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FERNÃO DE MAGALHÃES AND FRAY BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS. THEIR CONVERGENCE IN THE PHILIPPINES麥哲倫與卡薩斯 ─ 會聚菲律賓

The article proposes reading the convergence between Fernão de Magalhães and Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas as a historically situated encounter between expansionist projects and ethical-juridical discourses on conquest. Based on Las Casas's narration, particularly in the *Historia General de las Indi...

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Published in:Review of Culture
Main Author: Fidel Villarroel
Format: Articles
Published: Instituto Cultural de Macau January 2006
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Articles
Online Access:https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40017/3777
Summary:The article proposes reading the convergence between Fernão de Magalhães and Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas as a historically situated encounter between expansionist projects and ethical-juridical discourses on conquest. Based on Las Casas's narration, particularly in the *Historia General de las Indias*, the author reconstructs the episode of their meeting in Valladolid (March 1518) and traces, in broad terms, Las Casas's trajectory—from his condition as encomendero and priest to his rupture with the practices of the system—in order to frame the moral and political reading of the "first impulse of globalization" that oceanic navigation symbolizes. Methodologically, the text privileges an intradiscursive analysis of the representations left by Las Casas regarding Magalhães (characterization of the navigator, strategy of secrecy, geopolitical interests linked to the Iberian Treaty of demarcation and the route to the Spice Islands) and establishes an interpretive bridge with the subsequent itinerary that would lead to the circumscription of the Philippine archipelago as a space of convergence. It concludes that, although the immediate interests of both seemed distinct, the dynamics among navigation, imperial claim, and critique of colonial violence render their "convergence" toward the Philippines a key to understanding the articulation between global expansion and contestation of human abuses.
ISSN:1682-1106

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