Spanish Colonialism

Written by Marco Ramerini – 2000-2007/2023 3 – THE SPANISH EXPEDITIONS TO THE MOLUCCAS AFTER THE UNION WITH PORTUGAL The first period of interest of the Spaniards in the Moluccas, i.e. the one concerning the years 1521-1606, can be divided into two distinct parts: the first part was that, to which we have already mentioned, of the struggles against the ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. 4.0 THE SPANISH FORTS ON THE ISLAND OF TIDORE, 1606-1663 As we mentioned earlier, from April 1606 after the conquest by the troops of Acuña of the city of Ternate, the Spaniards had, in the Moluccas, as their main and often the only ally the King of Tidore. They tried for ...

Written by Marco Ramerini 2000-2007/2023 5 – DEFENSES OF THE CITY OF THE KING The centerpiece of Tidore’s defenses were the fortifications of the island’s main city, which the Spanish called Lugar Grande del Rey. It was located on the southeast coast of the island, where today is the main city of Tidore, Soa Siu. Over the years, a series ...

Written by Marco Ramerini 2000-2007/2023 5.2 – FUERTE DE LOS PORTUGUESES Fuerte de los Portuguéses (Fortaleza dos Reis Magos): (Current name: ?) CHRONOLOGY: Portuguese: January 6, 1578 – May 19, 1605 Captured by the Dutch on 19 May 1605 then abandoned. Spanish: c.1609 – 9 July 1613 Dutch: 9 July 1613- August/November (?) 1613 This is the fort built in ...

Written by Marco Ramerini 2000-2007/2023 5.3 – SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS (TOHULA) Tohula1, Santiago de los Caballeros2, Sanctiago de los Caualleros3, Tahula, Taula, Thaula Olandese: Tahoela4, Tahoelo5, Tahoele6: (Current name: Benteng Tohula) CHRONOLOGY: Spanish: The construction of this fortress was begun by Azcqueta, in 1610, the works were resumed more intensely starting from 1613, it was finished by Geronimo de ...

Written by Marco Ramerini 2000-2007/2023 5.4 – SOKANORA Sokanora, Socanora1, Sokanosa, Saconora2, Zoconora3: (Current name: ?) CHRONOLOGY: Spanish: 1613-c.1620 (?) Socanora, was a village located on the coast to south of the city of the king of Tidore (‘Lugar Grande‘). Here the Spanish maintained a small fortified post for some years. We already have a first mention of the village ...

Written by Marco Ramerini 2000-2007/2023 6 – WEST COAST AND NORTH COAST OF THE ISLAND On the western coast of Tidore the Spanish had garrisons in the localities of Marieco, Rume, Tomañira (which was almost certainly the same fort sometimes also called Marieco el Chico) and finally in the extreme northern tip at Chobo. This part of the island which ...

Written by Marco Ramerini 2000-2007/2023 6.2 – MARIECO EL CHICO OR TOMANIRA Spanish: Marieco el Chico: Dutch: Kleine Marieko, Spaens Mariecque. This fort was built by Geronimo de Silva in 1613, after the loss of Marieco (Marieco el Grande), and was located half a league from Marieco. After the conquest of Marieco by the Dutch, Geronimo de Silva describes in ...

Written by Marco Ramerini 2000-2007/2023 6.3 – CHOBO Spanish: Cubo1, Sobo2, Chobo3, Chovo4, Cobo, Tjobo, San(t) Joseph de Chouo5: (Current name: Cobo) CHRONOLOGY: Spanish: 1643 ? –1661 ? o 1662 ? Dutch: Chiobbe6, T’Siobbo7, Siobbo8, Ziobbo9, Tsiobbe10, t’Siobbe11, Sjobbo12, Sjobbe13 Spanish garrison located on the extreme northern offshoot of the island of Tidore, called by the Spaniards San Joseph de Chovo. ...

Written by Marco Ramerini 2000-2007/2023 6.4 – RUME Spanish: Rume, Rum, Rumen1, El Rume, San Lucas de el Rume, San Lucas del Rumen2: (Current name: Rum) CHRONOLOGY: Spanish: November 1618-May/June 1663 Dutch: Roemy3, Roumy4, Romi5, Roumi6, Roemij7, Roumij8, Roemi, Romy9 A mention of the port of Rume was already made in 1585 in the report of the friar Cristoval Salvatierra: ...

Written by Marco Ramerini 2000-2007/2023 6.5 – PULI CABALLO Spanish: Puli Caballo: Sant Miguel de la isla de Puri Cauallo (Puli Cauallo) (Current name: Pulau Mare) CHRONOLOGY: Spanish: c.1650 ?-1662 ? Dutch: Pottebackers Eyland The island in question is a small island located south of Tidore, according to what de Clercq tells us, the name Mare meant ‘stone‘ both in ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. 2000-2007/2023 7 – CAPTAINS OF TIDORE (Fortress of Santiago de los Caballeros) In Tidore resided a Spanish captain who commanded the garrisoned troops in the ‘presidios‘ of the island and who also had under his jurisdiction the garrisons of Payaye and Tafongo located on the island of Halmahera and during the period in which the Spanish ...

When the fifth centenary of the first trip around the world (1519-1522) is commemorated, the ultimate goal of which was to reach the Moluccas Islands and obtain access to the spices of these islands for the Spanish crown, the documentary The Odyssey of the Spices is presented. This historical documentary, off approximately 55 minutes, is a co-production of Atrevida Producciones ...

Colloquium on the Manila Galleon and the Spice Route, organized by the Indonesian Hidden Heritage Creative Hub, with the collaboration of the embassies of Spain, the Philippines and Mexico in Indonesia. Saturday 20 May 2023 – Museum Bahari – Jakarta – Indonesia Colloquium on the Manila Galleon and the Spice Route

A splendid book dedicated to the spice islands was published in April 2022. The book describes in detail the fortifications of the two islands of Ternate and Tidore in the Moluccas, the famous Spice Islands. The text of the book is bilingual in Spanish and English. From the book cover: “This book offers a precise and detailed account of every ...

Written by Geoffrey A. P. Groesbeck  San Rafael de Velasco, the second oldest mission settlement in the Chiquitania, was established in 1696 by the Jesuit missionaries Juan Bautista Zea and Francisco Hervás (each of whom later co-founded two other missions). It was settled largely as what was then anticipated as an eventual way stop along the road to other Jesuit ...

Written by Geoffrey A. P. Groesbeck  Santa Ana de Velasco, founded in 1755, holds the distinction of being the only Chiquitos mission founded by one individual, the Jesuit missionary Julián Nogler. It is also is the only settlement that has its original church almost wholly intact (restoration on it is ongoing), which also happens to be the only church built ...

Written by Geoffrey A. P. Groesbeck  San José de Chiquitos, the third-oldest Jesuit mission in the Chiquitania and one of the prettiest, was founded in 1697 by Felipe Suárez (who later co-founded San Miguel de Velasco to the north) and Dionisio Avila. Relocated in 1706, it was its new location that made it the most important town in the region ...

Written by Geoffrey A. P. Groesbeck  San Ignacio de Velasco was founded in 1748, primarily for the benefit of the local Ugaraño peoples, by Jesuits Miguel Areijer and Diego Contreras. It was settled in part by the inhabitants of a former reducción, San Ignacio de Zamucos, which was destroyed three years earlier. One of the few missions that was not ...

Written by Geoffrey A. P. Groesbeck  Concepción was first established as the mission of La Inmaculada Concepción in 1699, although this settlement lasted only until 1704. It was re-established in 1709 (a date that some historians incorrectly claim as its founding), and incorporated the nearby ephemeral mission of San Ignacio de Boococas in 1712. Concepción was established by Jesuit missionaries ...