Next Thursday at 7pm, Casa América presents the conference What became of them. Women on the Manila Galleon (1565-1815), by Ana Ruiz Gutiérrez, tenured lecturer in the Department of History of Art of the University of Granada. The event is part of the series V Centenary of the First Round the World Voyage.
The invisible women, those women who have been silenced in the study of the transpacific route of the Manila Galleon, who from 1565 to 1815 sailed the oceans in the so-called sea castles, will now be the protagonists. They who were mothers, lovers, wives, widows but also active merchants, encomenderas, nuns and governors will emerge from oblivion with their own voice thanks to the handwritten correspondence of some of them, and on other occasions through references from third parties and even the materiality of the objects they demanded on either side of the established itineraries. Some of the more recognisable ones, such as Jerónima de Asunción, Isabel Barreto or Isabel Zendal, will give way to other Spaniards who have been present in the life of Manila since the 16th century, with a common thread, their arrival in the archipelago via the Nao de China. These galleons became a living space, consolidating themselves as invaluable guardians of testimonies, full of stories yet to be told, through which to vindicate the protagonists, who embarked with their families in most cases while they were still children. The event is not open to the public, only on Casa América’s Twitter and YouTube channels.
