Movilidad y rugosidad en la comunicación política imperial: las primeras gestiones en la Corte de los miembros de la expedición de Legazpi a Filipinas (1565-1573)

Abstract

The article discusses the first three messengers sent to Madrid from the Philippines and Mexico to report on the progress of the "Jornada del Poniente" led by Miguel López de Legazpi and to present a series of petitions. The issues at stake were, on the one hand, the boundary between Spanish and Portuguese established by the Treaty of Zaragoza signed in 1529 and, on the other hand, the desire of the expedition members to begin the conquest. The Madrid negotiations are also taking place in the context of the reform of the Indian government, which took shape in 1568 with the Junta Magna. Ultimately, the article first demonstrates the role of knowledge, as a resource and capital, in the relationship established between the king and his distant vassals. Second, it examines the value of physical presence at the Court to present and defend petitions. Third, the article shows that the messenger had a kind of monopoly in the Court that could be contrary to the interests of the mandators. In conclusion, we understand that, in the Hispanic imperial space, communication had been confronted with socio-political rather than geographical "roughness".

Keywords

• knowledge
• conquest
• Philippines
• political communication
• roughness