territories with the rest of the world – but also in terms of the symbolic importance of its spaces.

Foremost, one can say that the Americas represented the awaited confirmation of the belief that a sea passage properly capable of connecting the ‘four parts of the world’ really existed. In fact, a number of people, such as

cartographers, mariners, mathematicians America and politicians – among them Magellan António Pereira himself – were already convinced of the Portugal, 1545 existence of the Straits prior to their Symbolically, the Straits of Magellan discovery. We can see this in a variety of extended the riches and paradisiacal maps of the age, in which the southern landscapes imagined in the New World region of the American continent facing to reach as far as the extreme south of Universal Cosmography the Pacific Ocean has already been the American Continent. The terra Petrus Apianus, Antwerp, 1581 drawn, which supports the hypothesis. incognita one hoped to encounter The scholar Jean-Marc Besse defines the cosmography of the 16th century as “a vision of the earth and the sky This is even clearer after the maps beyond the Straits magnified the initial as one whole, an intellectual concept that sought to represent planet earth from the sky down, whereby the sur- produced by Vespucci, in global maps ambitions of the European courts, and face of the earth reflected the categories and components of astronomy.” He also suggests that cosmography “is the space created for an encounter between the descriptive knowledge of geography and the analytical produced by the likes of Waldseemüller allowed them to fill in the territorial gaps instruments of rhetoric.” in 1507, or by the Shönner globe of of places they knew existed, but had yet 1515. Nevertheless, all those images and to explore. beliefs could only gain legitimacy after they were demonstrably confirmed by nautical experience.

30 31 Chapter 4

Map of the Pacific Ocean Battista Agnese, Venice, 1544 The map of the Pacific Ocean’s ports commissioned by King Charles V and produced by the Genoan cartographer Battista Agnese in Venice, in 1544, shows the Straits as the main entrance port to the Paci- fic and, furthermore, as one of the key geographical points of most strategic relevance to the Americas, at the expense of other territories, such as Chile, which is not even outlined on the map. Taking the above into account, we can see the Straits constituted a fundamental point for projecting images of the American continent and also territories, such as Chile. Likewise, we can infer the geopo- litical priorities that are reflected in the significant gaps and silences in this cartographic representation.

32 33 Chapter 5 The Straits and “the secrets of the Earth” Chapter 5

ambition already born in the medieval been completed and that intangible era, to discover the secrets of the earth. dreams could inspire infinite ways to traverse it, confirming the value of the The territoriality of the secret was enterprise, and also the extremely rapid an almost immediate response to the growth in concrete knowledge of how to definitive circumnavigation of the world, circumnavigate the globe. made possible by the confirmation of the existence of the supposed sea Thus, the territoriality of the secret passage. It also extended the imaginary was both a legitimate hypothetical and boundary of the unknown world and cartographic justification by which to acted as an aperture, which could have speculate about spaces with a view to led anywhere, but which, in time, was justifying commercial enterprises and principally focused on the idea of terra the Conquest. In the words of Jean-Marc australis. Furthermore, the territoriality Besse, at that juncture, ‘the unknown of the secret served to acknowledge and the known acquired ontological and that the discovery of the world had epistemological value in equal measure.’

Maris Pacifici vulgo Mar del Zur he desire to possess the Map of José de Acosta Straits of Magellan was Cologne, 1598 the World Tnot only inspired by the idea of Ephraim Pagitt, London, 1600 venturing into the unknown, but also Thanks to the discovery of the Straits In 1558, King Charles V issued a royal edict instructing the Governor of Chile associated with the idea of a secret world, of Magellan, the European powers were to explore the lands which lay beyond the Straits, because he wanted to know what which was presented in all kinds of ways. able to develop a geopolitical policy that ‘secrets’ might lie beyond that region: In fact, as has already been mentioned, delineated the terrain of secrets. That is “Governor of the Province of Chile, you know why we have made provision for governance as far as the Straits of Magellan, and why we wish to know of the lands and people that exist beyond the Straits, so Magellan’s expedition itself was the source to say, they could formulate state policy we can know more of the secrets that lie in that territory. I command you to send some ships to investigate and of ‘secret whispers’ of the existence of on how to manage destinations associated report on the quality of the region… (Archive of the Indies, PATRONATO, 32, R.4). a sea passage via the southern tip of the with secrets of the world, its riches and Americas, which could provide a route to desirable contents which, in turn, defined the Orient. This can serve as an example ideas of the unknown or new dimensions of the probable existence of a series to be conquered and possessed, and of navigational secrets that might have where anything might still be possible. circulated in that era; and it also allows us Looked at in this way, the discovery to see how fomenting a secret was a way of of certain places not only held obvious manipulating and inspiring investors to economic importance – not least for the sponsor commercial expansion and the spice trade – but also impacted on the Conquest of the Americas.

36 37 Chapter 5

Totius Orbis Cogniti Universalis Descriptio Cornelis De Jode Antwerp, 1589 Geopolitical ambition based on speculation The search to discover the world’s It was not only the Spanish Crown secrets was a geopolitical policy, not least that promoted ideas of the ‘secrets of for those territories that were yet to be the earth’ either. The English, Dutch claimed, where tales of riches had not yet and French also sent expeditions to been disproved, and where speculation South America from 1530 onwards. was unlimited. In the case of the Straits of In a number of cases, they illustrated Magellan, they served as the aperture to their ambition by means of cartographic the unknown world and also as the gates maps, with which they tried to justify to the territorial repository of secrets. their own right to aspire to territories This image endured throughout the 16th located in zones commonly known. It is century, in part due to the propagation therefore no surprise that the work of the of myths and fantasies of cities of gold – cosmographer Guillaume Le Testu sought such as the City of the Caesars – or the to establish a ‘French Antarctica,’ for the Illustration of the Island Utopia, in its first version of 1516 transference of the legendary El Dorado purpose of securing the riches presumed to the southern tip of the American to be in those lands. His drawings were The English politician and intellectual Thomas More published his best-known work Utopia, in the Belgian town of Leuven, in 1516. It describes the ideal development of a society in which work, life, society, religion and morality continent; and also by political decisions intended to legitimize the supposed function in perfect harmony. taken by the leaders of the Conquest, as knowledge of a region his country had a Given that More knew of the letters written by Vespucci reporting on the New World, and the similarities of the journey was the case with Pedro de Valdivia. right to conquer. to the lands south of Ecuador and certain geographical features of the island of Utopia and the Island of Tierra del Fuego described in his text, we have evidence of a direct relationship between his fiction and that region. By the same token, we can see that Utopia suggested a prior imaginative narrative for the voyage to the Straits of Magellan by planting the idea of the need to travel to a ‘non-place’ which, in turn, subsequently provided concrete spatial backing for More’s work, by revealing a territory in the ‘further beyond,’ that was unknown to Europeans until that time.

38 39 Chapter 6 The conquest of Chile : an excuse to claim the Straits of Magellan Chapter 6

uring the 16th In those days, travelling around century, to conquer the world was not just a matter for and rule required constant emperors. Rather, expeditions were D also an enterprise made up of private movement, and King Charles V embodied this practice from the time groups of interested parties, associated he was named Holy Roman Emperor with the business of money-making and promised future advantages. The Ports of the World in 1519. He never had a fixed seat from Teixeira Domingos which to govern, which is why his rule conquerors of the Americas fall into 1573 was actually referred to as being ‘a this group – individuals, such as Hernán Extending the extrem limits already mentioned. The soldier of moving court.’ One Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and Diego de of the world fortune said so himself in one of his can therefore say he Almagro, among others. many letters to the emperor, in which he One of the men who was well aware of affirmed that Santiago of the far south himself exemplified Given that all those enterprises came the geopolitical agenda of the time and was just the first stage of a campaign that his personal motto, from Europe, it was important to the made the motto to go ‘further beyond’ would allow him to populate the lands as which was to always European rulers to obtain territories his own, was the soldier, first Lieutenant far as the “North Sea” and the Straits of go ‘further beyond,’ that could serve as points of departure Governor, and then Governor of Magellan. including further and rest, from which to mount new Chile, Pedro de Valdivia. To the day of beyond what was expeditions and acquire more wealth. his death, he never wavered from his For this conquistador, therefore, the considered the In Europe, given that these expeditions goal to take control of the Magellan territory that was known as Chile was heart of his were under the command of Iberians, Straits, given that he understood their itself seen just as a long throughway realm. who were the main protagonists in importance and the advantage it would to reach the great passage. In this way, circulating the globe – at least during the give him over the other conquistadors. the cities of Chile proposed as part of first half of the 16th century – regions In fact, contrary to what one might an expeditionary plan presented prior like Andalusia, Italian and Flemish imagine, his real objective was never the to reaching the territory need to be ports, as well as cities like Seville, stood occupation and colonization of what understood as staging posts or rest stops out and functioned as staging posts for we know today as the country of Chile, forming part of a larger trajectory. To reaching the far flung corners of the but rather that territory was simply a paraphrase the historian Pierre Chaunu: world. component in his itinerary that was in those days, Chile as a colony only designed to reach the ‘world passage’ made sense as a factor in the desire to

Pedro de Valdivia, Governor of Chile Juan Bautista Verdussen Antwerp, 1728

42 43 Chapter 6

travel to the Straits, an ambition Pedro de Valdivia kept to himself during the early stages of his journey to Chile, when he first petitioned for the right to go there and to claim legal title to it, in 1550.

Later on he made it clear that he wished to extend the earth and thereby make this extremity known and useful for the rest of the world: even though it was still only an imagined or projected place, it was Universale descrittione di tvtta la terra conoscivta fin qvi nevertheless likely to exist. Fernando Berteli Venice, 1565 To control what lay beyond Taking another perspective, one can confirm that Pedro de Valdivia understood the political trends and interests that were being developed Next in that era, for the distinct regions of pages the globe. His arrival in the Americas in 1535, which was later compared Tabula Geographica Regni Chile en to that of other, more well-known Alonso de Ovalle, Histórica relación del Exquisita & magno aliquot mensium periculo lustrata et iam retecta Freti conquistadors, helps to explain his true Reyno de Chile y de las missiones y minis- Magellanici facies: eijgentlicke asbeeldinghe der Magellanischer Strate die nu met motivation. He knew how to judge when terios que exercita en el la Compañía de veel gevaers eitelijeke Maenden doorsien van nieus ondecktis the time was right to launch one of the Jesus Roma, 1646 Jodocus Hondius, Amsterdam, 1611 most ambitious enterprises of his age: Faced with the impossibility of reaching the lands of Tier- ra del Fuego and settling the region, a shift in the concept A letter addressed to Prince Philip II in 1552, written by the founding father of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia, pro- to conquer and control the Straits of of ‘plus ultra’ inspired by that part of the American conti- posed three reasons for the need to control the Straits: Magellan, a place that would function nent occurred among certain authorities in Chile. For «The Straits of Magellan Straits should be an established route for three reasons: First and foremost, because all as the new frontier of the world and example, in his celebrated work on the missions and mi- that territory and Southern Ocean pertains to Your Highness and no enemy should take advantage of what is from which he hoped to develop a new nistries in the Realm of Chile, the Jesuit Alonso de Ovalle not theirs to use; second, it will ensure control of the spice trade; and third, because it will be possible to explore inverted the idea of how to understand the territory: 2- and settle the region beyond the Straits, which I am informed is very good land.» centre of power that would wield control “Since the Realm of Chile is so distant – the uttermost over the route to the ‘further beyond,’ part of the Americas – it is the gateway to the world.” which was originally believed to be the Orient, but which was later thought of as probably being terra incognita.

44 45 Capítulo 1

46 47 Chapter 7 The earliest knowledge of the Straits of Magellan : shipwrecks and exploratory voyages Chapter 7

rom the time of the Victoria’s return to FSeville in September 1522, the desire to take control of the Straits of Magellan and create a stable settlement there became the dream of many merchants, mariners, soldiers and some Ebbe und die Flüth auff einer Flachen Landt-Karten fürgestelt European monarchs. For his part, King Eberhard Werner Happell Ulm, 1687 Charles V, the owner of that territory, The length of the voyage and the current one, by crossing the Isthmus of could not focus his attention or his complexities of navigating in the South Panama. resources on expansionary enterprises Atlantic seas of the Americas meant at that time, given that in parallel to the In the two decades that followed the the majority of authorized expeditions aforementioned discovery, he also faced ‘discovery,’ we see the expeditions of encountered problems, which were a series of political, social and economic Francisco García Jofré de Loayza (1525- very often fatal. Not many were ready conflicts taking place in Europe. For 1526), who had travelled with Juan to face the adventure, due to the example, he was committed to battles Sebastián Elcano; of Simón de Alcazaba huge investment required to mount against the communities of Castile, the (1535), of León Pancaldo (1538), and of expeditions, and also because of pressure German states, and against the Turks. Francisco Camargo (1540); all of which from fellow conquistadors in North This explains why he always entrusted the can be considered failed ventures, if America, who were not well pleased definitive attempt to take control of the seen from the viewpoints of settlement, by the idea that it could be possible to New World and areas like the Straits to the loss of human life and the financial reach the Indies by routes other than the private enterprises. investment.

50 51 Chapter 7

America Giuseppe Rosaccio Venice, 1594

Ownership of the Straits It is important to note that up until proposed between both parties, which 1552, the Straits were not part of Chile, also reveal how each side sought to but rather pertained to the province protect its interests. From the Spanish of Chincha. This meant the spoils side, for example, it was hoped the they represented were somewhat more German investors would take financial interesting, because an entire territorial responsibility for sending three or four jurisdiction was in play. vessels laden with people, artillery, and The deplorable condition of the brigantine San Francisco de Paula on the 19th the munitions and supplies necessary day of February 1769, at the southern latitude of 52 degrees and 35 minutes No doubt for this reason, the famous to explore and pacify all the islands Alexo Berlinguero, captain of the brigantine, and recorded from Puerto Deseado, in German Fugger family of merchant and mainland from the Straits as far as 1769 bankers were interested in the region and Chincha, which could avoid offending were entrusted with its administration, As the historian Mateo Martinic has pointed out, the maritime configuration of the Straits of Magellan is the King of Portugal. In this way, the characterized by “channels and straits, by fjords and bays.” Temperatures from one place to another can between 1530 and 1531. This fact can monarchy sought to push its influence oscillate between 2 °C and 10 °C. The local climate is influenced by the continental mass, the Atlantic and also be seen as a return of political and north, in an area that included a future Pacific oceans, and also by the south pole, which explains why this region is very rainy and windy. Further- economic favours, given that Charles V more, there are numerous ocean currents so that, to this day, navigating the channels is a challenge fit only part of Chile. However, the Germans for the brave, and many have been shipwrecked. was raised to Holy Roman Emperor in also had designs on what lay further 1519, thanks to the financial backing he south, as one can see in one of their received from the Fugger family. This manuscripts, which states: “Likewise, pact is underlined by the agreements the Fuggers have committed themselves

52 53 Chapter 7

to discover and populate the lands and islands existing beyond the Straits of Magellan and lying before them.”

Later, once the Straits had been incorporated as part of Chile in 1552, and the entire area was defined as the Provinces of Chile and New Extremadura, as far as the Straits of Magellan (thanks to Pedro de Valdivia’s insistence), expeditions were mounted more as geopolitical explorations; both in the name of profit and protection of existing interests, which were likely to benefit the Realm of Chile and the Vice-Royalty of Peru. An example of this was Pedro de Valdivia’s instruction to Francisco de Ulloa and Francisco Juan Ladrillero, captain Cortés Ojea in 1553, prior to his death A more successful expedition resulting and cosmographer of the Straits that same year, to venture to that region. in the most new information was led by Juan de Ladrillero, who sailed from Juan Ladrillero was an expert captain who in- However, they were forced to return fluenced the conquest enterprises of Juan de Va- soon afterwards, due to the damage Valdivia in 1557, and reached the straits Illustration from the atlas “Taboas geraes dillo, Pascual de Andagoya, Sebastián de Belacá- incurred by their vessels. the following year. A detailed report of de toda a navegação” zar, Francisco Pizarro, Pedro de Valdivia and the the course taken by that voyage survives, João Teixeira, 1630 Viceroy of Mendoza, Andrés Hurtado. With him, we can trace a long line of journeying that begins whose objective was to ‘explore the in Seville and reaches the Caribbean islands; and Straits of Magellan,’ according to the goes from Panama to the jungles of Columbia, and document. from Lake Titicaca to the Straits of Magellan. The confluence of cosmographic and commercial practices, as well as awareness of the world, is per- sonified in this captain, makes him a key individual for understanding how new cosmographic intelli- gence recalibrated the geopolitical importance of the Panamanian and Magellan Straits as hemis- pheric and global links that Spain needed to safe- guard against the pretensions of rival monarchies.

Brasilia et Peruvia Cornelis De Jode Antwerp, 1593

54 55 Chapter 8 The Straits as a solution for the Chilean War Chapter 8

Haec pars Peruvianae, regiones Chicam & Chile, complectitur, & Regionem Patagonum Petrus Plancius Amsterdam, 1592-1594

rom 1541 onwards, the ‘pacification’ of the Araucaria Region was Spanish conquistadors completed in 1883, by which time the Fhad to face the resistance put national Chilean state had been formed. up by a variety of indigenous peoples - As a result of the impossibility of taking principally that of the Mapuche and the full charge of the territory during Pehuenche - who had been progressively the early centuries of occupation, the displaced to the south of the River Bio 16th – 18th centuries, the Spanish were Bio. This resulted in the first break in obliged to develop different strategies to Delineatio omnium orarum totius Australis partis Americae ... Afbeelinghe van alle the system of conquest implemented in maintain an effective hold on the region Zee-custen des gheheelen Zuyderschen Latin America which was unchanged inhabited by the Araucarians, which was deels van America up to that time, and initiated a the generic term by which all indigenous Jan Huygen van Linschoten Amsterdam, 1596 complex militaristic process that was people where known at that time. not concluded until the so-called

58 59 Chapter 8

The Chilean War The first generation of Spanish conquistadors used the only tactic possible to gain a foothold in the area where they were being resisted, and that was to advance slowly, while building small fortified settlements that allowed them to safeguard what they had won. In this manner, forts were constructed along the length of the Chilean central valley, right amongst the roughly one million native people who lived in that zone during the early decades of the Conquest. Map of South America Gerhard Mercator, André Thevet. Duisburg, 1569

Thus the Spanish advanced in waves, was that it became characterized by its which enabled them to install successive longitudinal space, and was internally Chile forts and establish a protective network fragmented and demarcated by ‘safe Hendrik Hondius, Amsterdam, 1638 against the risk of attacks. places’ and ‘areas of risk.’ The region The earliest towns in Chile grew from enclosed for- therefore evolved from an ‘immeasurable tifications. This way forward was the only definitive wild space’ into a place of ‘secured means by which they could make Both towns and forts were intended to consolidate routes’ and ‘areas at war.’ the desire for conquest and also to provide a puta- coherent progress, given the lack of tive sense of security, despite the fact that in prac- manpower, financial resources, and This strategy, which differentiated tice, the forts embodied the antithesis of that idea, given that these settlements were the scene of inter- materials. And so they began to build the between protected and unprotected change and conflict between the Spanish and the earliest towns of the new Realm of Chile, spheres, added up to a kind of immunity, indigenous population. which were Santiago in 1541; La Serena in the words of Peter Sloterdijk, which, Therefore, none of those settlements were the setting in 1544; Concepcion in 1550; and as a consequence, took the anxiety for harmonious security, which was their supposed intention at that time; and despite their foundation Valdivia in 1552, among others. out of capturing an unexplored place. being reported to the viceroyalty and the capital, But it also established the earliest One of the effects that arose from not one of them lived up to the functions they were fragmentation of the space perceived conceived for. this settlement policy in the territory of as Chilean, and of the sense of

60 61 Chapter 8

security on newly-won lands, and Furthermore, it was due to the very dampened fascination for what remained importance of this world passage that unclaimed. All this reveals that what efforts were made to resolve the conflict, happened in Chile was not only rooted especially in the 16th century, when the in the conquest of territory, but also in Spanish authorities sought to maintain issues that concern modern societies. their advantage in a region that was always coveted by the Spanish in Chile. The jockeying for position between the Spanish and the indigenous inhabitants can be understood as a war whose successive episodes to the south of Santiago have collectively become known as the Arauco War.

To a limited extent, one can assert that the war was inspired by the impossibility of reaching the Straits of Magellan and that the fighting continued, in part, because of this conundrum.

Brasilia et Peruvia Cornelis De Jode, Amberes, 1593

Multiple sources confirm the importance of the Straits as a means to solving wartime scenarios and, at the same time, providing a geopolitical defensive route for the Viceroyalty and for trade with the Orient. An example can be found in the reports by Lorenzo Bernal who, in 1569, denounced the government of Bra- vo de Saravia, requesting the King’s support for continuing the war and urging him to “maintain a presence in the Straits, because the whole issue of land ownership will be decided here and it would entomb those Spanish.” In 1571, Melchor Bravo de Saravia also wrote to the King regarding the Araucan War and the King’s interests, and challenged him to send help, which “would most appropriately be sent via the Straits.”

62 63 Chapter 9 A geopolitical problem : pirates and english, french and dutch corsairs Chapter 9

n the 16th century, the Realm of Chile, the southern- Imost territory in the Spanish dominions of the Americas, served both as a southern protective buttress for the Vice-Royalty of Peru, and as the administrative point for the maritime route giving access to the Pacific Ocean. It was therefore considered a strategic area by the administrative officials of Spain and the Indies, whose security was indispensable; even more so after the progressive increase in trade, and the amount of mineral wealth that was being shipped back to Spain, from the middle of the century onwards. All this drew the increasingly covetous attention A New and accurate Mappe of the World, drawne according to the best and latest of European powers hostile to Spain discoveries that have been made – England, Holland and France – who Robert Vaughan knew the vast maritime empire and the London, 1628 hegemony of the Spanish Crown on the By 1573, the learned Viceroy of Toledo the Pacific Ocean by traversing the old continent was crucially dependent on Joaquín Zuleta had already thought of Straits. This incursion, sponsored by the silver. certain lines of protection for the region English Queen, had a direct impact on a and the continent: “he proposed the number of American ports governed by This situation resulted in the Spanish Crown build a complete system the Spanish, including Valparaiso and appearance of pirates and corsairs on of coastal fortifications, including Arica, Coquimbo. the American coasts and was the root Callao, Guayaquil, Paita, Trujillo and of justifications for expeditions and Drake’s ‘entrance’ was seen to have been Thomas Cavendish and the World Santa. The response was negative, which Crispin Van Passe enterprises whose objectives were to facilitated mainly by the fact that the indicates the Crown was convinced that Cologne, 1598 fortify the Straits of Magellan, and in Spanish had already established a clear control of the Isthmus of Panama and turn the city and port of Valdivia, among commercial route via Panama, and by of the Magellan Straits was sufficient other coastal points that supported the impossibility of reaching the Straits guarantee for the natural defence of Chile’s strategic importance. by land because of the conflicts with the Viceroyalty.” However, that natural the natives, so there was no contingent defence was not sufficient and in Spanish force protecting the sea passage. September 1578, the English corsair Sir Francis Drake succeeded in reaching

66 67 Capítulo 1

68 69 Chapter 9

The fear of pirate incursions The foothold achieved by the pirates Previous caused consternation among the pages authorities, not least because it was not just a matter of attacks on their A world map showing the circumnaviga- sovereignty, but also on the proper tions and portraits of the main captains cultural and religious order. There was a responsible for those voyages fear the Lutheran cult might be imported Willem Corneliszoon Schouten, Amsterdam, to Chile and reach the native population. 1618 The fear of the foreigner was based on the This work presents the six most renowned circumnaviga- potential alliances that could be formed tors of the world, from 1520 onwards. Towering above between invading forces and the natives, La heroique enterprinse faict par le Signeur Draeck d’avoir cirquit toute la terre all others are Ferdinand Magellan and Willem Schouten, which would have given them carte Antoine Robinot the discoverers of the Straits of Magellan and Cape Horn Paris, 1641 (1616) respectively. At their sides one can see the two blanche and destabilized the imperial triumphant vessels of each expedition: the Victoria and enterprise in the rest of the Americas. As Given that the pirates and corsairs were America, but also the trade with Asia. the Eendracht. In addition, four great navigators embrace the historian Gabriel Guarda has said, the spheres: Sir Francis Drake, Olivier van Noort, Thomas sponsored politically by several European Furthermore, it was intended to reinforce Cavendish, and Joris van Spilbergen. Latin America ran the risk of being split states and kingdoms, the Spanish Crown the military status of the Spanish Crown in two. was forced to act quickly. To this aim, it and fortify sections of the Straits of established an armada and a system of Magellan, which would necessarily protection for the Straits. require military forces and up-to-date La Mocha skills, which would not fail to be noticed Thus, in 1581, the most glorious imperial Joris van Spilbergen by their adversaries. Leiden, 1619 year of the Spanish monarchy, when it annexed Portugal after the Proclamation However, due to recurring problems Even though the presence of pirates and of Philip II as its king, the Spanish Crown between the leaders of the expedition, corsairs was a problem throughout the coasts of the Americas, Chile was par- sponsored a tremendous expedition to it was a disaster. Sarmiento did reach ticularly affected, because its shores protect its most southerly domain. It was the southern region, but only with a provided the first rest stop for them, led by Diego Flores and Pedro Sarmiento contingent force fragmented by disputes which was not just any piece of land. They chose islands along its coast that de Gamboa, and the enterprise set off and desertions which, added to a lack were usually uninhabited by Europeans from Cadiz with 23 vessels and around of resources, meant he was unable to or inhabited by indigenous natives and 3000 people. The objective of this establish a definitive settlement. considered a lost cause or in opposition to the colonial forces. One of those is- armada was to halt enemy passage through lands was Mocha – the half-way point the Straits and establish bases that would between the towns of Concepción y be in a position to not only protect South Valdivia – which regularly hosted cor- sairs and pirates, or found itself sacked by them, because Chilean ports were a particular favourite for pirate raids.

70 71 Chapter 10 The Straits as a defining factor in the perception of Chile Chapter 10 Tijpus Freti Magellanici, quod Georgius Spilbergius cum classe lustravit. Nicolaes van Geelkerchen Leiden, 1619

rom the time the Straits A narrow ‘island’ had failed and significant sums had been marginalised. lost in the process. The conquistadors of Magellan were discovered In effect, the natural isolation of all The truth of those narratives posted in the northern territories of in 1520, the way this event was the islands of the world was simply F is confirmed by the difficulties Latin America also put pressure on the presented to the world was characterized magnified in the Magellan region, which encountered in establishing settlements monarchy to maintain Panama as the by a tone that highlighted the difficulties was presented as the ‘furthest island of or even reaching the area during the only passage to the Indies and therefore associated with the exploit. From the the world’ by the celebrated cartographer 16th century. In fact, the Straits were not the southern sea passage and its adjacent first, therefore, the chronicles of the Alonso de Santa Cruz, whose life passed again from Europe until 1578. lands were seen as a prospect for direct likes of Antonio Pigafetta, Sebastián spanned most of the 16th century (1505- Furthermore, neither King Charles management by the Spanish Crown Elcano and Ginés de Mafra, described 1567). the territory as inhospitable, cold, and V nor his associates sponsored major which, with the passing of time, meant difficult to traverse. expeditions after some tentative projects that these lands quite literally became

74 75 Chapter 10

This insularity regarding the Straits of Magellan was underscored by its distance from the centres of commerce and power of the age; and because it was seen as a piece of land at the extreme ends of the earth, which underscored its reputation as antipodal (diametrically opposite) to the known world.

“European soldiers arriving at the Straits of Magellan” Theodore De Bry, 1601 The printmaker and book editor Johann Theodorus de Bry, who was born in Liège, was one of the main promoters of images of the Americas in the 16th century. His works presented a range of American locations, such as Native Indian settlements from a variety of latitudes, in which he showed their dress, weapons, food etc; and also highlighted specific historic moments relating to the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, and their attempts to take possession of the land. One of those episodes illustrates the arrival in the Straits of Magellan as a battle, which was inspired by the tales emanating from the Spanish who lived in Chile at the time.

76 77 Chapter 10

The Straits and the perception of Chile”

With the passing of time, all those ideas born of the geography of the region, the and perceptions around antipodes, experience of reaching it, and the failed insularity, accident and narrow passage attempts to traverse the Straits; and years at the extremes of the earth inspired by later, these same concepts were reused the first expedition to traverse the sea to describe the material hardships and passage, as well as by the subsequent adversity faced during the war against the impossibility of establishing a presence indigenous population. The Straits in Alonso de Ercilla’s epic poem there, directly impacted on the discourse A variety of documents demonstrate the ‘La Araucana’ on the image of Chile as a whole; and above. For example, a word frequently The Straits of Magellan were a historic and geographical also defined the experience of the used in the reports of the time is reference point used to outline the challenges experienced Spanish who settled the territory. The by the Spanish in Chile, from their arrival onwards. This ‘extreme,’ both as an adjective and as a ongoing attempts to encapsulate the is not only seen in the letters sent to Spain from Chile, but subject. This can be seen in letters sent also in some literary works, such as Alonso de Ercilla’s epic Spanish experience were therefore to the king by Melchor Bravo de Saravia ‘La Araucana’, written between 1569 and 1589, which couched in words and perceptions contains innumerable stanzas referring to the Straits. The his- y Sotomayor, who was governor in associated with these concepts. torian Ricardo Padrón has undertaken important research 1569, in which he refers to “the extreme on Ercilla’s text in this regard. The French philosopher Jean-Marc hardship and risks we have faced;” and Ferry has defined this phenomenon also in those sent by Tomás de Olavarría of how an experience can become in 1602, in which he wrote “I am thematised, and how it can therefore humiliated to be stuck in this corner of colour the discourse, as certain the Realm and am extremely desirous to Book cover for the second edition of the words become attached to a series of leave it.” first volume of La Araucana experiences in accordance with the 1574 situation to be described.

There are various examples of the relationship that existed between emergent narratives about travelling the Straits of Magellan and the Spanish experience of inhabiting Chile. One can be found in the idea of ‘hardship’ and the ‘extreme end of the earth’ which was

78 79 Conclusion As soon as this ‘world-passage’ was For all the ideas recorded above, it made revealed, reflections on what it meant to sense to reflect briefly on the significance inhabit the world multiplied, on what of the Straits as a ‘world-passage’ during humanity had constructed over time, the century of their discovery. The and also on what this last concept really interpretation offered here is but one of implied in that era. In many cases, the the many ways in which this fascinating past had to be revised and the horizon stretch can be thought about. The main of the present was expanded. The future intention is to highlight and show how indicated new reference points and important it is to incorporate a chapter places to speculate on. This shows how in the history of the Straits of Magellan each concept around time and place into the bigger picture we learn of in had to be reconsidered which, in turn, the history of Chile – not to encourage necessitated a new way of looking at further the exceptionality sought in all those processes. For example, the the geography that makes up Chilean concept of geopolitical and commercial territory, but rather to demonstrate that influence evolved into an ideology that history is not a national exercise. It is clear relationship was coloured even the way humanity itself universal and ought to seek a collective established in was viewed. understanding of men and women down the 16th century: the A the ages, even while we look at specific four corners of the world began to Chile was never disconnected from points on the globe. interact, to inspire each other, and to this evolution, which grew from the definitively inter-marry, a process that Straits. On the contrary, Chilean . continues to this day. The Straits of territory was deeply intertwined in all Magellan are a key component in that these dynamics. More, they frequently history, given that it is thanks to its inspired speculation on ideas relating ‘appearance’ the world was completed, to it as a pathway to terra australis, the which allowed people, objects and secrets of the earth, or to the fabled City ideas to be viewed in a global context, of the Caesars; and also reinforced ideas from then onwards. That is to say, the of possession in terms that were clearly ‘discovery’ of this conduit to the world geopolitical, such as pirate attacks and provoked the new spatial and temporal safe-guarding merchant shipping routes. delimits that gave rise to these changes.

80 81 BERNABÉU Salvador, Poblar la inmensidad: sociedades, conflictividad y representación en los Bibliography márgenes del Imperio Hispánico (siglos XV-XIX), Madrid, CSIC, 2010. BERNARD Carmen y GRUZINSKI Serge, Histoire du Nouveau Monde. De la découvert à la conquête, tomo 1, Paris, Fayard, 1991. BERTRAND Michael, PRIOTTI Jean Philippe., (dir.), Circulations maritimes. L’Espagne BARROS ARANA Diego, Historia general de Chile, tomo I, II, Santiago, Editorial et son empire (XVIe-XVIIIe siècle), Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2011. Universitaria, 2000. BESSE Jean-Marc, “Traverser le paysage au XVIe siècle”, en Revues parlées, Centre BENAT-TACHOT Louise, “Alonso de Santa Cruz, un expert au service de l’Empire ?”, Pompidou, 2008. en O’Phelan, S. y Salazar-Soler, C. (Eds.) Passeurs, mediadores culturales y agentes de la primera globalización en el mundo ibérico, siglos XVI-XIX, p. 679-712. Lima, Instituto Riva Agüero, BESSE Jean-Marc, Les grandeurs de la Terre. Aspects du savoir géographique à la Renaissance, Lyon, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Lima y CNRS, IFEA, 2005. ENS Éditions, 2003. BENAT-TACHOT Louise, “De la découverte à la politique : réflexions autour de la BLACK Jeremy, Maps and History: Constructing Images of the Past, Londres, Yale University circumnavigation de Magellan dans La Historia de las Indias de Francisco López de Press, 1997. Gómara, 1552”, en Grunberg, B. (Dir.). Enjeux et difficultés d’un modèle européen BLACK Jeremy, Maps and Politics, Londres, Reaktion Books, 2000. dans les sociétés coloniales. Cahiers d’Histoire de l’Amérique coloniale, Vol. 2, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2007, p. 181-201. BOIS Jean Pierre, L’Europe à l’époque moderne, XVIe-XVIIIe siècle, París, Armand Colin, 2003. BENAT-TACHOT Louise, “De l’ile à l’Islario: fonction et statut de l’île dans l’écriture de la conquête”, en Trec, E (dir), Bout du voyage, l’ile: Mythe et réalité, Reims, BRAUDEL Fernand, La Méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l’époque de Philippe II, París, Publications du Centre de Recherche VALS, Presses Universitaires de Reims, 2001, p. Armand Colin, 1990. 56-87. BRENDECKE Arndt, Imperio e Información. Funciones del saber en el dominio colonial español, Madrid, Iberoamericana Vervuert, 2016. BENAT-TACHOT Louise, “L’Antiquité pourvoyeuse de modèles pour la description du Nouveau Monde dans les chroniques des Indes”, en Bénat Tachot L. y Serge BROTTON Jerry, A history of the world in 12 maps, Nueva York, Viking Adult, 2003. Gruzinski (Eds.) Passeurs culturels et mécanismes de métissage, Paris, Ed. MSH y Presses de BRY Teodoro, América: 1590-1634, Madrid, Siruela, 1992. l’Université de Marne-La-Vallée, 2001, p. 219-238. BUISSERET David, Monarchs, Ministers and Maps: The Emergence of Cartography as a Tool of BENITES María Jesús, “La mucha destemplanza de la tierra: Una aproximación Government in Early Modern Europe, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1992. al relato de Maximiliano de Transylvanus sobre el descubrimiento del Estrecho de BUISSERET David, The mapmaker’s quest: depicting new worlds in Renaissance Europe, Oxford, Magallanes”, Orbis Tertius, XVIII, 19, 2013, p. 200-207. Oxford University Press, 2003. BENTON Lauren, Law and Colonial Cultures: Legal Regimes in World History 1400-1900, New BUSCHMANN Rainer, Iberian Visions of the Pacific Ocean, 1507-1899, Nueva York, York, Cambridge University Press, 2002. Palgrave, 2014. BERGREEN Laurence, Par-delà le bord du monde. L’extraordinaire et terrifiant périple de Magellan, CAÑIZARES-ESGUERRA Jorge, Puritan Conquistadors. Iberianizing the Atlantic, 1550-1700, París, Grasset, 2005. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 2006.

82 83 CARLTON Genevieve, Worldly consumers: the demand for maps in Renaissance Italy, Chicago, FIORANI Francesca, The Marvel of Maps: Art, Cartography and Politics in Renaissance Italy, New The University of Chicago Press, 2015. Haven, Yale University Press, 2005. CASTRO Xavier, Le voyage de Magellan (1519-1522). La relation d’Antonio Pigafetta & autres FREEDLAN Paul, Lo que vino de Oriente. Las especias y la imaginación medieval, Valencia, témoignages, Paris, Chandeigne, 2007. Universitat de València, 2010. CHARTIER Roger, “La conscience de la globalité”, en Annales. HSS, n°56, Vol. 1, GRAFTON Antony, New Worlds, Ancient Texts. The Power of Tradition and the Shock of Discovery, 2001, p. 119-123. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1995. CHAUNU Pierre, Conquête et exploitation des nouveaux mondes, Paris, Nouvelle Clio, 1969. GRUZINSKI Serge, “Les mondes mêlés de la Monarchie catholique et autres CHAUNU Pierre, Seville et l’Amérique aux XVIème et XVIIème siècles, Paris, Flammarion, 1977. “connected histories” en Annales. HSS, n°56, Vol. 1, 2001, p. 85-117. CUESTA Domingo Mariano, “Los Cronistas oficiales de Indias. De López de GRUZINSKI Serge, L’Aigle et le Dragon. Démesure européenne et mondialisation au XVIe siècle, Velasco a Céspedes del Castillo”, en Revista Complutense de Historia de América, vol. 33, 2007, París, Fayard, 2012. p. 115-150. GRUZINSKI Serge, Les quatres parties du monde. Histoire d’une mondialisation, Paris, Éditions DAVIES Surekha, Renaissance Ethnograpy and the Invention of the Human. New World, Maps and de La Martinière, 2004. Monsters, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2016. GUARDA Gabriel, Flandes indiano: las fortificaciones del Reino de Chile: 1541-1826, Santiago, DE SANTA CRUZ Alonso, Alonso de Santa Cruz y su obra cosmográfica, Madrid, Consejo Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile, 1990. Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1983. HARTOG François, Régimes d’historicité. Présentisme et expériences du temps, Paris, Seuil, DICKSON Peter, The Magellan myth: reflections on Columbus, Vespucci, and the Waldseemueller map 2003. of 1507, Mount Vernon, Ohio, Printing Arts Press, 2007. HIATT Alfred, Terra Incognita. Mapping the Antipodes before 1600, Chicago, London, The DOUKI Caroline y MINARD Philippe, “Histoire globale, histoires connectées: un University of Chicago Press, 2008. changement d’échelle historiographique?”, en Revue d’Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine, HOFMANN Catherine, RICHARD Hélèle, VAGNON Emmanuelle, The Golden Age n°54, 2007, p. 7-21. of Maritime Maps: when Europe Discovered the World, New York, Firefly Books, 2013. ELLIOTT John, Empires of the Atlantic world: Britain and Spain in America, 1492-1830, Londres, INVERNIZZI Lucía, “La representación de la tierra de Chile en cinco textos de los Yale University Press, 2006. siglos XVI y XVII”, en Revista Chilena de Literatura, n°23, 1984, p. 5-37. ERCILLA Alonso, La Araucana, Alicante, Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2007. INVERNIZZI Lucía, “Los trabajos de la guerra y los trabajos del hambre: dos ejes del ESTELLÉ Patricio y COUYOUMDJIAN Ricardo, “La ciudad de los Césares: origen discurso narrativo de la conquista de Chile (Valdivia, Vivar, Góngora Marmolejo)”, en y evolución de una leyenda”, Historia, n°7, 1968, p. 283-309. Revista Chilena de Literatura, n°36, 1990, p. 7-15. FERNÁNDEZ DE OVIEDO Gonzalo, Historia General y Natural de las Indias, Islas y Tierra LA CALLE Ricardo, “Los fuertes fronterizos chilenos. Resistencia e interacción en Firme del Mar Océano, Madrid, Imprenta de la Real Academia de la Historia, 1851. la frontera de Chile en los siglos XVI y XVII”, en Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, n°18, 2005, p. 223-246. FERNÁNDEZ-ARMESTO Felipe, The Spanish Armada: the Experience of War in 1588, Londres, Oxford University Press, 1989.

84 85 LAGUARDA Rolando, El hallazgo del Río de la Plata por Amerigo Vespucci en 1502, Montevideo, MORE Tomás, L’Utopie, París, Flammarion, 1987. Biblioteca de la Academia Nacional de Letras, 1982. MORENO Rodrigo y GUARDA Gabriel, Monumenta Cartographica Valdiviensae, Santiago, LÓPEZ DE GÓMARA Francisco, La historia general de las Indias, y todo lo acaecido en ellas desde Corporación Patrimonio Cultural de Chile, 2010. que se ganaron hasta agora y la conquista de Mexico y de la Nueva España, Anveres, Martin Nucio, MORETTI Guillermo, “The Other World and the ‘Antipodes’: The Myth of the 1554. Unknown Countries between Antiquity and the Renaissance”, en Wolfgang H. y Meyer LÓPEZ DE VELASCO Juan, Geografía y descripción universal de las Indias. Recopiladas por R. (Eds.), The Classical Tradition in the Americas (pp. 241-284), Berlín, De Gruyter, 1993. cosmógrafo-cronista Juan López de Velasco desde el año de 1571 al de 1574, Madrid, Boletín de la MUNDY Barbara, The Mapping of New Spain. Indigenous Cartography and the Maps of Relaciones sociedad geográfica de Madrid, Establecimiento tipográfico de Fortanet, 1894. Geográficas, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1996. MANNING Patrick (ed.), World History. Global and Local Interactions, Princeton, Markus NADER Helen, Rethinking the World: Discovery and Science in the Renaissance, Bloomington, Wiener Publishers, 2006. Lilly Library, 1992. MARIÑO DE LOBERA Pedro, Crónica del reino de Chile, libro I, Chapter VI, Edición en O’GORMAN Edmundo, La invención de América, México, Fondo de cultura económica, formato electrónico a partir de Crónicas del reino de Chile, Madrid, Atlas, Biblioteca 1995 [1958]. de Autores Españoles, 1960. Disponible en/www. cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/ cro- nica-del-reino-de-chile--0/html/ OCARANZA Nicolás, “Herejes, saqueadores y bandidos de ultramar: la piratería en el virreinato del Perú. Siglos XVI-XVII”, en Cruz N. y Jaksic I. (Eds.). Seminario Simon MARTÍNEZ Carolina, “Relatos de viaje e imaginarios geográficos en la Cosmografía Collier. Santiago: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2005. Universal (1556) de Guillaume Le Testu: apuntes para una arqueología textual”, Magallánica, Revista de Historia Moderna, Vol. 2 (4), 2016, p. 118-135. OÏFFER Alice, “El Islario general de todas las islas del mundo (1560) de Alfonso de Santa Cruz o la ciencia cosmográfica en la España de Felipe II: en el Nuevo Mundo, el MARTINIC Mateo, Cartografía magallánica 1523-1945, Punta Arenas, Ediciones de la Caribe insular”, en Savoirs en Prisme, n°1, 2012, p. 169-187. Universidad de Magallanes, 1999. ONETTO PAVEZ Mauricio, Temblores de tierra en el Jardín del Edén. Desastre, memoria e MARTINIC Mateo, Historia de la región magallánica, Punta Arenas, Ediciones de la identidad. Chile, siglos XVI-XXI, Santiago, Centro de Investigaciones Diego Barros Arana, Universidad de Magallanes, 1992. DIBAM, 2017. MARTINIC Mateo, Historia del estrecho de Magallanes, Santiago, Editorial Andrés Bello, ONETTO PAVEZ, Mauricio, “La Utopía de Moro y la Isla Grande de Tierra del 1977. Fuego, ¿Una equivalencia posible?”, Magallania, vol.43, n.1, 2015, p. 37-51. MEDINA José Toribio, Colección de documentos inéditos para la historia de Chile: desde el viaje de PADRÓN Ricardo, “Las Indias olvidadas: Filipinas y América en la cartografía Magallanes hasta la batalla de Maipo: 1518-1818, Santiago, Imprenta Ercilla, 1888-1902. imperial española”, Universidade de São Paulo 3° Simpósio Iberoamericano de História da Cartografia MENDIOLA Alfonso, “Un nuevo reto a la interpretación de las crónicas de la Agendas para a História da Cartografia Iberoamericana, São Paulo, 2010. conquista historizar el concepto de experiencia”, en Historia y grafía, nº 20, 2003, p. PADRÓN Ricardo, “Mapping Plus Ultra: Cartography, Space, and Hispanic 13-47. Modernity”, Representations, n°79, 2002, p. 28-60. MILLER Naomi, Mapping the City: The Language and Culture of Cartography in the Renaissance, PADRÓN Ricardo, The Spacious Word: Cartography, Literature, and Empire in Early Modern Spain, Londres, Continuum, 2003. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2004.

86 87 PAGDEN Anthony, Spanish Imprerialism and the political imagination. Studies and Spanish-American SALLAMANN Jean Michel, Géopolitique du XVIe siècle, 1490-1618, Paris, 2003. social and political theory 1513-1830, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1990. SCAFI Alessandro, Maps of Paradise, Chicago, London, The University of Chicago PARKER Charles, Global Interaction in the Early Modern Age, Cambridge, Cambridge Press, 2013. University, 2010. SLOTERDIJK Peter, Esferas II. Globos, Madrid, Ediciones Siruela, 2004. PASTOR Beatriz, Discurso Narrativo de la conquista de América, La Habana, Edición Casa de SOLANO Francisco, Cuestionarios para la formación de las relaciones geográficas de Indias, siglo las Américas, 1983. XVI-XIX, Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Centro de Estudios PETERS Edward, “The Desire to Know the Secrets of the World. Journal of the History of Históricos, 1998. Ideas”, 62 (4), p. 593-610. SUBRAHMANYAM Sanjay, “Holding the World in Balance: The Connected PIGAFETTA Antonio, Le premier tour du monde de Magellan, introduction, postface et notes par Histories of the Iberian Overseas Empires, 1500-1640”, The American Historical Review, Léonce Peillard, París, Éd. Tallandier, 1993. vol. 112, 2007, p. 5. PIZARRO Y ORELLANA Fernando, Varones ilustres del Nuevo Mundo: SUBRAHMANYAM Sanjay, “On World Historians in the Sixteenth Century”, descubridores, conquistadores, y pacificadores del opulento, dilatado, y poderoso Representations, n°91, Vol 1, 2005, p. 26-57. Imperio de las Indias occidentales: sus vidas, virtud, valor, hazañas y claros blasones, SUBRAHMANYAM Sanjay, Explorations in Connected History. From the Tagus to the Ganges, Madrid, Diego Díaz de la Carrera, 1639. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005. PORTUONDO GAMBA María, Ciencia Secreta. La cosmografía española y el Nuevo Mundo, SUBRAHMANYAM Sanjay, L’empire portugais d’Asie, 1500-1700, Paris: Points, 2013. Madrid, Iberoamericana Editorial Vervuert, 2013. TEPASKE John, “The Costs of Empire: Spending Patterns and Priorities in Colonial RAMÓN Armando de, Descubrimiento de Chile y compañeros de Almagro, Santiago, Ediciones Peru, 1581-1820”, CLAHR, n°2, Vol. 1, 1993. de la Universidad Católica de Chile, 1953. UNGER Richard, Ships on maps: pictures of power in Renaissance Europe, Basingstoke, Palgrave RANDLES William, Geography, cartography and nautical science in the Renaissance: the impact of the Macmillan, 2010. great discoveries, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2000. URBINA María Ximena, La frontera de arriba en chile colonial. Interacción hispano-indígena en RAYNAL Guillaume Thomas, Histoire philosophique et politique des établissements el territorio entre Valdivia y Chiloé e imaginario de sus bordes geográficos, 1600-1800, Valparaíso, des Européens dans les deux Indes, tomo IV, Genève, Chez J-L Pellet, 1781. Ediciones Universitarias de Valparaíso, 2009. RUSSO Alessandra, El Realismo Circular, Tierras, espacios y paisajes de la cartografía indígena VALDIVIA Pedro, Cartas de Don Pedro de Valdivia que tratan del descubrimiento y conquista de la novohispana, siglos XVIe y XVIIe, México, UNAM, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, Nueva Extremadura [Edición a cargo de Miguel Rojas-Mix], Barcelona, Editorial Lumen, 2005. 1991. SAGREDO Rafael, “Magallanes: de la geografía mundial a patrimonio histórico- VAN DUZER Chet, Sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps, Londres, The British geográfico de Chile”, en Tramas de la diversidad. Reflexiones, debates y propuestas en torno al Library, 2013. patrimonio en Chile, Santiago, Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes, p. 157-170. VEGA Alejandra, Los Andes y el territorio de Chile en el siglo XVI. Descripción, reconocimiento e invención, Santiago, DIBAM, 2014.

88 89 VESPUCCI Amerigo, Le Nouveau Monde. Les voyages d’Amerigo Vespucci (1497-1504), Paris, Chandeigne, 2005. Archives and libraries consulted WOODWARD David, Cartography in the European Renaissance, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2007. ZÁRATE Agustín de, Historia del descubrimiento y conquista del Perú, Primera Serie, Lima, Biblioteca Peruana, Editores Técnicos Asociados S.A., 1968. Chilean National Archive ZULETA, Joaquín, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa. Sumaria Relación, Navarra, Editorial Iberoamaricana, 2015. Chilean National Library-Sala Medina ZUÑIGA Jean Paul, Espagnols d’Outre-mer. Emigration, Métissage et reproduction sociale à Santiago Harvard Library du Chili au XVIIe siècle, Paris, Édition de l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Library of Congress, Washington 2002. The John Carter Brown Library Archive of the Indies Spanish National Library French National Library Library of the University of Paris-Sorbonne. The British Library. Cambridge University Library

90 91