Emilio de Miguel Calabia
Jun 22, 2022
(Photo of the very left-wing tomb that Elcano has in Guetaria)
I don’t usually talk about the gallbladder in cocktails, because my knowledge of medicine only allows me to buy paracetamol at the pharmacy. On the other hand, I’m much more interested in History and that’s why it pisses me off when undocumented immigrants, instead of applying my rule about gallbladders, start talking about History. The last undocumented person to do so was Álvaro Morte, on whom it seems that the zascas have been raining for several days. I’m joining the snapper club. It is an honor to join a group that YES has read History.
The phrase that has most caught the attention of the zasqueadores has been: “… to avoid being hijacked [no dice quiénes se lo podrían apropiar, pero del contexto se infiere que tienen que ser las derechas], what I have done with the character of Elcano is a very left-wing type, who always seeks consensus among his men, who pursues the common good and not his own good and who puts the big decisions he makes to a vote. My Elcano is very much on the left and zero totalitarian.” The sentence has meaning. It is one of those calves that you let loose when you are overwhelmed, or when you want to flirt with the most beautiful girl in the club and you opt for the “intellectualprogredivino” strategy.
The first thing that strikes me is that if Morte makes a very left-wing Elcano, he is not appropriating it. Only the rights appropriate what does not belong to them. He,- I imagine-, must be defending Elcano. After having said that he is going to play a very left-wing character from the 16th century, he has only left to say that he is preparing a role in which he will play a very Christian Julius Caesar. or an anti-colonial Hernán Cortés. I really liked the phrase “My Elcano is very left-wing and zero totalitarian”. Lenin, Stalin and Mao were also very left-wing and zero totalitarian, because being very left-wing and zero totalitarian are things that always go together.
PBut there is one thing Morte is right about. As far as we know, Elcano actually put some of the big decisions that had to be made to a vote among his men. AOne of them was whether to land in Madagascar to stock up, running the risk of being captured by the Portuguese, or to pass by as they were low on supplies. The men voted for the latter and Elcano accepted it. Another occasion was when they passed the Cape of Good Hope and Elcano proposed that they throw the load of cloves into the sea, to lighten the ships. The men voted no and the cargo was not thrown overboard.
PTo exercise that kind of leadership, one has to have a lot of charisma and self-confidence, and to a large extent that confidence Elcano must have obtained from knowing that he was a good sailor, something that his men undoubtedly recognized. At this point, Morte has indeed adhered to what we believe to be the historical truth.
However, when that same truth bothers her, it upsets her. Thus, in an interview on ABC Semanal, to the interviewer’s comment that “it is said that Elcano was very Catholic and devout, but in the series it is, rather, quite the opposite.” Morte’s response is: “It’s that I’ve killed all that because I don’t see it that way. He left part of his fortune to various churches and it follows that he was very devout. But I doubt it (…) I think he followed a pattern like that of Lope de Vega, hooligan, womanizer, reveler who, after spending his life fighting [cierto que guerreó, pero si tenemos en cuenta su vida amorosa decir “tras pasarse la vida follando” habría sido más apropiado]became a priest at the end of his days to atone for his sins…”
From what I have read about Elcano, his spirituality was typical among the Spaniards of his time. A firm faith, great devotion to one of the invocations of the Virgin, willingness to make donations to the Church…Was it a jerk? Possibly not. His sexual life was somewhat messy, something that at that time could be perfectly accompanied by a pure faith. Lope de Vega’s model was more common than we think. People who had led a life isscandalous, it was not uncommon that as they approached old age, they radically changed their behavior to prepare for what was then called “the last days”. However, without being an expert on Elcano, from what I have read I have gotten the impression that he was someone devout, although not sanctimonious.
In that weekly ABC interview I have found one of those topicazos, which denotes a very poor historical knowledge. The journalist asks: “What was the mind of the navigator of the XVI?” Morte replies: “The most fascinating thing is that they thought – and some still think – that the Earth was flat. Imagine embarking on a journey in which the sea may run out… The options, it was believed, were to fall into the void or continue floating in nothingness. And all those sailors assumed that. It’s the milk!”
It is not milk, because those sailors did not assume anything. They knew that the Earth was spherical. In the 16th century, all sailors and the cultivated population knew that the earth was spherical. Another thing is that they did not know its real dimensions and that they did not know until after 1492 that there was a continent that stood between Asia and Europe. When Columbus went to ask the Catholic Monarchs for funding to find a new route to Asia to the west, the Kings did not answer him: “But where are you going, idiotelhaba! Do you want to fall into the void with our ships?” If the Catholic Monarchs, who were not stupid at all and were very pragmatic, financed Columbus, it was because the company seemed feasible to them and they estimated that it could give many benefits.
Anyway, now that I’ve finished, I must say that it’s a shame that for once we do a series about a Hispanic deed, we have to screw it up with extemporaneous and erroneous comments before it’s released.
History
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Emilio de Miguel Calabia
Jun 22, 2022