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A R C H I V O G E N E R A L D E I N D I A S

THE DOCUMENT OF THE MONTH JUNE, 2021

EMPOWERING ARCHIVES: RECOVERING THE PAST. COMMEMORATE THE EVENTS

Every month the Archivo General de Indias focuses its attention on a document, or on a group of documents, belonging to one of the fonds conserved in it, or to some of the archival tasks carried out there. Pursuing an informative purpose, with the document or documents exhibited -and along with a series of complementary information-, a showcase, so it can be easily seen by users who visit the Archive. . . DOCUMENT OF THE MONTH

IN JUNE, THE ARCHIVO GENERAL DE INDIAS JOINS THE CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES WEEK THROUGH VARIOUS INITIATIVES, INCLUDING THE PUBLICATION OF THE DOCUMENT OF THE MONTH DEDICATED TO THE POWER OF ITS RECORDS.

THE RECORDS OF THE ARCHIVO GENERAL DE INDIAS IS MADE UP OF THE DOCUMENTS GENERATED BY THE CENTER, IN THE EXERCISE OF ITS FUNCTIONS, FROM 1785 TO THE PRESENT DAY. THROUGH THEM WE CAN ANALYZE ITS INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY AND LEARN ABOUT ARCHIVAL TASK CARRIED OUT BY ITS PROFESSIONALS.

AMONG THE NUMEROUS RECORDS, WE CAN KNOW THE PARTICIPATION OF THE ARCHIVO GENERAL DE INDIAS IN THE COMMEMORATIVE ACTS OF THE IV CENTENARY OF THE "THE FIRST JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD". ARCHIVO GENERAL DE INDIAS. ARCHIVO GENERAL DE INDIAS. ADAGI,1066 ADAGI,1066

The Magellan–Elcano was the first voyage around the world in . It was a Spanish expedition that sailed from in 1519 under the command of , a Portuguese, in search of a maritime path from to East through the Americas and across the , and concluded by Spanish navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano in 1522.

Elcano and the 18 survivors of the expedition were the first men to circumnavigate the globe in a single expedition. Following Magellan's death in Mactan () in 1521, Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of the , sailing from Borneo, the Spice Islands and back to Spain across the , round the Cape of Good Hope and north along the west coast of Africa. They arrived in Spain three years after they left, in 1522.

ARCHIVO GENERAL DE INDIAS. ADAG I,1066

In the 20th century, to celebrate the Fourth Centennial of the "The First Journey around the World", various activities were carried out in which the Archivo General de Indias participated an exhibition and documentary programme. The project began in 1919 and ended in 1922.

To celebrate the Fourth Centennial of the "The First Journey around the World", in 1921 the II Congress of Hispano-American History and Geography was held in the offices of the Archivo General de Indias, whose participants requested the granting of the Great Cross of Alfonso XII for the Director of the Archive, Pedro Torres Lanzas.

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In 1922 a Literary Session about Magallanes-Elcano and an exhibition about the first circumnavigation of the Earth were held in the building of the Archivo General de Indias, where documents of the main institutions connected with the Indies were exhibited.

This brief tour of the commemorative events of the IV Centenary of Circumnavigation -through the documents generated by the General Archive of the Indies in 1920-1922 shows us how an adequate organization, description and conservation of its records will allow us to empower knowledge about our institution.