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8. The quotes about Don Luis’s lifestyle come from a 1589 treatise on life in Mexico City written by Juan Suárez de Peralta, Tratado del descubrimiento de las Indias (Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública, 1949), 99–100. The demand for a raise is in Viceroy Velasco to Emperor Charles V, Mexico City, May 4, 1553, partly transcribed in José Ignacio Rubio Mañé, “Apuntes para la biografía de don Luis de Velasco, el Viejo,” Revista de Historia de América 13 (December 1941): 61. On Don Luis’s dining habits, see also Thomas, World Without End, 34. On his passion for horseback riding and bullfighting, see Thomas, World Without End, 34–36; and Sarabia Viejo, Don Luís de Velasco, 10. On the renovation of Moctezuma’s palace, see Rubio Mañé, “Apuntes para la biografía de don Luis de Velasco, el Viejo,” 91. This last source includes a complete transcription of Don Luis’s last will, which is extremely informative about the state of the viceroy’s finances. On the theatrical and performative aspects of being a viceroy, see Alejandro Cañeque, The King’s Living Image: The Culture and Politics of Viceregal Power in Colonial Mexico (Routledge: New York, 2004), especially chap. 4.
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9. For Don Luis’s meetings and other activities, see King Philip II to Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco, Valladolid, September 24, 1559, in Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas de ultramar (hereafter CDIU ), vol. 2 (Madrid: Imprenta Real, 1886), document 10; and Muro, “La expedición Legazpi-Urdaneta a las Filipinas,” 142–43. For Don Luis’s feisty reply, see Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco to King Philip II, Mexico City, May 28, 1560, in CDIU 2, document 12.
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10. For Carrión’s recent notoriety, see the comic by Ángel Miranda (author) and Juan Aguilera (illustrator), Espadas del fin del mundo (Madrid: María de los Dolores Vicente Martín, 2016).
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11. The quotes and a wealth of information about Carrión’s life and marriage to Doña María are from the “Proceso contra Juan Pablo de Carrión, natural de Valladolid, vecino de Zapotlán, por casado dos veces,” Michoacán, 1572, Archivo General de la Nácion, Mexico City (hereafter AGN), Instituciones Coloniales, Inquisición 61, vol. 93, Expediente 2. For a brief sketch of Carrión, see José Miguel Romero de Solís, Andariegos y pobladores: Nueva España y Nueva Galicia (Siglo XVI) (Zamora: El Colegio de Michoacán, 2001), 115. For Juan Pablo de Carrión’s activities in Spain, see “Real Cédula a los oficiales de la Casa de la Contratación para que resuelvan y sentencien en el pleito entre Juan Pablo de Carrión con el fiscal y con Diego de Montemayor y otros,” Valladolid, February 21, 1554, AGI, Indiferente, 1965, L. 12, F. 98r–v; “Real Cédula a los oficiales de la Casa de la Contratación para que permitan a Juan Pablo de Carrión acabar de cargar su galeón pasadas las hojas del Guadalquivir,” Valladolid, September 26, 1554, AGI, Indiferente, 1965, L. 12, F. 220r–v; and above all the “Real Cédula a los oficiales de la Casa de la Contratación para que envíen al Consejo de Indias relación de lo que ha sucedido con el capitán Juan Pablo de Carrión, acusado de abandonar la conserva,” Valladolid, December 19, 1554, AGI, Indiferente, 1965, L. 12, F. 285r–v. From this last document, it is clear that, even while in prison, Captain Carrión was writing to Philip II claiming that he was innocent and seeking to lessen his punishment.
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12. Carrión is referred to as a vecino—resident or citizen—of Valladolid in the documentation, but it is still possible that he may have been born and spent his formative years in Carrión de los Condes or Palencia. Don Luis’s ancestral home in Carrión de los Condes, right along the Camino de Santiago, is well documented.
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13. The number of vessels in previous Pacific expeditions is as follows: five with Magellan, seven with Jofre de Loaísa, four with Sebastian Cabot, three with Álvaro de Saavedra, ten with Pedro de Alvarado, two with Hernando de Grijalva, and six with Ruy López de Villalobos. On the initial number of vessels for the expedition, see Philip II to Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco, Valladolid, September 24, 1559, in CDIU 2, document 10. For a brief discussion of the nautical challenges posed by crossing the Pacific, see José Ramón de Miguel Bosch, “Las dificultades náuticas del tornaviaje,” in Truchuelo García, Andrés de Urdaneta, 481–506.
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14. The first quote appears in Carrión to the president of the Council of the Indies, n.p., 1565, AGI, Patronato, 263, N. 1, R. 1. See also CDIU 2, xxvi–xxvii. See also Philip II to Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco, Valladolid, September 24, 1559, in CDIU 2, document 10; Muro, “La expedición Legazpi-Urdaneta a las Filipinas,” 143; and “Real cédula concediendo licencia al capitán Juan Pablo de Carrión para pasar a Indias las armas que necesitan para su defensa,” Valladolid, September 24, 1559, AGI, Indiferente, 425, L. 23, F. 424r (8). The second quote is from the testimony of Pedro Maldonado in the inquisitorial proceedings against Juan Pablo de Carrión, Michoacán, 1572, AGN, Instituciones Coloniales, Inquisición 61, vol. 93, Expediente 2. Maldonado had known Carrión at least since 1548, when they had both lived in Toledo, traveled together to the Americas, and lived in the house shared by the captain and Doña María. Carrión mentioned Doña María’s fear of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the same proceedings on page 244.
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15. The first quote appears in Carrión to the president of the Council of the Indies, n.p., 1565, AGI, Patronato, 263, N. 1, R. 1. See also CDIU 2, xxvi–xxvii. The second quote is from the commission given by Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco to Juan Pablo de Carrión, Mexico City, June 14, 1560, from Mercedes in the Archivo General de la Nación (hereafter AGN) and transcribed in Rubio Mañé, “La expedición de Miguel López de Legazpi a Filipinas,” 680–82. The timing and reasons for the expansion of the fleet are unclear. See Muro, “La expedición Legazpi-Urdaneta a las Filipinas,” 168–70. The third quote and information about Carrión’s second marriage come from the inquisitorial proceedings against Juan Pablo de Carrión, Michoacán, 1572, AGN, Inquisición 61, vol. 93, Expediente 2. Leonor Suárez had been previously married to Juan de Almesto (ca. 1498–1563). The timing of Carrión’s first meeting with Leonor is uncertain. Their marriage occurred around 1564.
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16. On Carrión’s anticipation of the role that he would play in the expedition, see his letter to the president of the Council of the Indies, n.p., 1565, AGI, Patronato, 263, N. 1, R.1. See also CDIU 2, xxvi–xxvii; and Muro, “La expedición Le-gazpi-Urdaneta a las Filipinas,” 148.
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17. The literature on Urdaneta is sizable. A good place to start is Patricio Hidalgo Nuchera, “La figura de Andrés de Urdaneta en la historiografía indiana, conventual, documental y moderna,” in Truchuelo García, Andrés de Urdaneta, 17–91. Some of the classic works include Fermín de Uncilla y Arroitajáuregui, Urdaneta y la conquista de Filipinas (San Sebastián: Imprenta de la Provincia, 1907); José de Arteche, Urdaneta (el dominador de los espacios del Océano Pacífico) (Madrid: Es-pasa-Calpe, 1943); Mariano Cuevas, Monje y marino: La vida y los tiempos de Fray Andrés de Urdaneta (Mexico City: Galatea, 1943); and Mairin Mitchell, Friar Andrés de Urdaneta, O.S.A. (London: Macdonald and Evans, 1964). For the close relationship between Basque mariners—including Elcano and Urdaneta—during the Loaísa expedition, as well as relations between Europeans and Indigenous women in the Spice Islands, see Juan Gil, “El entorno vasco de Andrés de Urdaneta (1525–1538),” in Truchuelo García, Andrés de Urdaneta, 325–90. The distance between Getaria (Elcano’s birthplace) and Ordizia (Urdaneta’s) is only thirty miles.
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18. On Urdaneta’s ecclesiastical career and the transcription of his March 20, 1553, oath, see Rodríguez, “Andrés de Urdaneta, agustino, 500 años del descubridor del tornaviaje,” 206. See also Cuevas, Monje y marino, 149–78; and Mitchell, Friar Andrés de Urdaneta, 88–104. The last quote is from Friar Juan de Grijalva, Crónica de la Orden de N.P.S. Agustín en las provincias de la Nueva España (Mexico City: Porrúa, 1985), 238. Grijalva’
s chronicle of the Augustinian order was first published in 1624. For greater context on life in convents for males, as they were called back then—it is only in the nineteenth century that convents became associated exclusively with women and monasteries with men—see Antonio Rubial García, Monjas, cortesanos y plebeyos: La vida cotidiana en la época de Sor Juana (Mexico City: Santillana, 2005), 191–93.
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19. The first quote is from the “Parecer dado a Antonio de Mendoza: Viaje al Maluco,” n.p., April 1573, AGI, Patronato, 46, R. 10. In spite of its present classification and dating, this parecer, or opinion, was written by Urdaneta for Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco sometime before November 1564. The second quote is from Friar Urdaneta to Philip II, Mexico City, May 28, 1560, in CDIU 2, document 13. The third quote is from Philip II to Friar Andrés de Urdaneta, Valladolid, September 24, 1559, in CDIU 2, document 11. See also Grijalva, Crónica de la Orden de N.P.S. Agustín en las provincias de la Nueva España, 238.
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20. All quotes come from the “Relación y memoria” written by Friar Andrés de Urdaneta for King Philip II, Mexico City, early 1561, in CDIU 2, document 17. The same theme of developing a self-sufficient naval center on the west coast of Mexico appears in a “Parecer dado a Antonio de Mendoza: Viaje al Maluco,” n.p., April 1573, AGI, Patronato, 46, R. 10. In spite of its present classification and dating in Spanish archives, Urdaneta wrote this parecer for Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco sometime before November 1564. Interestingly, the naval infrastructure of labor and building materials that linked America and Asia ultimately came from the Philippines rather than Mexico. See Peterson, “Making the First Global Trade Route,” passim.
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21. Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco to King Philip II, Mexico City, May 28, 1560, transcribed in Rubio Mañé, “La expedición de Miguel López de Legazpi a Filipinas,” 681. Spanish chronicler Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo met Urdaneta around 1538–39 and noted these same qualities. Fernández de Oviedo, Historia general y natural de las Indias, 1:175. See also Hidalgo Nuchera, “La figura de Andrés de Urdaneta en la historiografía indiana, conventual, documental y moderna,” 26; and Rodríguez, “Andrés de Urdaneta, agustino, 500 años del descubridor del tornaviaje,” 202.
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22. The quote is from Friar Andrés de Urdaneta to King Philip II, n.p., early 1561, in CDIU 2, document 17. Urdaneta actually proposed three different trajectories depending on what season the fleet was ready to sail, but it is evident that his main plan was to sail across the equator to New Guinea as described. If departing in October–November, however, Urdaneta contemplated a straight course from Navidad to the Philippines like the one proposed by Carrión. Finally, if casting off in March–October, Urdaneta recommended following the coast of North America up to California before turning west, “reconnoitering the lands between that region and China and all the way to the vicinity of Japan.” Such a route would have been very challenging, as the fleet would have had to fight contrary winds and currents while climbing toward California and then face very uncertain conditions crossing the Pacific at that latitude toward China or Japan.
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23. All quotes are from Captain Carrión to King Philip II, n.p., n.d., ca. September 1564, about the navigation that the fleet should follow, CDIU 2, document 23.
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24. The quote is from Captain Carrión to King Philip II, n.p., n.d., ca. September 1564, about the navigation that the fleet should follow, in CDIU 2, document 23. See also Carrión to the president of the Council of the Indies, n.p., 1565, AGI, Patronato, 263, N. 1, R. 1; transcription in CDIU 2, xxvi–xxvii; and Muro, “La expedición Legazpi-Urdaneta a las Filipinas,” 148. Yet another letter by Carrión helps to clarify and corroborate his position. Captain Carrión to King Philip II, Mexico City, September 11, 1564, transcribed in Rubio Mañé, “La expedición de Miguel López de Legazpi a Filipinas,” 693–96. Today recreational sailors may consult the World Cruising Routes or comparable manuals to identify the best sailing trajectories from North America to Asia. Although various tracks are possible, the fastest route is indeed to start out from the coast of Mexico sometime between November and May—to avoid the hurricane season—and sail directly to the Philippines to make full use of the trade winds. It is remarkable that navigators of the sixteenth century had already figured out the very best path across the northern Pacific. See Jimmy Cornell, World Cruising Routes: 1,000 Sailing Routes in All Oceans of the World (London: Cornell Sailing, 2014), 265–300.
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25. The first quote is from Friar Urdaneta to King Philip II, Mexico City, May 28, 1560, in CDIU 2, document 13. See also Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco to Philip II, Mexico City, May 28, 1560, in CDIU 2, document 12. The last quote is from the “Relación diaria de Andrés de Urdaneta,” transcribed in Fermín de Uncilla y Arroitajáuregui, Urdaneta y la conquista de Filipinas, 371. See also Rodríguez, “Andrés de Urdaneta, agustino, 500 años del descubridor del tornaviaje,” 183–84. The five clove-bearing islands were Tidore, Ternate, Motil, Maquian, and Bachan, according to Captain Carrión, who visited the region in the 1540s. Captain Carrión to the Council of the Indies, n.p., n.d., transcribed in the Boletín de la Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid (Madrid: Imprenta de Fortanet, 1878), 4:23–26.
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26. The quote is from Captain Juan Pablo de Carrión to King Philip II, September 1564, in CDIU 2, document 23. The exact timing of Urdaneta’s brinksmanship is uncertain. He proposed his routes in 1561, and Carrión objected to them in writing and proposed his own three years later, as shown in this document. It is reasonable to assume, however, that the captain had opposed Urdaneta since 1561 if not before.
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27. The first quote is from Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco to King Philip II, February 9, 1561, in CDIU 2, document 14. The second quote is from Juan Pablo de Carrión to King Philip II, September 1564, in CDIU 2, document 23. Some sources indicate that Urdaneta influenced the viceroy very directly in the selection of Legazpi. See the discussion in Juan Gil, “El primer tornaviaje,” in La nao de China, 1565–1815: Navegación, comercio e intercambios culturales, ed. Salvador Bernabéu Albert (Seville: Universidad de Sevilla, 2013), 35–36. For Legazpi’s background, see José de Arteche, Legazpi: Historia de la conquista de Filipinas (San Sebastián: Sociedad Guipuzcoana de Ediciones y Publicaciones, 1972), 79–85; José Sanz y Díaz, López de Legazpi: Primer adelantado y conquistador de Filipinas (Madrid: Gran Capitán, 1950), passim; Uncilla, Urdaneta y la conquista de Filipinas, 182–83; and, more broadly, Marciano R. de Borja, Basques in the Philippines (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2005), 15–29.
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28. The quote is from Suárez de Peralta, Tratado del descubrimiento de las Indias, 114–15. See also Rubio Mañé, “La expedición de Miguel López de Legazpi a Filipinas,” 693–96.
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29. France V. Scholes and Eleanor B. Adams, eds., “Cartas del licenciado Jerónimo Valderrama y otros documentos sobre su visita al gobierno de Nueva España, 1563–1565,” in Documentos para la historia del México colonial (Mexico City: José Porrúa e Hijos, 1959), passim. For a partial list of Don Luis’s relatives who benefited from either encomiendas or cash payments, see “Relación de algunas personas con quienes tiene trabajado deudo don Luis de Velasco, Virrey de esta Nueva España” and “Relación de los pesos de oro que el Virrey de Nueva España don Luis de Velasco mandó pagar de la caja real a personas deudos, amigos y criados suyos,” in Scholes and Adams, “Cartas del licenciado Jerónimo Valderrama . . . ,” 229–33 and 234–54. The five Audiencia members or oidores were Doctors Ceynos, Villalobos, Orozco, Vasco de Puga, and Villanueva. Doctor Francisco de Ceynos was the one who was too old, and the deaf oidor remains unnamed. See Visitador Valderrama to King Philip II, Mexico City, February 24, 1564, in Scholes and Adams, “Cartas del licenciado Jerónimo Valderrama,” 89.
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30. The first quote is from Visitador Valderrama to King Philip II, Mexico City, Feb
ruary 24, 1564, in Scholes and Adams, “Cartas del licenciado Jerónimo Valderrama,” 95. For an estimate of the total cost, see Muro, “La expedición Legazpi-Urdaneta a las Filipinas,” 206–7. The other quotes are from Visitador Valderrama to King Philip II, Mexico City, February–March 1564, in Scholes and Adams, “Cartas del licenciado Jerónimo Valderrama,” 85.
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31. The quote is from the Audiencia of Mexico to King Philip II, Mexico City, September 12, 1564, in CDIU 2, document 22. See also Visitador Valderrama to King Philip II, Mexico City, August 18, 1564, in Scholes and Adams, “Cartas del licenciado Jerónimo Valderrama,” 158–59; and Muro, “La expedición Legazpi-Urdaneta a las Filipinas,” 153. Through the course of his inspection, Valderrama had resented the power of the religious orders. As he wrote to Philip, “These friars have been meddling in matters of justice, government, and finance.” One flagrant example had been the undue influence Friar Urdaneta had exerted on Don Luis, even resorting to brinksmanship to get his way. See Visitador Valderrama to King Philip II, Mexico City, February–March 1564, in Scholes and Adams, “Cartas del licenciado Jerónimo Valderrama,” 75.
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32. Valderrama’s opinion of Carrión appears in Visitador Valderrama to King Philip II, Mexico City, August 18, 1564, in Scholes and Adams, “Cartas del licenciado Jerónimo Valderrama,” 157. For evidence of Carrión’s mismanagement, see Muro, “La expedición Legazpi-Urdaneta a las Filipinas,” 161 and 165.
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33. For the secret instructions to Legazpi and his oath, see instructions given by the Audiencia of Mexico to Commander Legazpi, Mexico City, September 1, 1564, in CDIU 2, document 21.
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