HOM.01
European Discovery, 1521-1560, is the first volume of the History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents (HOM), compiled and edited by Rodrique Levesque.
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The History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents was complied, edited and published by Rod Levesque from 1992 to 2002. Copyrights were obtained by the Habele Outer Island Education Fund, a US nonprofit, in 2022, which digitized the content to facilitate noncommercial access to, and use of, the twenty-volume series. The PDF file for HOM.01 is roughly 65MB.
Levesque's Summary
Volume 1 contains 71 chapters, 100 documents, beginning with the prehistory of the Pacific, the discovery of America and the South Sea, as well as all primary source documents from Portuguese and Spanish archives on the expeditions from Magellan to Villalobos. There are 23 documents about the voyage of Magellan. Other explorers are also featured: Balboa, Espinosa, Elcano, Da Rocha, Loaysa, Saavedra, Grijalva, Castro, De la Torre, and De Retes.
There are two parts on the early cartography of the Pacific —the myth and the reality. By the end of this period many of the northern Marshall Islands had been discovered.
—List of the 233 illustrations, starting with maps of Oceania and Micronesia, the World as it was 200 million years ago, migration routes, migrating canoes and Micronesian languages, and many maps to illustrate the early cartography of the Pacific. Each document is illustrated to show the routes taken by each ship, the islands discovered, etc.
—A list of abbreviations, a foreword to explain the origin of this project and a concise historical sketch of the period.
—An introduction giving some milestones of the prehistory of Micronesia.
—The first documents are about Columbus: the map he used to reach "Japan”, the letter he wrote to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to announce the discovery of a New World, and his crew list.
—The Papal Bulls and the Treaties that divided the New World into Portuguese and Spanish spheres of influence: the Line of Demarcation controversies, Treaties of Tordesillas, Vitoria, Badajoz.
—The early cartography of the Pacific, in 2 parts, maps and globes of the first century of exploration.
—How Balboa discovered the South Sea or Pacific Ocean in 1513.
— 23 documents on the Magellan expedition: his contract, his ships, his crews, with all eyewitness accounts by Pigafetta, Alvo and other sailors, and the official accounts by Peter Martyr and Max Transylvanus.
—5 documents on Captain Espinosa's attempted return to America and his dis-covery of Sonsorol and of the Northern Marianas Islands (includes the story of 3 sailors who deserted his ship at Maug in 1522).
—4 documents on Captain Elcano’s return to Spain in the Victoria and the hero’s welcome.
—4 documents on Captain Da Rocha’s voyage and the Portuguese discovery of Ulithi in 1525.
—7 documents on the Loaysa expedition with eyewitness accounts by Urdaneta, Uriarte’s logbook, and many reports by Bustamante, Salinas and others, plus 8 other primary documents summarized.
—6 chapters on Saavedra’s voyages, 1527-1529, listing 18 narratives and recon-structing his routes.
—2 documents on the little-known Grijalva expedition from Peru and the probable discovery of Kapingamarangi by Captain Castilla in the ship Santiago.
—1 document on the Portuguese Captain Castro and his gospel mission.
—Finally, 7 chapters on the important Villalobos expedition and his voyages from 1542 to 1546 with a fleet of 6 ships, a summary of 22 documents, the discoveries of many of the Marshall Islands (Wotje, Likiep, Wotho), as well as the attempted return voyages by Captains de la Torre and de Retes. A rare document by the Augustinian Father Aganduru Moriz is also brought to light.
—A summary list of ships through Micronesia for the period 1521-1565.
Table of Contents
1492A (HOM.01.1492.A.1) Columbus discovered a new world and prepared the way for the other discoveries that followed
1492B List of the officers and sailors in the first voyage of Columbus
1493 The Papal Bull of 4 May 1493 established the Line of Demarcation, thus splitting the New World into Portuguese and Spanish spheres of influence
1494 The Treaty of Tordesillas changed the Line of Demarcation
1501 The Papal Bull Eximiaz dated 16 November 1501
1504 Testament of Queen Isabella of Spain who died in 1504
1510 Cartography of the Pacific—Part 1
1513 Balboa’s discovery of the South Sea in 1513
1518A Magellan’s petition to the King
1518B Contract between King Charles I of Spain and Magellan regarding the discovery of the Spice Islands
1518C Magellan—Letter of commission from the King
1519A Letter from the King of Spain to Magellan
1519B Final instructions given to Magellan by the King
1519C Magellan’s last will and testament of 1519
1519D Magellan’s last memorandum to the King
1519E Magellan’s ships and their contents
1519F Magellan’s crews
1519G Letter from the Portuguese factor Sebastian Alvarez to the King of Portugal
1521A1 Magellan’s voyage—Primary account by Pigafetta, from the French manuscripts
1521A2 Magellan’s voyage—Primary account by Pigafetta—Extract from the French manuscripts themselves
1521B1 Magellan’s voyage—Primary account by Pigafetta, from the Italian manuscript
1521B2 Magellan’s voyage—Primary account by Pigafetta—Excerpt from the original Italian manuscript
1521C1 Magellan’s voyage—Primary account by Francisco Alvo, from his logbook
1521C2 Magellan’s voyage—A study of Magellan’s track across the Pacific
1521D Magellan’s voyage—Primary account by a Genoese pilot
1521E Magellan’s voyage—Anonymous Portuguese manuscript
1521F Magellan’s voyage— Secondary account by Maximilian of Transylvania
1521G Magellan’s voyage—Official accounts by Peter Martyr
1521H Magellan’s voyage—Letter from a Spanish spy in Portuguese India to the King of Spain
15211 The story of Enrique, Magellan’s slave
1521J Magellan & Espinosa—Account by Antonio Brito, Portuguese Governor of the Moluccas
1522A Espinosa’s account of his attempt to reach Panama and of the discovery of the Northern Mariana Islands
1522B Espinosa’s voyage—Other primary source documents
1522C Espinosa’s voyage—Primary account by a Genoese pilot
1522D Espinosa’s voyage—Secondary account by Antdnio Galv&o pointing at the discovery of the Sonsorol Islands
1522E Elcano’s voyage—Return of the ship Victoria to Spain
1522F Letter from Captain Elcano to Emperor Charles V, dated 7 September 1522
1524A The Treaty of Vitoria
1524B The Conference of Badajoz, April-May 1524
1524C Letter from Peter Martyr to the Archbishop of Cosenza, dated Burgos, 14 July 1524
1525A Letter from Peter Martyr to Pope Clement VII, dated Toledo, 13 September (?) 1525
1525B Da Rocha’s voyage—Secondary account by Galvao pointing at the discovery by the Portuguese of the Sequeira or Ulithi Islands in 1525
1525C Da Rocha’s voyage—Tertiary account by Faria e Sousa
1525D Da Rocha’s voyage—Tertiary account by Andrade
1525E Da Rocha’s voyage—Accounts by Barros and others, analyzed by Lessa
1526A Introduction to the Loaysa expedition
1526B Salazar, ex-Loaysa—Report by Hernando de la Torre, with extracts from Martin de Uriarte’s logbook
1526C Salazar, ex-Loaysa—First eyewitness account by Urdaneta
1526D Salazar, ex-Loaysa—Second eyewitness account by Urdaneta, ending June 1535
1526E Salazar, ex-Ioaysa—Letter from Bustamante and Salinas to the Emperor, dated 3 May 1529
1526F Salazar, ex-Loaysa—Other existing primary accounts
1526G Salazar, ex-Loaysa—Secondary accounts about Micronesian canoes
1527A Saavedra’s voyages, 1527-29—Introductory chapter
1527B Saavedra’s voyages—Narrative attributed to Saavedra, as recorded by the clerk Granado
1527C Saavedra’s voyages—Primary account by Urdaneta
1527D Saavedra’s voyages—Primary account by Vicente de Napoles
1527E Saavedra’s voyages—Galvao’s account
1527F Loaysa and Saavedra—Some additional details by Oviedo
1529 The Treaty of Zaragoza—Emperor Charles V sold his rights to the Moluccas to King John III of Portugal for 350,000 ducats
1537A Grijalva expedition, Captain Castilla—Overview by Navarrete 543
1537B Castilla, ex-Grijalva—Narrative of Miguel Noble as recorded by Galvao
1538 Galvao sent Captain Castro on a gospel mission to the Philippines
1542A Villalobos—Source documents about his expedition 1542-46
1542B Villalobos—Narrative of Garcia de Escalante Alvarado, dated Lisbon 1 September 1548
1542C Villalobos—Letter from Fr. Santiesteban to Viceroy Mendoza, dated Cochin 22 February 1547
1542D Villalobos—Galvao’s narrative
1542E Villalobos—Narrative of Juan Gaytan
1542F Villalobos—Summary of the accounts by the Augustinian Fathers aboard, by Fr. Aganduru Moriz
1542G Villalobos—Letter from Viceroy Mendoza to the Council of the Indies, circa 1546
1550 Cartography of the Pacific—Part 2
Publication Details
Lévesque Rodrigue. History of Micronesia : A Collection of Source Documents. Vol. 1 European Discovery 1521-1560. Gatineau Qué: Lévesque Publications; 1992.
ISBN-10: 0920201016
ISBN-13: 978-0920201015
LCC: DU500 .H58 2000
