Enrique Melaka

Enrique Melaka (also Enrique of Malacca ) (* around 1493 in Malacca, † unknown, last mention of May 1, 1521 on the island of Cebu ) was a slave , servant and interpreter of Ferdinand Magellan . He took part in the first circumnavigation of the world (1519-1522), which provided practical proof that the earth is a sphere, from 1519 to 1521.

Life

Enrique came from the Malay Peninsula , according to other sources from Sumatra . In 1511 he was captured and enslaved by Magellan as a youngster during the Portuguese siege and conquest of Malacca . This is evident from Magellan's will ( "my captive dark-skinned slave, a native of the city of Malacca" ). He learned Portuguese and Spanish from Magellan. On the travels he interpreted a. a. between the inhabitants of the Visayas and the Spaniards. After Magellan's violent death in April 1521 on the Philippines island of Mactan , Enrique would have been free, in accordance with Magellan's will and will. But the new captain disagreed; he wanted to continue using Enrique as an interpreter. Enrique is said to have planned a bloody banquet with the Cebuan prince Raja Humabon in order to gain his freedom , at which the twenty-four European participants were killed. Then the traces of Enrique are lost (May 1, 1521).

The first-hand historical source about Enrique is Pigafetta's travelogue. Otherwise his name will only be mentioned in Magellan's will and in the crew lists of the Magellan expedition.

Myth of the first circumnavigation of the world

content

A myth has it that Magellan's slave Enrique did not come from Sumatra but from the Philippines and returned there with the Magellan Expedition and thus became the first person to completely circle the earth.

origin

The thesis has its origins in the fictional historical novel Panglima Awang by the Malay writer Harun Aminurrashid (Harun bin Mohd Amin 1907–1986) from Singapore from 1957. In the novel, the hero's place of origin is unceremoniously shifted around 2000 km to the east Relocated to the Philippines. In the course of time, the historical Enrique Melaka increasingly merged with the fictional character Panglima Awang and was hyped up to be a Malay national hero. In 1980 the Filipino historian Carlos Quirino presented the thesis from the "fictional historical novel" from 1957 as fact for the first time. Since then, the thesis has been widespread especially in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines) and on various homepages .

Predecessor of the myth

In Stefan Zweig's novel Magellan. The man and his deed from 1938 is not yet claimed that Enrique was the first person to circumnavigate the world. In this book very vague formulations are used, such as, for example, that he was the first person to have reached his home zone or linguistic sphere again. Nevertheless, this part of the book is certainly to be regarded as the predecessor of the myth. Twenty years later, in the novel “Panglima Awang”, Enrique / Panglima Awang is the first thanks to the shift in his island of origin.

The main argument behind this thesis is that Enrique understood the language of the people around Cebu - Bisayan - and he must therefore come from Cebu and not Sumatra. This is a flaw in this line of argument: Pigafetta's report, the only source on Enrique, reports that he was only able to communicate very “badly” or not at all when he first met the natives. It was only when he spoke to their king - or to traders - that they suddenly found a common language.

Pigafetta wrote: “As soon as the barque approached our ship sufficiently, our slave spoke to the king. The king understood him - for the kings of these islands speak several languages. ” This is certainly not surprising. Malay has been the lingua franca of the entire archipelago since the 15th century , and the official language of international diplomacy and trade for the entire region. All references to Enrique in Pigafetta's chronicle mention him in conversation with kings, princes or merchants. He did not speak to the common people who did not speak the Malaysian language of international trade and diplomacy.

State of affairs

The only eyewitness source on Enrique is the Pigafettas report. It says: Enrique came from the island of Sumatra and spoke Malay.

Pigafetta wrote: "The captain general had a slave on board who came from Sumatra, who was formerly called Traprobana." (Later he called him by his baptismal name Enrique.)

Enrique accompanied the trip to the island of Cebu, where - according to Pigafetta - he was involved in a conspiracy on May 1, 1521, as a result of which 24 men of the expedition, most of them leaders (captains, navigators) from the islanders, at a feast were murdered.

Pigafetta wrote: “He (Enrique) went to the king (of Cebu) and advised him to take possession of all our ships, goods and weapons before we set sail again. The king willingly listened to the slave and the two now devised their plan to betray us. "

Enrique then stayed on Cebu.

Pigafetta wrote: "When we asked what happened to our 24 men and the interpreter (Enrique), he (Serrano) replied that the islanders had killed everyone except the interpreter, who had defected to the enemy."

Enrique in the report letter from Maximilianus Transylvanus

After the return of the Victoria , M. Transylvanus interviewed three of the survivors, Juan Sebastián Elcano , Francisco Albo and Hernando de Bustamante, and compiled a brief summary of the circumnavigation from their statements, which he sent as a report to Matthäus Lang , Archbishop of Salzburg . According to Pigafetta's eyewitness report, this letter of 1522, which appeared in print in 1523, is another important document of the circumnavigation and confirms Pigafetta's statements about Enrique.

Enrique was from the island of Sumatra and spoke Malay.

M. Transylvanus wrote: Magalhaes had a slave who came from this island world (east of India) and whom he had bought years ago in the East Indies. This slave had a perfect command of the Spanish language. With the help of an islander from Cebu, who knew the mother tongue of this slave (Enrique), he regulated the intercourse with the natives .

Here M. Transylvanus clearly describes that Erique did not speak the language of the islanders on Cebu and needed an interpreter (in Pigafetta the kings of these islands who speak several languages). The communication with the islanders was therefore in Bisayan-Malai Spanish.

He accompanied the trip to the island of Cebu, where he was involved in a conspiracy, as a result of which 24 men of the expedition, including most of the leaders (captains, navigators), were murdered by the islanders at a feast.

M. Transylvanus wrote: A few days later he (Erique) went to the King of Cebu and told him that the Spaniards' greed for power and wealth was insatiable. If only they had decided to capture and drag the King of Cebu after the submission of the King of Mactan. There is no other means than betrayal. He (the King of Cebu) made peace with the other princes in secret and advised the destruction of our people. During the meeting they (the 24 men invited to the feast) were suddenly ambushed by men who were hidden in an ambush .

literature

• Antonio Pigafetta : Around the Earth with Magellan. An eyewitness account of the first circumnavigation of the world . Edition Erdmann, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-86539-811-6 .
• Hans Plischke: Fernao de Magalhaes, The first circumnavigation . Brockhaus 1922, pp. 133-134

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas (Ed.): Colección general de documentos relativos a las Islas Filipinas existentes en el Archivo General de las Indias de Sevilla . tape 2 . Barcelona 1919, p. 318 (Magellan in his will about Enrique): "my esclavo cabtibo de color loro natural de la çibdad de malaca de hedad de veynte e seys años poco mas / o menos"
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Antonio Pigafetta: With Magellan around the earth. An eyewitness account of the first circumnavigation of the world . Edition Erdmann, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-86539-811-6 .
3. ^ ^{A b} Hans Plischke: Fernao de Magalhaes, The first circumnavigation of the world . Brockhaus 1922, pp. 133-134