Circumnavigations

I will be in Spain this week for the conference "PRIMUS CIRCUMDEDISTI ME: Claves de la primera globalizacion." It is a historical congress being organized primarily by the Spanish Ministry of Defense that will discuss the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the world by Ferdinand Magellan. I am attending the conference as the representative from Guam, where Magellan visited in March of 1521.

I will be writing about my trip and the congress under the title "Circumnavigations." Not only because of the trip of Magellan itself, but also because of the ways in which Guam and myself are navigating as well, working our way around history and around the global filled with independent nations.

Here is the description of the conference from its website. 


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Introduction

The Spanish Ministry of Defence –in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, and with the Junta de Castilla y Leon– organizes the International Congress Primus Circumdedisti Me. Keys for the First Globalization. This Congress will be held in the ‘Miguel Delibes’ Cultural Center in Valladolid, from 20 to 22 March, as part of the commemorative events for the 5th Centennial of the first circumnavigation, initiated by Fernando de Magallanes in 1519 and, after his death, culminated by the Spaniard sailor Juan Sebastian de Elcano in 1522.

Objetives

This Congress –directed by Professor Carlos Martinez Shaw– aims to establish a thorough historical review of the first circumnavigation, taking as the starting point the Capitulations signed in Valladolid, the events under which the expedition took place that, definitely, opened the way to the first globalization, as well as to generate awareness on the Spaniard sailor Juan Sebastian de Elcano and his achievements.

Historic context

On 22 March, 1518, King Carlos I and Portuguese sailor Fernando de Magallanes signed the Capitulations in Valladolid, the settlement agreement through which the Monarch placed at his disposal a fleet of five ships to search and discover the Land of Spices, while being granted the title of Captain of this armada, Governor and Adelantado of the lands he could discover. 
 
According to the division agreed in the Tordesillas Treaty, Magallanes believed Molucas Islands were located within the Spanish part and not inside Portuguese domains, and, consequently, the monopoly of spices should correspond to the Kingdom of Spain.


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