History Juan Sebastián Elkano: What do we have to celebrate? what do they want to hide?

Getaria Town Hall Square (Gipuzkoa). Wednesday, 08:20 a.m. Hardly a soul on the street. I approach the second person who in a few minutes has photographed the statue that presides over the square.

— "Excuse me, do you know who he is?" .— "No idea, but I like the photo" —answers the Australian tourist recently arrived from Donostia in the hometown of Juan Sebastián Elkano.

It is not surprising. For the mayor of Getaria, Nikanor Lertxundi (EH Bildu), the lack of knowledge about the Basque sailor is general: "There is little knowledge and a lot of stereotypes, both here and outside of Getaria. Elkano is known for having completed a circumnavigation of the world, but That's pretty much all we know." But, in fact, that too is up for debate. There are not a few historians who affirm that the journey begun by Ferdinand Magellan in 1519 and completed by Elkano in 1522 was not the first circumnavigation in history. A hundred years earlier, between 1421 and 1423, an expedition ordered by the Chinese Emperor Zhu-di could have been the first to prove that the Earth is round.

Beyond the debate about whose neck the medal rests on, one thing is certain: until 2022 we will hear, see and read about Elkano like never before. Basque and Spanish institutions have already begun to prepare speeches, products and activities for the 5th centenary of the circumnavigation. The idea is clear: create and spread the Elkano brand locally and internationally, with political and economic objectives derived from the current worldview of our leaders.

The "feats" of Elkano The existing information on the life of Juan Sebastián Elkano is scarce. His will is one of the main sources, but the gaps are greater, since not even his date of birth is clear. He was born around 1487, one of the nine children of Katalina Portu and Domingo Sebastián Elkano. His father was a man of the sea, who, thanks to the new trade routes of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, became one of the richest men in town. Juan Sebastián followed the path of his father and also tried to take advantage of the businesses that emerged in those incipient years of conquest and genocide in America and Asia. He was the owner of a 200-ton ship and throughout his life he participated in several military expeditions. He was always in the pay and favor of the interests of the kingdom of Castile and "Christianity" and under the command of very powerful people in the kingdom. One of them was Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, a fierce defender of the Spanish Catholic empire. He was known, among other things, for promulgating that all Arabs should convert to Christianity and be a supporter of the armed conquest of Navarre. Being Cisneros Inquisitor General of Castile, he commanded the conquest of North Africa and the massacres of Oran, Bugia and Tripoli, with Elkano at his service. In Oran alone, 4,000 people were killed in the looting of the city, although other sources put the figure at 10,000 victims. Elkano also served under González Fernández de Córdoba, one of the most renowned military leaders of the Spanish crown. At his command, he participated in various military campaigns, such as the conquest of Naples. Elkano, in addition to being an expert in maritime matters, apparently, was also an expert in accumulating debts. He had to borrow money from Savoyard merchants or Genoese bankers – exactly from whom it is not clear. Unable to pay his debts, he had to give them his ship in return. That was the reason for his departure from Getaria: in those days selling ships to foreigners was a crime in the kingdom of Castile. Fleeing from the law, he arrived in Seville. Surely thanks to the Basques who worked in the Casa de la Contratación de Indias–one of whom may have been a relative–he was recruited for the expedition that would later make him famous. It was a round opportunity for the fugitive Elkano, since one of the benefits agreed for the members in the Magellan expedition was the forgiveness of all previous crimes. In those years spices were almost as valuable as gold. Thus, the main objective of the crown was to open a route to the so-called "Spice Islands", the Moluccan Islands of Indonesia. With this objective, five ships set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda on August 10, 1519, with 234 men of various nationalities on board (including a Malaysian slave). Elkano was put in charge of the ship Concepción. What is known about this three-year voyage is mainly based on the logbooks of the Italian Antonio Pigafetta and the Castilian Francisco Albo. It is difficult today to get an idea of ​​what a journey of those characteristics could have entailed, without an established maritime route and with the crude technology of that time. They suffered all kinds of hardships: hunger, thirst, diseases, storms, attacks, riots... But they too, following the modus operandi of the conquerors of the time, made sure to sow suffering wherever they went, using people " discovered” as mere merchandise or for personal enjoyment. According to the chronicles, murders and kidnappings were common during the trip. Elkano and company became the first Europeans to come into contact with the Tehuelches of southern Argentina. They were renamed as Patagonians. Seeing their "wild appearance", they wanted to teach them to pray, and also kidnapped two of them to take back to the king. In Guam, one of the Mariana Islands which they called the "Island of Thieves", they burned 50 houses and canoes and killed seven people. According to the chronicle, "since the people there did not know what arrows were, it was very easy to kill them." In Cebu, Philippines, they burned the city of Bulaia because its leaders did not want to submit to the mandate of the King of Castile. Shortly thereafter Magellan was killed while leading an attack on local Indians. In Brunei they killed many and took 19 as slaves. By then, after Magellan's death, Juan López de Carvalho had taken command, and for this reason he had the privilege of choosing and taking three women to the ship, "for himself". When only one of the initial five ships remained afloat, Elkano became the captain of the Nao Victoria, brimming with spices. Along with him, another 43 Europeans and 13 abducted indigenous people remained alive. When they arrived in Cape Verde, Elkano ordered the purchase of several slaves to use in repairing the ship. And so, after multiple misfortunes and misadventures, they arrived in Sanlúcar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522. Of the 234 men who left three years earlier, only 18 returned – four of them were Basques. But really, that's just the official version. In fact, 21 people disembarked, since three of the many indigenous people kidnapped during the trip also arrived alive. Three "wild Indians" imprisoned, stripped of any name, origin and face by Eurocentric history. Elkano, in addition to fame, wanted to obtain economic returns from the expedition. These were his requests to Emperor Charles V: to be captain of another future armed naval expedition, the delivery of a fortress in the newly colonized lands of the Moluccas Islands and to be named a knight of the religious and military order of Santiago. He did not receive anything that he asked for. The King of Castile granted him an annual pension of 500 ducats and the inclusion in his shield of a sphere of the world with the Latin legend "Primus Circummdedisti me" (The first you surrounded me), a phrase that today welcomes the monument in his honor of Getaria. Before enrolling in another maritime expedition, Elkano participated in the negotiations with the Portuguese to elucidate to whom the Molucca Islands belonged. His mission was to defend Spanish interests together with the son of Christopher Columbus, Hernando. No agreement was reached. In 1525 he set out once more for the Moluccas, this time as second in command. He died on the way. The captain and the officers had the right to eat better than the sailors and tropical fish, with better meat, was reserved for them. A toxin transmitted by this type of fish is surely the cause of his death: ciguatera. His body was thrown into the sea.

"The Elkano expedition was a true feat of our Navy"

These are the words of King Felipe IV in the act held at the beginning of the year in the Zarzuela Palace to give institutional support to the celebrations of the V centenary of the "first trip around the world". Like all the elements that evoke the “greatness of the Spanish empire”, Elkano has always been a useful and welcome figure for Spanish nationalism. He included the Franco regime. Only from this perspective is it explained why the Spanish government has put the Ministry of Defense, together with the Ministry of Culture, at the forefront of organizing the events of the V centenary. In November 2017, Odon Elorza, a socialist deputy from San Sebastian in Congress, made it very clear on his blog the political intentions behind the creation of the Elkano brand: "An important episode that forms part of the common history of the Peoples of Spain. It is very convenient to remember the presence of the Basques, who were a spearhead of the naval (military) campaigns of the Kingdom of Spain, in an innovative collective enterprise sponsored by the Crown”.

The Spanish Government has named the V centenary of "special public interest" and offers tax deductions of up to 90% to companies and associations that organize or publicize events on the circumnavigation. One of the first major projects to sell Elkano to the world is already underway: the film No Limits, with a budget of 25 million euros, directed by the Englishman Simon West and with the participation of professionals who have worked on blockbusters such as The Hobbit and Game of Thrones. In the words of its producer, Bilbao-born Miguel Menéndez de Zubillaga, "Elkano is the cleanest of the Spanish conquerors: he has nothing negative. He did nothing wrong, he was a discoverer, an outsider hero, like Blas de Lezo and Don Pelayo. We are not going to do a historical job, it will be an action and adventure film.” At the same time, the public institutions of the Basque Country and Andalusia have also decided to join the celebrations with their own initiatives.

elkano as shakespeare No drawing or portrait of Elkano has survived to our times. Therefore, as with many other historical figures, Elkano is represented accordingly. In May 2016, the Balenciaga Museum in Getaria represented it in this way. Giving it a particular Renaissance aesthetic, presenting Elkano almost as a Basque Shakespeare, to link his figure with the world of knowledge and science and distance him from his mercenary and warlike life.

"Elkano represents what we were and what we Basques are"

'Mundu bira 500: Elkano Fundazioa' has been underway since last year. The members of its board of trustees, the governing body, are as follows: Arantxa Tapia (PNV) —Basque Government Minister of Industry—, Bingen Zupiria (PNV) —Basque Government Minister of Culture—, Markel Olano (PNV) —Deputy General of Gipuzkoa —, Denis Itxaso (PSE) —Gipuzkoa Provincial Councilor for Culture—, Igor Iturain (PNV) —president of the Urola Kosta community—, Getaria councilors Aitor Urresti (PNV) and Floren Iribar (EH Bildu), and the mayor Nikanor Lertxundi (EH Bildu). At the moment, the foundation has only one employee, its director, Ion Irurzun.

In the words of Irurzun, the Elkano Foundation will value issues with "true significance". For example, "back then 90% of the boats were made in the Basque Country, Basque sailors were famous all over the world; we want to work on that maritime culture with which we Basques are connected, and along this path, Elkano is a milestone, a mark". Promoting research, learning more about Elkano is, in his opinion, one of the first tasks, and it must be done "without preconceived ideas." To this end, the foundation, as expressed in its public presentation in July 2017, "will have as its objective and main base to promote culture, tourism, industry, commerce and education, valuing the feat carried out by the sailor from Getaria ".

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The historical perspective and discourse of the Elkano Foundation are mainly the work of the Zaragoza historian Xabier Alberdi. He is the scientific director of the Naval Museum of Donostia and the head of the research section of the Albaola Maritime Factory. Albaola has become known in recent years for her informative work on the role and importance of the Basques in maritime culture and the development of their industry in times past. Alberdi presents Juan Sebastian Elkano as the champion of that speech, and the Elkano Foundation shows him as a symbol of the "feats" of the Basque sailors of that time. In an interview with Deia in July 2017, Alberdi defined Elkano as follows: "I see him as a great strategist, an exceptional businessman, something like a president of ADEGI (Gipuzkoa business association). A man of action with an instinct for adventure. A José Luis Korta who thinks and says how to achieve success. We don't realize the greatness that Elkano achieved and, what's more, we Basques don't know how to sell our achievements". Asked in 2016 about the importance of the anniversary of the circumnavigation, he said the following to Diario Vasco: "Developed nations have prestige policies. If a country wants to do business abroad, it is not the same to be a prestigious or unknown country" . This discourse has permeated the institutions, and proof of this is that Albaola has been commissioned by the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, with the support of the Pasaia and Getaria town councils, to build a replica of the Nao Victoria.

But there is a "peculiarity" in this epic tale about Elkano. For it is one thing to praise the skill and industry that enabled Basque sailors to sail to distant lands after nearly exterminating the whales in the Bay of Biscay. And it is quite another thing to try to turn into a country's ambassador a faithful servant of one of the most effective empires in history in the destruction of cultures, languages ​​and their people.

The marketing of the official version will have an arduous task to make up the contradictions. For example, Aitzol Azurtza, a member of the Basque diaspora, put it this way in an op-ed in the Berria newspaper: "Elkano may be a model of a daring and audacious hero for Basques, but those of us who live in the diaspora don't We can take Elkano as a model because he looks too much like the Spanish conquerors". Azurtza complained about the Basque Government's decision to coincide the Day of the Basque Diaspora with September 8, the day that Elkano and his crew landed in Seville.

"The Landing of Elkano" The people of Getaria represent "The Landing of Elkano" every four years. Based on what supposedly happened in San Lucar de Barrameda 500 years ago, it is a collective tribute to the town's favorite son, emphasizing the suffering and epicness of the journey, as well as his subsequent recognition by the Spanish Empire. It is more a collective act of folklore than historical representation or conscious reflection. Elkano has become the greatest exponent of deep-rooted maritime culture in Getaria, and, in general, its people consider it an honor to participate in this tribute. The main roles in this popular theater are raffled among the townspeople. With one exception, the 18 main actors can only be men, women are banned from these roles "out of respect for the gender of historical characters." As can be assumed, the three indigenous slaves who returned with Elkano have no representation or participation in the act. This year it was celebrated on August 7.

History

Elcano: the return of the fifth centenarians

Miguel A. Jiménez The figure of the navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano becomes a political-commercial fetish supplanting the complex and enriching historical debate.

The entire political class has bought the uncritical version

The idyllic version away from war and conquest has been made theirs, with few nuances, from EH Bildu to the PP. In 2015, the Basque Parliament unanimously approved a proposal for the public institutions of the Basque Autonomous Community to grant strategic importance to the V. centenary, and promote the figure of Elkano to make the Basque Country known in the rest of the world. Both in the approved text and in the declarations of all the political parties represented at the time, there is no critical mention of Elkano's participation in the outrages of the Spanish empire. PNV, PSE-EE, EH Bildu, PP and UPyD voted accordingly. 73 votes, 73 in favour. An unparalleled political consensus on an event linked to such an infamous time in history that generates so much debate today.

Getaria historian Miguel Jiménez is very critical of "the Eurocentrism that emanates from the official version". "They always talk about how skilled navigators they were and their great qualities. But all those who are not white Europeans - the indigenous mass and women, for example - are relegated, at best, to the background and in most cases are anonymous. Before and today."

The historian from Getaria, Idoia Arrieta, finds it embarrassing that to justify events from 500 years ago, the hackneyed argument “it was a very different context” is used today. "They forget that the context also exists today, there are wars everywhere and not all of us are in favor of them, not all of us go to another part of the world to kill people in defense of the economic and political interests of the powerful. Because of the context, ¿ "We also have to justify the Spanish Civil War? Because of the context as well. Do we have to naturally see the kidnapping of women as sexual slaves on the ships of Elkano's voyage? Where is the limit?" In Jiménez's opinion, only from a mentality of conquest, those events can be accepted normally: "The mental schemes of the past are repeated. They say that Elkano and company helped bring globalization and development to the world. Well, ask, for example, the native peoples of Patagonia, about the "development" that the West gave them."

Elkano is not Agirre, Cortes or Pizarro

The official version attributes commercial objectives to the Elkano expedition, far from any connection with colonization. But there are very significant data that cast doubt on it. On the one hand, it is worth noting the type of cargo they carried to make the trip. "The materials loaded on the ships by both Magellan and Hernán Cortés –to compare him with someone whose figure as a conqueror no one questions– were very similar," Arrieta stresses. Let's review the cargo of the five ships of Magellan and Elkano, since there is very detailed information about it. In addition to food for two years and navigation equipment, they took with them knives, mirrors, scissors, needles, clothes and necklaces "to seduce the natives." And for the times when tricks don't work: 110 pieces of artillery, cannons, bombards, gunpowder, 50 shotguns, 60 crossbows, 1,000 spears, 360 dozen arrows, 95 dozen darts and as many other weapons and tools of war.

On the other hand, the Elkano expedition was organized through the Casa de Contratación de Indias, which was created by order of the Catholic Monarchs with a very clear purpose: to manage and control the commercial monopoly of the empire's overseas colonies. That is why the participants of the Magellan/Elkano expedition were given very specific objectives: to obtain and deliver (to the king) all "new plants, animals and humans" found along the way.

And, finally, the capitulations –the conditions of the contract between King Carlos V and Magellan– of the expedition are very illuminating. The document states that the leaders of the expedition will become "governors and advance guards of the conquered lands." A common reward in military campaigns of those times. "Adding new lands to the king's mandate is called colonization. Trade was not the only objective of Elkano's expedition, there is no doubt," says Idoia Arrieta.

History, ready-to-wear

In 1992, on the fifth centenary of Christopher Columbus' voyage, the Spanish government organized the celebration of the "Discovery of America". They did not name the conquest or the plunder, and obviously, it was not by chance. This is one of the most obvious and bloody examples of the use of the past at the mercy of certain current political, economic, ethical and even aesthetic interests. That centenary was an event for the massive dissemination of a particular way of seeing and understanding the world, as well as a very effective tool for transferring public money into private hands.

For Idoia Arrieta, history is a personal point of view, which is alive and, therefore, "everyone who has a project for the future will always try to adapt the understanding of the past to his point of view". But if the goal is fame or personal gain, according to Arrieta, you will inevitably not be able to get away from the path marked out by the established power. For this reason, he remarks, for some people Elkano will be important for supposedly having "strengthened ties between continents" or "created new commercial networks", but "what I see is destruction, conquest and violence. If we want to project a better world, to Elkano is not a benchmark for me".

The main historiographies have been created around empires, states and the accumulation of wealth. We Basques have not written our own history either. That is one of the direct consequences of living under the mandate of other empires and states. The leaders who have used the people and lands for their personal benefit and gain are the ones who have written about us. In recent years, however, various attempts have been flourishing to rewrite our history, to understand ourselves starting from other points of view, taking up again the vision of those condemned by official history. But, unfortunately, Juan Sebastián Elkano is not one of these cases, as suggested by both the Spanish imperial supremacist version and the Basque version of the cult of the local marine hero.

The point is not to beat ourselves up about what happened 500 years ago. It is not a matter of guilt or regret. Perhaps we should ask ourselves if the past should not be an argument to improve the present. A pillar from which to build a fair and inclusive future based on solidarity, a mirror from which to learn and improve. And if we want to take that path without excluding anyone, we will inevitably have to carry out a decolonization exercise. In other words, it will be necessary to bring the outcasts of history to the center, and give a voice to women, to native peoples and to those who, to this day, suffer the consequences of the "Discovery of the New World."