ANDRES DE URDANETA: A MODERN MAN
The International congress will enable an in-depth study into the life of Andrés de Urdaneta to be undertaken. It will be the culmination of the various activities programmed to commemorate the V Centenary of the Birth of Urdaneta.
The Congress will be held in Ordizia in November 2008 (during the week of the 24th to 30th November)
Furthermore, the Congress will be comprised of workshops, meetings, debates, consensus, and conjecture with historians and experts investigating the life of the Basque navigator.
The Congress, welcoming history lovers researchers, historians, students and the general public, will provide a wealth of knowledge and experiences with regard to the latest discoveries and research into the life of Andrés de Urdaneta.
The main objective is to create a “State of Affairs” regarding Andrés de Urdaneta and the information and knowledge relevant to this subject.
The possibility of receiving applications for research grants and economic assistance is also being planned. Aimed at the younger historian, the proposal would be to investigate some of the lesser known aspects of the life of Andrés de Urdaneta.
These grants will be awarded to researchers investigating, not only the local Autonomous Basque Community archives, but also State archives and other areas and continents in which Urdaneta developed his activities such as Mexico or The Philippines. The results of the research obtained by means of these grants will be presented over the course of the International Congress.
The specialists attending the Congress will present and develop their investigations into the subject matter over the course of the various sessions, inviting discussion and conjecture at all times with regard to the most controversial points.
Not only will the Congress be of an extremely high and rigorous scientific standard due to the in-depth theoretical debates, it will also include an important international aspect provided by participants attending from other countries.
The Congress will be characterised as follows:
The Congress will be developed over a period of four days with morning and afternoon/evening sessions and will include the presence of diverse specialist and collaborating speakers.
The specialist papers will be expositions based on specific subjects with duration of 45-60 minutes.
The contributing papers will be brief presentations (5-10 minutes) of the research carried out, abstracts of which will have been sent in writing beforehand to the organisers of the Congress.
The Congress will be developed over the course of three successive thematic sessions:
• THEMATIC BLOCK 1
The origins of Urdaneta.
The voyage of Loaysa.
The Molucas issue and tensions with Portugal.
• THEMATIC BLOCK 2
Urdaneta’s return to Castille and the conflicts for the control of the Spices.
His time in New Spain and the arrangements for the voyage to The Philippines.
The voyage to The Philippines.
• THEMATIC BLOCK 3
Urdaneta and the Philippines.
The Return Voyage.
The Manila Galleon and its role in the economy.
Due to the INTERNATIONAL NATURE of the Congress the speakers (specialist speakers, contributing speakers and audience) will be attending from varying institutions based in the Autonomous Basque Community as well as from the Spanish state, Portugal, Mexico and The Philippines.
Widespread coverage will be given to this event, with an ample time margin, to institutions and associations for both specialist and contributing speakers having a direct interest in taking part in this Congress.
Specific information will be distributed by means of circulars sent by ordinary post and email.
To local cultural institutions (The Aranzadi Science Society, Eusko Ikaskuntza, etc.)
To national institutions (The Spanish Foundation of Modern History, The Association of Pacific Studies, The College of Hispanic-American Studies, ….)
To an extensive range of universities (The University of The Basque Country, The University of Deusto,) as well as national and international institutions involved in researching the different areas of the International Congress.
University validated credits will be awarded for the recognised attendance of the students and young researchers over the course of the various sessions.
The results gathered during the Congress from specialist and contributing speakers along with the conclusions reached from the various debates will be published in the corresponding record of proceedings of the Congress, at a later date.
