Andrés de Urdaneta

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Andrés de Urdaneta in the habit of the Augister Order

Andrés de Urdaneta (* 1498 in Ordizia , † 3. June 1568 in Mexico City ) was a from the Basque Country originating Spanish Augustinian monk , captain and explorer . He became known for his discovery and mapping of a route across the Pacific , from the Philippines to Acapulco in Mexico (then New Spain ), which later became known as the "Urdanetas Way".

youth

Urdaneta was born in Ordizia in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa in Spain . He studied Latin and philosophy, but since he was an orphan, he embarked on a military career. In the Italian wars he attained the rank of captain. After returning to Spain, he began studying mathematics and astronomy , which aroused his interest in seafaring and led him to join the hapless expedition García Jofre de Loaísas to the Spice Islands (now the Moluccas ) in 1525 . Urdaneta was one of the few survivors of the expedition who managed to reach the Spice Islands. Once there, however, he was captured by the Portuguese .

In 1536 he managed to return to Europe. Thus Urdaneta managed the second European circumnavigation after a journey that lasted ten years. King Charles I of Spain did not receive him very warmly and so, weakened by his adventures, he returned to New Spain and joined the Augustinian order .

More voyages

Andrés de Urdaneta at a younger age

After the death of Viceroy Luis de Velasco in 1564, New Spain moved under the administration of the Real Audiencia . This equipped an expedition to colonize and conquer the Philippines. This was ordered by Philip II in 1559 and Urdaneta was appointed as the commander. Urdaneta was considered a good navigator and expert on trips in the Indian waters. Philip II offered him command and urged him to take part in the expedition. Urdaneta partially agreed, but refused to take command that was eventually transferred to Miguel López de Legazpi . The expedition, which consisted of the flagship Capitana , the galleons San Pablo and San Pedro , and the tenders San Juan and San Lucas , set sail on November 21, 1564. In addition to Urdaneta, there were four more Augustinian monks on board. The ships reached the Philippine island of Cebu in the spring of 1565 . Shortly afterwards, the first monastery of the Augustinian order was founded there, whose activities, alongside those of other orders, were to play an important role in the future Christianization of the islands. After Legazpi had spent some time on the islands, including fighting with parts of the local population, he decided to send Urdaneta back to find a better route and bring support from New Spain to the colony in the Philippines.

Urdaneta sailed from San Miguel, Cebu on June 1, 1565 and was forced to sail up to 36 degrees north latitude in order to find favorable winds. The ship reached Acapulco on October 8, 1565, after having covered 20,000 km in 130 days. 14 of his sailors died, only Urdaneta and Felipe de Salcedo, Legazpi's nephew, were still strong enough to drop anchor.

The expedition member Alonso de Arellano , who had left them shortly after arriving in port, had already arrived before them and had reached Barra de Navidad in Jalisco in August of that year. Arellano's notes were far more imprecise than Urdaneta's; so Urdanetas' route became the more famous and trustworthy.

From Mexico he traveled to Europe to report and then returned to New Spain. He was planning to go on to the Philippines, but his friends put him off. He wrote two reports about his travels: one about the Loaísa expedition, the other about his return trip to New Spain. The former has been published, the latter is in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville .

For the remainder of the 16th and 17th centuries, Spanish ships used Urdaneta's route, most notably the annual galleon from Manila to Acapulco. The Spanish never explored the Pacific coast of North America or most of the Pacific islands for a number of reasons. Nevertheless, Spain claimed sovereignty over most of the Pacific until the 19th century.

literature

  • Walter McDougal: Let the Sea Make a Noise: Four Hundred Years of Cataclysm, Conquest, War and Folly in the North Pacific. Avon Books, New York 1993.

Web links

Commons : Andrés de Urdaneta  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mark Kurlansky: The Basque History of the World . Walker & Company, New York 1999. ISBN 0-8027-1349-1 , p. 64
personal data
SURNAME Urdaneta, Andrés de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish explorer and writer
DATE OF BIRTH 1498
PLACE OF BIRTH Ordizia , Spain
DATE OF DEATH June 3, 1568
Place of death Mexico City , Mexico