Abstract

Jornadas náuticas (1647). Carvajal was a dominic friar and he was integrated in the expedition leaded by captain Ochagavía with the objective of discovering the union between Apure and Orinoco rivers. His chronicle brings a very rich information about animals, flora and customs of the natives. Animal world is described with rethorical strategies which are habitually learned at universities and seminars of Spain and America. Besides, I suggest that Carvajal writes for an implied reader living in America.

Abstract

This paper studies the influence of sceptic philosophy in the formation of the myth of the «good savage». The first part analizes the importance of scepticism in the XVIth, XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. The second part shows how the sceptic stamp of authors as Erasmus and Montaigne (XVIth century), Bayle and La Mothe Le Vayer (XVIIth century) or Diderot and Voltaire (XVIIIth century) influenced in the way that Europe treated the matter of the American indigenous.

Abstract

This article analyzes, through various sources, especially «relaciones de sucesos« («pre-periodical printed news») and «chronicles» the Duchy of Muscovy’s image in Spain in 16th and 17th centuries. However, if during a good part of both centuries the Duchy was seen as a distant and exotic kingdom, in the second half of the 17th century, thanks to these pamphlets and chronicles that brought news from the Great Turkish War, especially from 1683, Muscovy gained a special interest, unknown until then. This was due to the fact that Russia began to be considered in the development of international diplomatic strategies.

Abstract

The episode of the definitive assault to the City of Mallorca, on the 31st of December of 1229, is one of the best known parts of the Llibre dels feits by James the First. The words that the king employs when relating the possible miraculous intervention of Saint George in that episode have been interpreted as a sample of the prudence of the monarch in inserting wonderful elements in his chronicle. This article proposes a different interpretation of the passage, while taking into account several chronistic sources that aim towards a revision of the role that the Crusade plays in the imaginary world of king James the First.